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KrzysztofMaliszewski
Hfacts”becameidentifiedastheessenceofahistorian’swork.Evenwhenthe
typeofthosefactschanged—forinstancemoved,asintheAnnalesschool,
fromtheindividualandpoliticalspheretoastructuralandcivilizational
one—ithappenedinthenameoftheHscientification”ofthediscipline.
Thegoalwasnottoexchangeascientificexplanationforahumanistinter-
pretation,butthetransferofinterestontootherobjectsofresearch—com-
mon,mass,typicalphenomenaoccurringoverlongtimeperiods(Wrzosek,
1995,p.69).
Inthe20thcentury,historychangedinnumerousways.Thelossoftrust
inthemodernist(methodologicallypositivist),scientifically-paternedwayof
practicinghistorybecameapparentinmanyways,andhermeneutically-ori-
entedtheoriesmadetheirappearance(thearts).Itturnedoutthattherecan
beverydiferentwaysofapproachinghistory,andeachwaycarriesdiferent
consequencesforhumaninsightintotherealityandthewayoffunctioning
intheworld.Thetheoristsofhistoryhaveindicatedmanysilentlypresent
tendenciesintraditionalhistoriography,forinstance:thedrivetoward
totalitybyformulatingso-calledgrandnarratives,inwhichtheawareness
oftheculturalsituatingoftheobserverremainsvoiceless;reductionismin
theformofacultofanunambiguous,certainHfact”;eurocentrismbasedon
adualisticperspectivesuperior—inferior;patriarchyasthedominanceofthe
perspectiveofaHwhitemale”;narrativelinearitynarrativizedinthemanner
ofa19thcenturyrealistnovel(Radomski,2006,p.28;Domańska,2006,p.54;
Topolski,2002,p.32).Inthecontemporaryhumanities,whichaccentuates
micro-narratives,thedialogiccharacteroftruth,multi-vocaltradition,lin-
guisticmediation,thosepresuppositionsarenolongeraccepted.Thefaithin
thepossibilityofanunfailingandcompleteHreconstructionofhistory,”in
theimportanceofaHhistoricalsource”asabasisofthecertaintyofknowl-
edge,orintheHscientific”characterofhistory,hasdrasticallybeenreduced.
InhistextHistoryastheArtofBeauty,LeszekKołakowski,whilereview-
ingtheworkofJohanHuizinga,stressedthattheonlywarrantyforthe
correctnessofahistoricaldescriptionofthefigureoftheresearcherishis
orheracademicexperience,familiaritywiththeatmosphereoftheera,the
maturityofjudgments.Everyphenomenonfromthepastcanbeilluminated
diferentlyorillustratedbyadiferentsetofexamples,thusthefinalefect
dependsofthesensitivityoftheresearcher:H[ł]itisdifculttoimagethat
adescriptionofsomethinglikeaspiritualatmosphereoftheeracouldbe
donediferentlythanthroughmultiplyingappropriatelyselecteddetails,
whoseItypicalnature’wouldremainthematerofthepersonalresponsi-
bilityoftheauthor”(Kołakowski,2002,p.154).Tophistorianspossessthe
awarenessofthefactthatinthecontemporaryhumanities,theresearchtoolis
one’sownabilitytoopenuptotheculturalheritageandone’sownsensitiv-
itytothehumanexperience.Thiswasonceverypointedlyexpressedbyan
