Tekst staropolski jako odmienny obiekt badań? W poszukiwaniu narzędzi opisu

The author provides an answer to the question why Old Polish texts, especially mediaeval ones, constitute a separate subject of study. Primarily, he draws attention to the kinds of problems connected with the reading of those texts (e.g. identification of functional expressions), and with the various manifestations of multilayeredness. How to study such texts? The author suggests that the existing palette of methods be complemented with selected tools developed by modern textology, which so far have only sporadically been employed in the research of the oldest Polish texts. Meanwhile, their use makes possible a precise description and analysis, taking into account the multilayeredness and the traces of the work of many scribes, sometimes so large that they modify the arrengement of intentions and functions of the text. The author uses the example of Rozmyślanie przemyskie and other texts to show the complexity of such problems as the address of the text, its cohesion, continuity, and comprehensiveness – qualities that are only revealed when appropriate assumptions are made and adequate descriptive tools used.