Krymibryci: mikrocelebryci zbrodni
Crimibrities: microcelebrities of crime

Summary/Abstract: Cause célèbre, understood as a crime narrative, plays a special role in Western culture. The cultural background of criminal cases was analyzed by such influential scholars as Michel Foucault, or those cultural historians, who practiced style of historiography known as micro-history. They described causes célèbres not only as a precise reflection of the current problems of everyday life, but also of the mentality, beliefs and customs of local communities members, that is, their culture. As the 20th century mass media developed, the antagonist of cause célèbre gained the status of a star, and the stories about his deeds began to be modeled as film narratives. Now, thanks to the popularisation of social media, cause célèbre has taken on a new dimension, giving rise to a crimibrity figure – the criminal variant of micro-celebrity. Such figures are gaining social significance also in Poland, which has long missed the phenomenon of the `criminal star` cult.

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