Iskandera pamiętnik ludzi i czasów. Rozważania genologiczne

Abstract

The author began his works on My past and thoughts in autumn 1852. He wanted to describe the story of his love to Natalya Zakhariyna and indicate the causes which led to his wife’s death. Thus, at the core of his work was the most frequent of reasons for writing: assessment of one’s own existence, taking a look back to find an answer to the question of why life went on the way it did. My past and thoughts by Alexander Herzen is a work combining various traditions: autobiography, diary, letter, journal, confession. This paper is an attempt to investigate the way these forms are present in the work of the Russian writer, in order to prove that it is a syncretic genre. The author went beyond the established genre codes, creating an original literary, journalistic and philosophical work of art.