JÓZEF CZECHOWICZS CINEMATIC INSPIRATIONS

This article deals with a series of prose narratives written by Józef Czechowicz in the late 1930s and called by him 'abridged novels'. The fact that they belong to that branch of interwar experimental prose which was inspired by the current vogue for the cinema provides the starting-point of the present analysis. It assumes that the cinematic art had a considerable impact both on Czechowicz's imagination and the shape of his film novels. The peculiar character of those narratives (typified by 'Archimedes' Circles') is shown by way of comparing them with matching film secenarios. The conclusions focus on the impact of the principles and techniques of screen composition on the structure of the 'abridged novels'.