Dokument osobisty jako problem literacki (na przykładzie zapisów z czasu Zagłady)
The personal document as a literary problem (based on the example of Holocaust records)

Summary/Abstract: This article considers the situation in which every day, documentary and autobiographical records, made by non-writers and hitherto treated as non-literary, are beginning to be included in the field of literature and are acquiring the status of literary works. This is the situation we are facing today in Poland, among others, with regard to records of Holocaust experiences. They are introduced into the realm of literature through the category of ‘personal document literature’, introduced by Roman Zimand. The author of the article sees the legitimacy of such an operation, thanks to which everyday, documentary and autobiographical records are given the importance they deserve. He mentions two examples of publications concerning records of the times of the Holocaust: the volume Literatura polska wobec Zagłady (1939–1968) and the edition of the Ringelblum Archive in the series of the National Library. At the same time, he points out five basic operations that characterise modern literature, which we do not find in these records: decontextualisation, fictionalisation, textualisation, rematerialisation, remediation. In the conclusion, the author draws attention to the need for a new take on literature and a new understanding of it in the context of literary records and practices, primarily autobiographical and documentary, such as records from the time of the Holocaust.

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