POWIEŚCI KRYMINALNE WALEREGO PRZYBOROWSKIEGO. W POSZUKIWANIU GATUNKU.

WALERY PRZYBOROWSKI'S CRIME NOVELS: REWRITING THE GENRE.

This article combines a general introduction to the crime fiction of Walery Przyborowski with a study of the structure of the plot of his novels. The analyses of ten of his novels conclude with a typology of their narrative schemes, shown in the context of certain invariant patterns and the conventions of related literary genres. While the main objective of this study is to outline the structure of crime story and the social issues depicted in Przyborowski's crime fiction, it also pays some attention to the ways in which it reflects his concerns about contemporary life and the condition of Poland under foreign rule. Basically, Przyborowski's formula is to make use of the staples of the genre - mystery, adventure, romance - and the techniques of the popular novel. Moreover, his novels, like all of the 19th-century crime fictions, are clearly indebted to the conventions of the historical novel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]