The hundredth anniversary of Stanisław Lem's birth
12.09.2021
September 2021 marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Stanisław Lem, one of the most widely read and known Polish science fiction writers, whose work is part of the canon of world literature. The Sejm of the Republic of Poland decided to commemorate this event and made 2021 the Year of Lem, which includes a number of events, such as exhibitions, conferences and festivals.
Lem's books have inspired and still inspire artists, writers, film and theatre directors. Adaptations of his works are among the most famous films of world cinema, and the motifs of Lem's work appear in various examples of mass culture. His scientific and journalistic publications in the field of philosophy of science, aesthetics and literary criticism are highly appreciated.
Stanisław Lem's work is mainly associated with fantasy, but it is worth remembering that this writer was also a philosopher, futurologist, publicist, essayist and literary critic. His books deal with topics such as human nature, especially in the light of the development of science and technology, the possibility of communication between intelligent beings, and the place of man in the universe. Lem perfectly integrated philosophical and scientific reflection into the popular literary genre and combined it with a captivating story, becoming the most translated Polish writer: his books have been translated into over 40 languages and published in over 30 million copies.
His debut book was the novel Astronauts, published in 1951. Stanisław Lem considered Cyberiad (1965) to be his most important work, and Solaris (1961) is the most famous novel in Poland and in the world. Thanks to the great success of this book, after the film adaptation of Andrei Tarkovsky, Lem was recognized internationally as a master of speculative literature.
Stanisław Lem is an extremely versatile author. In addition to the novels of the classic science fiction genre, he wrote realistic prose (Szpital Przemienienia - Hospital of the Transfiguration), childhood memories (Wysoki Zamek - High Castle), detective novels (Śledztwo, Katar – Investigation, Rhinitis), and metaphysical grotesque (Pamiętnik znaleziony w wannie - Diary found in a bathtub). So extensive was Lem's variety of style and knowledge that in 1974 the American science fiction writer Philip K. Dick wrote to the FBI convinced that Lem was in fact a committee of communist agents, signing themselves with an invented pseudonym.
The slogan of the Year of Lem, "I've seen the future", perfectly reflects the accuracy and timeliness of his ideas and observations. "When observing contemporary social, cultural and economic changes, we often get the impression that we have already read about them - precisely in the works of Lem," says Barbara Schabowska, director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. In his books published in the second half of the twentieth century, there are concepts very similar to e-books, audiobooks, tablets, the game "Sims", 3D printing, virtual reality or nanotechnology, making Lem a true visionary.
Lem's presence in our times goes beyond the literary, social, cultural and technological context. For example, the asteroid 3836 and the first Polish scientific satellite were named after Stanisław Lem, who also had extensive knowledge in the field of astronomy.
In the Year of Lem, an extremely interesting journey through literature, philosophy, technology and futurology began, with the hope that more and more people, in Poland and around the world, will be able to meet the work and talent of this great Polish writer.
