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Straipsnyje nagrinėjama Bialozorų, Končų ir Römerių giminių didelės apimties privati korespondencija. Adresatai ir adresantai priklausė susigiminiavusiai stambiųjų bajorų grupei, jos atstovų asmeniniai likimai buvo susiję su svarbiausiais XIX a. pirmosios pusės politiniais, socialiniais ir kultūriniais procesais, todėl jų susirašinėjimas vertinamas kaip plačios paskirties istorijos šaltinis. Tų pačių įvykių, aplinkybių ir išgyvenimų aprašymas kūrė vientisą naratyvą, būdingą vienodos pasaulėžiūros, pasaulėjautos ir vertybių sistemos grupei. Aptariama korespondencija tinka tirti šios grupės sociokultūrinį modelį, suformuotą per savęs, kitų asmenų ir pasaulio suvokimą. Raktiniai žodžiai: XIX a., stambūs bajorai, privatus laiškas, šeimos istorija, kultūros modelis. Several memory institutions (Manuscripts Department of the National Library of Poland in Warsaw, Lithuanian State Historical Archives and the Department of Rare Prints and Manuscripts of the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences) have in their collections an impressive quantity of correspondence of the Białłozor, Koncza and Römer families. A majority consists of letters written over several decades by members of these families in married relationships, as well as their children and grandchildren. As the addressees and addressers were part of the landed nobility, their close relationships and personal destinies correlate closely with political, social and cultural processes, thus this correspondence is viewed as a multipurpose history source. The correspondence under discussion is different to that between friends or acquaintances. Letters within the immediate family circle were usually of extensive length, their content often repeating the content appearing in the addressers‘ journal entries, which suggests a particular private writing genre, such as a “letter journal”. A close-knit group of people would write about the same people, events, circumstances and experiences, thereby creating a uniform narrative and contributing to a written family history. Regardless of the modernisation of society and the changing behaviour of younger generations, a conservative view of the world is evident in the correspondence of three generations of the Białłozor, Koncza and Römer landed nobility families. Differences between letters written by the older and younger generations were mainly related to their scope rather than their content, however, this does not mean that family correspondence is not suitable for observing the impact of society‘s modernisation on the younger generation. Narratives or subjects typical of the same group of correspondents sharing the same sense and view of the world and value system stood out in these letters. Much was written about fundamental family life practices: marriage, birth and death, reflections of feelings and emotions, revelations of their attitudes towards religion and their experience of the world whilst away on journeys. The letters contain a great deal of information about the management of estates, and this alone makes it possible to reconstruct the economic model of corvée labour estates, which underwent modernisation after the abolition of serfdom yet did not completely abandon former practices. The family letters contain numerous impressions relating to the consumption of culture and creative pursuits themselves, allowing us to research the 19th-century person‘s individual and group tastes and preferences. The correspondence under discussion is suitable for reconstructing family histories, the biographies of family members, to analyse daily life and use it for micro-history research, not forgetting that the letters offer a reflection of fragments of life, or extracts of the fabric of day to day life. Therefore, other sources should be used in conjunction with the letters. This is not the only spectrum in which private letters may be utilised however. The private correspondence of the Białłozor, Koncza and Römer families is just as suitable for researching the cultural model of a given social group, formed through the perceptions of oneself, others and the world. Keywords: 19th century, landed nobility, private letter, family history, cultural model. |
