Autobiografie młodych? Między prawem do opowieści a politykami autobiograficznymi dorosłych
Autobiographies of the young? Between narrative rights and adult autobiographical politics

Summary/Abstract: A growing number of social initiatives is feeding off the ideas of emancipatory and critical pedagogies and is looking for tools to obtain and include the sometimes essentialized voice of the child. But the still dominant definitions of autobiography, referring to the concepts of non-fiction literature and personal documentary literature, place great emphasis on forms that, due to the necessity of using more or less advanced literacy, exclude children or make their autobiographical attempts doomed to the charge of infantilism. Autobiography understood as a technique of the self, according to the dominant narratives, requires genre and narrative, writing proficiency and the ability to rationalize one’s memories. And as such, it is one of the many politics of writing, sanctioned through specific genres and power relations. In the introductory article to the issue, we draw on the framing of critical childhood studies formulated by Spyros Spyrou. We reflect on the various politics of presenting the autobiographical voice of the child and ask and conditions for reaching the child’s experience. We also outline the basic methodological assumptions for interpreting children’s autobiographies and show their social, political and historical conditions.

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