Uczucia i metodologia: idee badania historii w pismach Joachima Lelewela z lat 1815–1824

Nowadays, there is noticeable diversity in methods of studying history. Attention is drawn to the so-called ‘turns’ in the humanities, involving radical changes in addressing research problems and methods. Debates on the limitations of traditional approaches to history and reflection on emotions in history are gaining popularity within current methodologies such as historical anthropology and post-structuralism. However, as early as the 19th c., historians conducted research that considered the influence of emotional aspects on the past they studied. Additionally, despite the fact that studies dedicated to reflecting on emotions in history, both in historiographical terms (emotions as a subject of study) and methodologically (the role of researcher’s emotions), were mainly conducted by Western European and American historians, concepts from researchers originating from other cultures also contributed to its development and require analysis. The aim of this article is to analyze Joachim Lelewel’s methodological works from 1815–1824, presenting his emotional approach as essential to the historian’s research process. A comparison was made between his historical research ideas and those of David Hume and Johann Gottfried von Herder in order to contextualize them internationally. This article seeks to answer questions about the relevance of reading Lelewel today and what advice today’s historians can draw from his works.