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10
PawełMadejski
OurtimesarenotsofamiliarwithLatinlanguage,unlesswetakeintoconsid-
erationso-calledłacinapodwórkowa.2Nonetheless,fromtimetotimewemight
bepleasantlysurprisedandmeetbitsofCicero’slanguage.Thepresentarticleis
dedicatedtosuchfragments.
Tostartwith,Iowethereadersafewwordsofexplanationforusingarather
unusualterm“streetepigraphy.”Epigraphicevidencecoversavividvarietyof
inscriptions,fromResgestaeDiviAugustithroughchurchepitaphsandgraves
tomerelatrinewritings.Alldefinitionsofepigraphyhavetheirinaccuracies,es-
peciallywhenonetriestoresolvethefundamentalproblem:Whatisthesubject
ofepigraphyasahistoricaldiscipline?Simple“inscriptions”doesnotexplain
anything.Polishlanguageoffersaveryconvenientdivisionbetweeninskrypcja
(inscription)andnapis(moreorless:lettering).Inmyopinion,thetruesubject
ofepigraphyisnapis-allwrittenmedianotintendedtobepreservedinlibraries
andarchives:inscriptionsintheirpropermeaning(letteringincised,cutorcastin
ahardmaterial),textsembroidered,painted,printed,writtenwithinkorwithany
othermaterialonanystuff(carrier),evenpaper(leaflets,handbills,posters)canbe
calledaltogetherepigraphs.Inmyview,anepigrapherisascholarinvestigating
intotherealmofsuchepigraphs.3
Sothepresentcontributiondealswiththeepigraphsoperatingwithinthe
street-anartificialchannelfortranslocationandcommunication.Forcenturies,
streetsarefullofvariousepigraphs-graffiti,posters,signboards,banners,swing
signs,andtextsliterallycarriedbypeople(ongarments,tattoos,bags)andtheir
vehicles.Allofthemarethoughttomakepubliclyknownsentiments,beliefs,
offers,views;toreachthewidestpossibleaudience.Someoftheepigraphscar-
riedbyhumansarenotdestinedtobewidelyknown(jewellery,sometattoos,
medals,personalweapon,buttons)andIhavediscardedthem.Anotherignored
categoryarestreetepigraphscreatedbyanofficialbody-inPolandLatinorGreek
sentencesembellishusuallybuildingsoflibraries,schools,courts,churches,
departments.4ForobviousreasonsIalsoexcludedsepulchralinscriptions-they
operateinadifferentsphere.Iaminterestedinepigraphsmadebycommon
people,byproducersofdailygoodsandservices,thatcanbeseenasmanifesta-
tionsofthepopularculture(butifanofficialorquasi-officialbodyexploitsthis
erowiprzezuczniówimłodszychkolegówzokazjiJego60.urodzin.Ed.A.Wolicki.Warszawa
2009,pp.48-56.
2Literally‘backyardLatin’-inthisphrasethewordLatinisusedinasimilarmeaningthat
thewordFrenchinEnglish“pardonmyFrench.”Inboththecasesobscenewordsareseemingly
borrowedfromaforeignlanguage.
3PiotrKowalskilabelledallshortnotes-fromgraffitionwallstoentriesinmemorial
books-as“inscriptions,”sohebaseditonliteralmeaningofawordinscribo-‘Iwritein’;
seeP.Kowalski:Samotnośćiwspólnota:inskrypcjewprzestrzeniachwspółczesnegożycia.Opole
1993.
4Seeforexample:Regulaeiuris:łacińskieinskrypcjenakolumnachSąduNajwyższegoRze-
czypospolitejPolskiej.Ed.W.Wołodkiewicz.Warszawa2006.
