{"id":5660,"date":"2026-04-13T10:06:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T08:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/egodocuments\/?page_id=5660"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:28:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:28:04","slug":"what-is-personal-writing-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/egodocuments\/en\/what-is-personal-writing-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an Egodocument ?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The term egodocument refers to texts in which individuals write about themselves, their immediate circle, or their wider community. At the very least, such writings express a personal perspective on the world, whether local or more distant. This category includes, among other materials, heterogeneous notes that do not fit into clearly defined genres, as well as autobiographies, diaries of all kinds, travel accounts, <em>livres de raison<\/em>, chronicles, and family books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-context=\"{ &quot;autoclose&quot;: false, &quot;accordionItems&quot;: [] }\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/accordion\" role=\"group\" class=\"wp-block-accordion is-layout-flow wp-block-accordion-is-layout-flow\">\n<div data-wp-class--is-open=\"state.isOpen\" data-wp-context=\"{ &quot;id&quot;: &quot;accordion-item-1&quot;, &quot;openByDefault&quot;: false }\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.initAccordionItems\" data-wp-on-window--hashchange=\"callbacks.hashChange\" class=\"wp-block-accordion-item is-layout-flow wp-block-accordion-item-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-accordion-heading has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-2aa69d85de6c17d1ccce41765cbbd1bd\" style=\"color:#b01818\"><button aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion-item-1-panel\" data-wp-bind--aria-expanded=\"state.isOpen\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.toggle\" data-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.handleKeyDown\" id=\"accordion-item-1\" type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-accordion-heading__toggle\"><span class=\"wp-block-accordion-heading__toggle-title\"><em>View more<\/em><\/span><span class=\"wp-block-accordion-heading__toggle-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">+<\/span><\/button><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div inert aria-labelledby=\"accordion-item-1\" data-wp-bind--inert=\"!state.isOpen\" id=\"accordion-item-1-panel\" role=\"region\" class=\"wp-block-accordion-panel is-layout-flow wp-block-accordion-panel-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>In the early modern period, egodocuments cover a wide range of textual forms and writing practices. These may operate on different time scales: a diary written on a daily basis, memoirs composed later in life, or a family book kept over several generations. The boundaries between these forms are often fluid. A chronicle, for example, may gradually take on the features of a diary, and vice versa. In most cases, such texts were not intended for publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across Europe, egodocuments [1, 2] is only one of several terms used \u2013 often interchangeably \u2013 within different historiographical traditions. All of these terms remain debated: <em>\u00e9crits du for priv\u00e9<\/em> [3], <em>Selbstzeugnisse<\/em>, <em>scritture del s\u00e9<\/em>, first-person writings and autobiographical writing [4]. The latter has the advantage of being transferable across linguistic contexts. Although correspondence forms part of this broader corpus, it has not yet been systematically included in <em>Egodocuments.ch<\/em>, largely for practical reasons. The only exception is letter copybooks (<em>copie-lettres<\/em>) compiled over a given period. Correspondence may nevertheless serve as a complementary source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is ongoing debate about which types of texts should be included within the category of ego-documents. In particular, scholars have questioned whether testimonies produced in judicial settings should be considered, given their \u201cnon-voluntary\u201d character [5]. Similar issues arise with autobiographical texts written within institutional \u2013 especially ecclesiastical \u2013 frameworks, which are shaped by normative constraints [6]. Event-focused chronicles have also been discussed, due to the limited presence of an explicit first-person voice [7, 8, 9].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recent research has tended to broaden the scope of the category [10]. The \u201cpersonal\u201d dimension is increasingly understood in terms of perspective rather than strict autobiography. While never entirely free from external influences, such perspectives remain marked by identifiable value judgments. As a result, this dimension is now considered to be as significant as explicitly autobiographical discourse \u2013 that is, writing in which individuals speak directly about themselves and their immediate circle. This shift has been reinforced by the extension of research beyond Europe, which calls for greater attention to other forms of self-expression [11]. Even reported speech \u2013 particularly in studies of the Ottoman Empire \u2013may, under certain conditions, be included within the category of ego-documents [12].