The Voice of Maria Reimann

On the Role of the Personal in Scientific Texts

Łukasz Mikołajewski

l.mikolajewski@uw.edu.pl
Uniwersytet Warszawski (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3066-8012

Abstract

The essay reflects on the role of personal voice and autobiographical experiences in the scientific texts of Maria Reimann, anthropologist and translator (died in 2023). Mingling personal recollections of his friendship and collaboration with Maria Reimann with a more theoretical analysis of her autoethnographic texts the author presents various aspects of our possible understanding of the concepts of “personhood” and “the personal” and their conceivable role in contemporary science. He also reconstructs ethical, political, and metaphysical justifications for including Reimann’s personal perspective in her autoethnographic writings on the experience of disability. Interpreting Reimann’s focus on narratives (rather than identities) through which people share their personal experiences the author links Reimann’s anthropology with approaches to storytelling and empathy outlined in the nonfiction of Jonathan Safran Foer, Rebecca Solnit, and Clarice Lispector.


Keywords:

Maria Reimann, autoethnography


Published
2024-02-28

Cited by

Mikołajewski, Łukasz (2024) “The Voice of Maria Reimann: On the Role of the Personal in Scientific Texts”, Konteksty, 343(4), pp. 204–214. doi: 10.36744/k.2497.

Authors

Łukasz Mikołajewski 
l.mikolajewski@uw.edu.pl
Uniwersytet Warszawski Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3066-8012

Łukasz Mikołajewski – historyk idei i socjolog, adiunkt w Katedrze Historii Idei i Antropologii Kulturowej w Instytucie Stosowanych Nauk Społecznych UW, współzałożyciel Pracowni Badań nad Historią i Tożsamościami LGBT+. Współredaktor książki Cała siła, jaką czerpię na życie. Świadectwa, relacje, pamiętniki osób LGBTQ+ w Polsce (2022).



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