Beletryzacja biografii: Dziennik pobytu w Rosji Adama Mickiewicza Leona Gomolickiego i Namiestnik narodu Tadeusza Łopalewskiego

Abstract

This article discusses the ways of fictionalizing biography in the midtwentieth century, using as examples two biographies. One is Dziennik pobytu w Rosji Adama Mickiewicza by Leon Gomolicki (published in 1949), which is based on chronologically arranged sources. The second is a young adult fiction book Namiestnik narodu by Tadeusz Łopalewski (published in 1955). In her analysis of the sources, the author of the article points out that Gomolicki’s work depends on Russian sources, unknown to a Polish reader. This announces his future decision to forsake academic writing and undertake experimental prose. Łopalewski’s prose, on the other hand, paraphrases and summarizes source materials. He also relies on his own creative experience in radio and concentrates on Mickiewicz’s pronouncements rather than descriptions of his life. In Gomolicki’s work citation becomes a heterogeneous, almost experimental compilation while in Łopalewski’s novel the narration unifies diverse voices.