Zamknięte Miasto. Kraków w Chochołach Wita Szostaka .......... 101

THE CLOSED CITY. KRAKÓW IN CHOCHOŁY BY WIT SZOSTAK

Chochoły (2010), a novel by Wit Szostak, can be read as a record of urban experience of Cracow in the beginning of the 21st century and as a comment on the contemporary identity of the capital of Little Poland. Issues central for this understanding of the novel are related to Szostak’s metaphor of the Closed City.The context for the interpretation of a very important role that city walls play in the space of Chochoły, is the art of Cracow (the mural M-city 658 by Mariusz Waras), as well as Cracovian studies and urban sociology. As in Szostak’s novel physical structure and the plan of the city is an expression of nature of its inhabitants, strictly fortified Cracow is hermetic and focused on the past. The cultural memory of the city is at the same time a burden and an inspiration. Varia-tions on Cracovian tradition and urban space represent a dream of its openness.