History and privacy with Stefan and Octavia Żeromski in the background (in the light of Henryka Witkiewicz’s egodocuments)

Abstract

This article concerns the egodocuments left by Henryka Witkiewicz (née Rodkiewicz), Stefan Żeromski’s stepdaughter, the daughter of Oktawia née Radziwiłłowicz (primo voto Rodkiewicz, secundo voto Żeromska). The historical potential of Witkiewiczowa’s source materials is shown in the context of Zdzisław Jerzy Adamczyk’s edition of Stefan Żeromski’s Letters. The profile of Witkiewiczowa is presented with particular emphasis on the early stages of her life. On the basis of the representational method, documents connected above all with the author’s mother were selected from the collection left by Witkiewiczowa in order to attempt egodocumentary reading of the records with the aim of indicating patterns of conduct important to her and values significant from her point of view. The image of the mother emerging from the letters, along with the above mentioned mother-daughter relationship and values cherished by Witkiewiczowa, shows an interesting system of dependencies between what is collective (the patriotic tradition of the landed gentry and intelligentsia) and what is individual (the individual choices determined by the context and Henryka’s personality).