In the novel Leica Format, Daša Drndić depicts a provincial town and the petty-bourgeois mentality of its inhabitants — both the old residents and the ‘newcomers’ and immigrants. The main characters, some of whom were mentioned in her previous works, encourage readers to look for connections between them and to wonder whether they are based on real people whose stories the author reconstructs from old photographs, documents, and records, fragments of which are embedded in the text. Using an almost cinematic montage technique and graphic devices such as narrowed columns and italics, Drndić evokes the town’s atmosphere — shaped by the mentality of its people — as well as the theme of escape, or the failed attempt to escape, and the profound feeling of not belonging.
