Krytycznie o gatunku – Lema i Dukaja poglądy na fantastykę naukową

Abstract

In the essay Science fiction: a hopeless case - with exceptions, Stanisław Lem spoke negatively about science fiction (but also about its authors and fans), proving its secondary nature and entanglement in market laws, pointing out the lack of reliable criticism from outside the fandom and flattering the tastes of recipients who only seek entertainment in literature. The author of Solaris included science fiction in the “lower kingdom” of literature, contrasting it with mainstream (“upper kingdom”). Thus, he symbolically strengthened the division into the fantastic “ghetto” and mainstream literature.Jacek Dukaj also spoke about science fiction in a slightly less categorical tone. In the essay Krajobraz po zwycięstwie, czyli polska fantastyka AD 2006 [Landscape after victory, or Polish fantasy AD 2006], the author of Ice noticed similar problems that Lem had seen in the past (lack of external criticism, lack of ambition, stagnation and reluctance of SF writers to go beyond plot and language patterns, flattering fashions and treating science fiction prose only as entertainment literature); however, unlike Lem, he seemed to be interested in the fate of his environment and proposed specific solutions that could raise the rank of science fiction.