SPOKEN WORD VERSUS WRITTEN WORD: CICERO'S AND MICKIEWICZ' EXPERIENCE (Zywy glos wobec zapisanego slowa: klopoty Cycerona, klopoty Mickiewicza)

The author revives here his memories of Professor Kazimierz Kumaniecki's seminars devoted to textual criticism of the 'De oratore' in 1967-1972. In his approach to Cicero's work, Kumaniecki proved to be a forerunner of the scholars of the last decade who introduce the problems of orality and use of writing into its interpretation. Similar problems are present in Adam Mickiewicz's lectures on Latin literature, delivered in Lausanne in 1839-1840. Both Cicero and Mickiewicz tried to find their way to the minds of their contemporaries and descendants balancing between the persuasive efficacy of live speech and permanence of writing.