O czym piszemy historię? Refleksji kilka o historiografii Michała Bobrzyńskiego ………. 75

Michał Bobrzyński is primarily known as a historian and the author of Dzieje Polski w zarysie (The Brief History of Poland), a work commonly associated with the mainstream of the so-called Krakow School of History. Until now, reflections on Bobrzyński’s claims have generally focused on reconstructing his theses on the history of the nation, while overlooking broader questions about the researcher’s methodology and theoretical approach to the past. This article addresses these issues based on the texts of the Krakow historian, focusing on two central topics: the factual and epistemological basis of historical narratives, and the political role of revisionist historiography. The main idea and fundamental conclusion is to present Bobrzyński as a researcher who consciously attempted to debunk the romantic national myth, not in the name of progress but of a perceived truth and political pragmatism. To reliably present this issue, it is necessary to acknowledge the constant tension in historiography between the cognitive function of history and its normative potential. In his work, Bobrzyński decisively rejected both unrefl ective positivism and idealistic philosophy of history, instead postulating his own ’new history’. Although this paradigm is almost completely forgotten today, it was the first Polish attempt to describe the past in terms of strict methodological discipline, myth criticism, and deep commitment to issues of political community. Questions about the intellectual legacy and potential relevance of Bobrzyński’s work today complement the discussion of its theoretical foundations. The thesis compares the ongoing influence of the Krakow school with its contemporary echoes, ranging from the conservatism of Stanisław Cat-Mackiewicz to the revisionism of Piotr Zychowicz. In this context, alternative and oppositional currents in contemporary Polish historical thought are also highlighted. Their presence indirectly proves the existence of certain unresolved and ongoing intellectual disputes within the nation for nearly two centuries.