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[1]<\/strong>  \u201cIn the early 1950s the historian Jacques Presser invented a new word : \u00ab&nbsp;<em>egodocument<\/em>&nbsp;\u00bb. He proposed to use his neologism for diaries, personal letters and other forms of autobiographical writing [\u2026] those documents in which an ego intentionally or unintentionally discloses, or hides itself. Texts in which an author writes about his or her own acts, thoughts and feelings would be the shortest definition.\u201d Rudolf Dekker, <em>Egodocuments and History<\/em>, 2002, p. 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[2]<\/strong> \u201cThe historical subject we can grasp within and behind the autobiographies, diaries and family chronicles on offer is not an ego. It certainly has a self, whose external contours of personhood some of the documents in question may allow us to study. For all practical historical purposes, what we are looking at in self-narratives are primarily persons in their specific cultural, linguistic, material and, last but not least, social embeddedness. Ultimately a majority of these texts, most certainly early modern ones, probably tell us more about groups than they do about individuals.[\u2026] It may well be too late to stop the current rise in interest in the notion of ego-documents, although it seems unlikely that this will do justice to most early modern self-narratives. The category appears to be universally recognized, and even many specialists seem to assume that a cath-all basket is better than a more narrowly defined category.\u201d Kaspar von Greyerz, \u201cEgo-Documents: The Last Word?\u201d, <em>German History<\/em>, 28(3), 2010, p. 281.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[3]<\/strong> \u201cAfter ten years, I am not sure anymore that the term, we are using, in France is wholly appropriate. It tends to reduce the texts we want to study together, to just one of their dimensions, that one which paves the way towards the construction of modern self, which is a simplistic view. Like Kaspar von Greyerz, who has criticized the notion of \u2018egodocuments\u2019, I am coming to the conclusion that the term \u2018\u00e9crits du for priv\u00e9\u2019, although effective in the French context, obscures more than it helps communication on an European scale\u201d, Fran\u00e7ois-Joseph Ruggiu (ed.), \u201cThe Uses of First-Person Writings in the <em>Longue Dur\u00e9e<\/em> (Africa, America, Asia, Europe)\u201d, in <em>The Uses of First-Person Writings (Africa, America, Asia, Europe)<\/em>, Brussels: Peter Lang, 2013, p. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[4]<\/strong> \u201cI define autobiographical writing as any literary work that expresses lived experience from a first-person point of view. [\u2026] I realize that this is a problematic approach, especially since \u00ab&nbsp;autobiography&nbsp;\u00bb in this sense embraces so many forms that are, strictly speaking, not autobiographical.\u201d<br>James Amelang, <em>The Flight of Icarus: Artisan Autobiography in Early Modern Europe<\/em>, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998, p. 47.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[5]<\/strong> \u201cDarunter [= unter Ego-dokumente] sollen alle jene Quellen verstanden werden, die uns \u00fcber die Art und Weise informieren, in der ein Mensch Auskunft \u00fcber sich selbst gibt, unabh\u00e4ngig davon, ob dies freiwillig \u2013 also etwa in einem Brief oder in einem autobiographischen Text \u2013 oder durch andere Umst\u00e4nde bedingt geschieht\u201d , Winfried Schulze, <em>Ego-Dokumente<\/em>, 1995, p. 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[6]<\/strong> \u201cOn entend par&nbsp;<em>\u00e9crits du for priv\u00e9<\/em>&nbsp;livres de raison, livres de famille, diaires, m\u00e9moires, autobiographies, journaux de toute nature (personnel ou \u00ab&nbsp;intime&nbsp;\u00bb, de voyage, de campagne, de prison\u2026) et de mani\u00e8re g\u00e9n\u00e9rale, tous les textes produits hors institution et t\u00e9moignant d\u2019une prise de parole personnelle d\u2019un individu sur lui-m\u00eame, les siens, sa communaut\u00e9.\u201d Ecrits du for priv\u00e9, \u201cPresentation\u201d, available online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[7]<\/strong> \u201cDas \u00ab&nbsp;denckh B\u00fcechlin&nbsp;\u00bb, das die Priorin Verena Reiterin vom Kloster St. Wolfgang in Engen um 1653 geschrieben hat, ist zun\u00e4chst nicht als Selbstzeugnis zu bestimmen. \u00dcber mehrere Jahrzehnte berichtet sie nach Angaben ihrer aus Krankheitsgr\u00fcnden resignierten Vorg\u00e4ngerin und vermerkt sogar ihren eigenen Klostereintritt nur pauschal. Im letzten Teil dieser kleinen Chronik jedoch tritt die Schreiberin mehr und mehr hervor, vor allem in kritischen Situationen. Sie nennt sich zwar in der Regel mit Namen und f\u00fcgt nur selten ein Ich hinzu, aber nimmt ausdr\u00fccklich auf ihre spezifische Lage Bezug. Wir erfahren von ihren Krankheiten, ihren \u00c4ngsten, ihren Fluchten, ihrem zupackenden Eingreifen und von der prek\u00e4ren Lage, in die sie ger\u00e4t, als sie unter Mi\u00dfachtung der freien Wahl erst zur Subpriorin und sp\u00e4ter zur Priorin erhoben wird.