From sharing to understanding. How scholarly editing is changing our knowledge of literature

Abstract

Using the example of two series published by the Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk (Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences) – “Biblioteka Pisarzy Staropolskich” (“Library of Old Polish Writers”) and “Biblioteka Pisarzy Polskiego Oświecenia” (“Library of Polish Enlightenment Writers”) – and it’s role of scholarly editions in the process of expanding knowledge about early literature was discussed. Scholarly editions have become a kind of research laboratory in the field of broadly understood literary history. The task that was once set for such editions – making a literary work available in its correct form – has been expanded in recent decades to include the recognition, understanding, explanation and necessary commentary of the work, as well as the verification of possible similarities with ancient literature, i.e. determining how it draws on Greek, Latin and Neo-Latin traditions. The most significant editorial achievements of both publishing series were also recalled, as well as the importance of other series in which old literature is published, and the opinions of literary historians indicating their significance for revising the literary canon and discovering the world of old Polish literature. However, expanding knowledge has had little impact on collective awareness, and in reading materials (especially school textbooks) and in discussions of older literature, we often remain at the level of knowledge from several decades ago.