Patografia w rytmie serca

Rok, w którym nie umarłem Mikołaja Grynberga

Abstract

The article suggests interpreting Mikołaj Grynberg’s book “The Year I Did not Die” as a patographic narrative. In this type of narrative, storytelling becomes a strategy for sustaining life and regaining a sense of self after experiencing a sudden heart attack. By placing illness within a narrative framework, it shifts from medicine to the sphere of experience and meaning-making. Rather than clinical data and therapeutic procedures, we are presented with an intimate account oscillating between feelings of control, helplessness, fear, and agency. A narratological analysis reveals that the structure of Grynberg’s book — short, rhythmic chapters reminiscent of heartbeats — mirrors the dynamics of the borderline experience while simultaneously organising the chaos of the narrative. As a “sick writer”, the author uses his literary skills to reconstruct his physical and existential crisis, transforming it into a communicable story that breaks the monopoly of medical discourse and gives voice to the patient.

The article contextualises this approach within the framework of medical humanities and pathography research, emphasising the contemporary shift from eschatology to the subjective perspective of patients, who are often isolated and alone. The article’s thesis is that patographic “storytelling to live” not only tames trauma and breaks the cultural silence surrounding suffering, but also has a therapeutic effect. It gives the disease a form that enables understanding and negotiation of identity and the practice of caring for physical and metaphysical healing.