Poznań w kryminale: przestrzeń zindywidualizowana czy anonimowa?

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the image of Poznań presented in contemporary Poznań crime novels. The vision of criminal Poznań is primarily an effect of the characters’ behavior, their ancestry, disposition and contemporary trends in urban naming. From the perspective of the genre, urbanonyms allow us to present the capital of Wielkopolska as a peaceful city, and on the basis of an contrast – an unknown and dangerous space, famous for its crime. It is worth noting, however, that the spaces usually differ depending on a specific district. The stereotype of a clear division into good and bad districts is broken here, and the metropolis – in contrast to a strongly individualized space – on the other extreme presents itself as an almost anonymous space, similar to
any other, larger Polish or European city. On the one hand, it results from contemporary civilization changes and the intermingling tendencies of glocalisation and globalization, but on the other, it can be an expression of the transformation of a culture in which we value evil and want to be at its center (provided that we are sure that in the end we will witness the victory of good).