Autobiograficzne narracje zebrane. O kategorii współautorstwa w tle

The objective of the present paper is to introduce a new analytical category for collections of autobiographical narratives, termed as “co-authorship in the background” (in Sylwester Dworacki’s translation: participatio cogitanda). A certain autobiographical utterance placed in a collection often gains characteristics which might not be considered primary (or could go unnoticed altogether) if it was a single, individual text. Therefore, it seems necessary to include in the process of analysis and interpretation all those who contributed to the collection’s meaning; among them, editors and political or religious decision-makers. Co-authorship in the background thus concerns two dimensions: an editorial board and a body of principals. The paper presents different possible roles played by co-authors in the background, drawing on the examples from German and Polish collections of autobiographical narrations.