Saksofon, kapelusz i świece, czyli o przedmiotach w Traktacie o łuskaniu fasoli Wiesława Myśliwskiego
A saxophone, a hat and some candles, or on objects in Wiesław Myśliwski’s “A Treatise on Shelling Beans”

Summary/Abstract: The present essay aims to bring into focus the role of objects in the narrative strategy adopted by Wiesław Myśliwski in his A Treatise on Shelling Beans. It focuses primarily on two aspects: on the object as a carrier of memory which nests history and on the object as an element constituting the identity of the speaker. The tale of the protagonist-narrator clearly distinguishes things which are the so-called memory anchors. They focus the novel, perform a retardative function, but also develop the story being told. A saxophone, a hat, a plait, candles or a fork – it is around those objects that the narrator circles, and they become carriers of meanings and memories, it is on them that rests the weight of individual human histories. They take on immense significance in the context of the past being narrated, but also project onto the present, built on the foundation of what has already happened, passed away, or what still lasts.

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