\u201d Benigna von Krusenstjern, \u201cWas sind Selbstzeugnisse? Begriffskritische und quellenkundliche \u00dcberlegungen anhand von Beispielen aus dem 17. Jahrhundert\u201d, <em>Historische Anthropologie<\/em>, 2(3), 1994, p. 466.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[8]<\/strong> \u201cSavoir si la chronique est autobiographique ou non implique que l\u2019on tienne compte des modalit\u00e9s d\u2019expressions de la vie individuelle propres \u00e0 la p\u00e9riode et au groupe socio-\u00e9conomique auquel appartient le chroniqueur. L\u2019\u00e9l\u00e9ment autobiographique est, nous semble-t-il, composite. Loin de se limiter au seul parcours de vie, il peut appara\u00eetre sous forme d\u2019\u00e9tapes particuli\u00e8res de ce parcours \u2013 peut-\u00eatre secondaires \u00e0 nos yeux, mais pas \u00e0 ceux de l\u2019auteur \u2013 et par le biais des opinions personnelles exprim\u00e9es par ce dernier dans un moment et un contexte donn\u00e9s o\u00f9 il aurait&nbsp;<em>pu<\/em>&nbsp;agir. Il ne para\u00eet pas par ailleurs devoir \u00eatre limit\u00e9 aux apparitions d\u2019un \u00ab&nbsp;je&nbsp;\u00bb agissant. Il se manifeste aussi dans la mani\u00e8re de pr\u00e9senter les faits, que le jugement soit implicite ou explicite.\u201d Dani\u00e8le Tosato-Rigo, <em>La chronique de Jodocus Jost, miroir mental d\u2019un paysan bernois au XVIIe si\u00e8cle<\/em>, Lausanne: Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 d\u2019Histoire de la Suisse Romande, 2000, p. 187.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[9]<\/strong> \u201cReaders frequently annotated almanacs with handwritten notes, and this interaction between manuscript and print may well represent the most common form of self-accounting in early modern England, unfolding in the margins of countless almanacs.\u201d Adam Smyth, <em>Autobiography in Early Modern England<\/em>, Cambridge, 2016 [2010], p. 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[10]<\/strong> \u201c<em>Selbstzeugnisforschung<\/em> adopts a more open understanding of sources and genres. Beyond diaries, memoirs, and autobiographies, numerous other texts may be considered self-narratives, including letters, chronicles, family histories, travel accounts, biographical dictionary entries, and even diplomatic records.\u201d<br>Gabriele Jancke and Claudia Ulbrich, \u201cFrom the Individual to the Person\u201d, in <em>Mapping the \u2018I\u2019<\/em>, Leiden, 2015, p. 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[11]<\/strong> \u201cIn reality, in Arabic texts of the period 1500-1800, we can find self narratives incorporated in a variety of different genres. We find them in literary works and belles lettres; we find them in academic writings such as histories, chronicles and dictionaries. And of course they ca also be found in travel books and in the more personal genre of letter writing. In fact, except fort he religious sciences \u2013 studies of jurisprudence, of prophetic traditions and so on, writings which followed strict academic rules \u2013 almost every type of text was open to intervention from the \u2018I\u2019 author.\u201d Nelly Hanna, \u201cSelf-Narratives in Arabic Texts, 1500\u20131800\u201d, in Fran\u00e7ois-Joseph Ruggiu (ed.), <em>The Uses of First-Person Writings (Africa, America, Asia, Europe)<\/em>, op. cit., p. 142.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[12]<\/strong> \u201cThe limits of the genre [= Ego-Documents] should be drawn generously in order to allow for more texts to be included, texts that have come to light in the last thirty years \u2013 often quite unexpectedly \u2013 and were sometimes quite difficult to assess. With this in mind, I will analyze a short treatise (risale) that displays a particular constellation of several first-person narratives interlaced with third-person passages. The \u201cMenakib-i Sheykh Mehmed Emin Tokadi\u201d (Vita of Sheykh Mehmed Emin Tokadi) reflects the life and thought of Sheykh Mehmed Emin Tokadi (1664\u20131745), one of the more influential sheykhs of the 18th century Nakshbandiyya order of dervishes. One of his disciples, Seyyid Yahya Efendi (1711\u20131784), wrote down Mehmed Emin\u2019s pronouncements \u2013 in first person singular \u2013 but was not able to finish the work. One of his disciples, Seyyid Hasib \u00dcsk\u00fcdari (d. 1785\u201386), took over and wrote down the entire Vita.\u00bb Barbara Kellner-Heinkele \u00abThe Pearl in the Shell: Sheykh Mehmed Emin Tokadi\u2019s (d. 1745) Self-vita as scripted by Sheykh Seyyid Hasib \u00dcsk\u00fcdari.\u201d Barbara Kellner-Heinkele, cited in Selim Karahasano\u011flu, \u201cLearning from Past Mistakes and Living a Better Life: Report on the Workshop in Istanbul on Ottoman Ego-Documents\u201d, <em>Review of Middle East Studies<\/em>, 54(2), December 2020, p. 299.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dani\u00e8le Tosato-Rigo, 2025<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The term egodocument refers to texts in which individuals write about themselves, their immediate circle, or their wider community. 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