Egodocumentality of personal file: personality – mentality – world of values. On the example selected archives of the 20th century
Egodocumentality of personal file: personality – mentality – world of values. On the example selected archives of the 20th century

Summary/Abstract: Personal files are documents, collected by the creating agencies, which reflect the course of a career path in each workplace. The source documents from the studied records are treated as egodocuments, because their authors tell stories about themselves. Preserved documents can be used to create biographies, analyse historical facts present in the lives of individual people, provide information about the surrounding world or help explain various complex processes – economic, sociological, etc. This article attempts to analyse personal files from the perspective of anthropological research, which in a certain way helps to get to know a person, their experiences and their understanding of reality. Archival materials were selected using the representative method. A random sample was used, which involved selecting random items from a closed general collection. The general population in the study comprised personal files of Bydgoszcz City Hall employees from the interwar period, as well as personal files of members and dependants of the Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy Voivodeship Executive Board in Bydgoszcz. The selected files were used for an in-depth analysis in the context of egodocumentality aimed at understanding the author’s world of values. But does every resume or elaborate application give us enough information to precisely analyze someone in terms of their personality? Does it provide enough data to conduct research? Are the sources classified as egodocuments really what they appear to be? This article seeks to answer all these questions.

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