The Personal Historicity

The paper concerns a vision of relationship between the philosophy and literature ac- cording to Izabela Szyroka and her latest book. Szyroka shows them in a close con- nection, in the context of the evolution of the genre from Montaigne and Rousseau as well as philosophical, anthropological enquires. The development of philosophical views on literature was characterized by empowerment of two ideas – the specific autobiographical subject and historicity of a human life. The paper argues that the sup- posed progress of these ideas was essential for the Western modernity but was majorly challenged. The great part of that process took place during the postmodern era, but the crisis of the autobiographical subject can be traced much earlier – in the modern literature itself.
 

The paper concerns a vision of relationship between the philosophy and literature ac- cording to Izabela Szyroka and her latest book. Szyroka shows them in a close con- nection, in the context of the evolution of the genre from Montaigne and Rousseau as well as philosophical, anthropological enquires. The development of philosophical views on literature was characterized by empowerment of two ideas – the specific autobiographical subject and historicity of a human life. The paper argues that the sup- posed progress of these ideas was essential for the Western modernity but was majorly challenged. The great part of that process took place during the postmodern era, but the crisis of the autobiographical subject can be traced much earlier – in the modern literature itself.