Science Fiction and Futurology

Book by Stanisław Lem

First edition

Science Fiction and Futurology (Polish: Fantastyka i futurologia) is a monograph of Stanisław Lem about science fiction and futurology, first printed by Wydawnictwo Literackie in 1970.[1]

The official Lem website describes the book as a triple feature: an attempt to create a theory of the genre, a self-interpretation of Lem's own works, and a review of the world's science fiction, "a yet another Lem's General Theory of Everything \- everything related to science fiction and its role in human knowledge acquisition".[2]

In the book, Lem reviews and classifies works of over 400 science fiction writers.[3]

The book was acutely critical of Western science fiction. As Lem wrote, "SF became a vulgar mythology of a technological civilization.... This monograph is an expression of my personal utopia, my longing for better SF, the one that should be."[2] In the 1972 edition the criticism was somewhat softened, in particular, in the judgement of the works of Philip K. Dick. Lem confessed that his opinion about Philip K. Dick was based on limited knowledge of his works, not the best ones.[4]

## Contents

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(Omitting forewords and afterwords)

### Volume 1. Structures

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I. The language of a literary work
II. The world of a literary work (chapter changed since the second edition of 1972)
III. Structures of literary creation
IV. From structuralism to traditional criticism
V. Sociology of science fiction

### Volume 2. Problem Fields of Science Fiction

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I. Catastrophe
II. Robots and people
III. Outer space and science fiction
IV. Metaphysics of science fiction and futurology of faith
V. Erotics and sex
VI. Man and superman
VII. Remanent

Lem writes that before starting with the two last huge subjects of the book, he would like to briefly dwell upon a large number of topics not covered in the book. Some of them, such as horror in science fiction and space opera, are only mentioned in passing. The section analyzes some motives of "biological" science fiction, the ones, in Lem's opinion, having gnoseological value, only briefly reviewing the subject of fictional mutants of various types, ranging from post-apocalyptic to experiments of mad scientists.[5]
VIII. Experiment in science fiction. From Bradbury to "New Wave"
IX. Utopia and futurology

## References

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1. ^ "Fantastyka i futurologia". In: Wojciech Orliński, Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie. Kraków: Znak, 2007. ISBN 978-83-240-0798-1.
2. ^ a b "Fantastyka i futurologia", at Lem's official website
3. ^ Станислав ЛЕМ о … «8. АЛЬФРЕД БЕСТЕР» ("Stanisław Lem about... '8. Alfred Bester'"), compiled by Victor Yaznevich, Космопорт, (Cosmoport magazine [be]) 2014, no. 12 (13)
4. ^ "Philip K. Dick, czyli fantomatyka mimo woli"
5. ^ Fantastyka i futurologia

## Further reading

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* "Igraszki i powinności fantastyki naukowej", an afterword by Jerzy Jarzębski about the book

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Works by Stanisław Lem

Novels|

* The Man from Mars (1946)
* Time Not Lost
* Hospital of the Transfiguration (1948)
* The Astronauts (1951)
* The Magellanic Cloud (1955)
* The Investigation (1959)
* Eden (1959)
* Return from the Stars (1961)
* Solaris (1961)
* Memoirs Found in a Bathtub (1961)
* The Invincible (1964)
* Highcastle (1966)
* His Master's Voice (1968)
* The Futurological Congress (1971)
* Professor A. Dońda (1973)
* The Chain of Chance (1975)
* Golem XIV (1981)
* Observation on the Spot (1982)
* Fiasco (1986)
* Peace on Earth (1987)

Short stories|

* "End of the World at Eight O'Clock" (1947)
* The Star Diaries (1957)
* "The Hunt " (1950s)
* "Terminus" (1961)
* "Lymphater's Formula" (1961)
* Fables for Robots (1964)
* The Cyberiad (1965)
* Tales of Pirx the Pilot (1966)
* "The Mask" (1974)

Major essays|

* Dialogs (1957)
* Summa Technologiae (1964)
* The Philosophy of Chance (1968)
* Science Fiction and Futurology (1970)
* Microworlds (1984)

Pseudepigraphy|

* A Perfect Vacuum (1971)
* Imaginary Magnitude (1973)
* One Human Minute (1986)

Plays|

* Korzenie (1940s)
* Do You Exist, Mr. Jones? (1955)
* Faithful Robot (1961)

Adaptations|

| Films|

* The Silent Star (1960)
* Ikarie XB-1 (1963)
* Solaris (1968)
* Roly Poly (1968)
* Solaris (1972)
* Hospital of the Transfiguration (1978)
* Inquest of Pilot Pirx (1979)
* Victim of the Brain (1988)
* Solaris (2002)
* 1 (2009)
* Maska (2010)
* The Congress (2013)
* His Master's Voice (2018)

|

TV|

* The Adventures of Pirx (1973)
* Ijon Tichy: Space Pilot (2007)
* Fear of a Bot Planet (1999)
* End of the World at Eight O'Clock (2015)

Other|

* Cyberiada (opera)
* Solaris (2019 play)
* The Invincible (video game) (2023)

Characters|

* Ijon Tichy
* Pilot Pirx
* Professor Tarantoga
* Mad scientists
* A. Dońda, A. Lymphater
* Lem's robots
* Trurl and Klapaucius, Terminus

Lemology|

| People|

* Stanisław Bereś
* Konstantin Dushenko
* Michael Kandel
* Daniel Mróz
* Wojciech Orliński
* Franz Rottensteiner
* Peter Swirski

|

Works|

* A Stanislaw Lem Reader
* Correspondence of Lem
* Rozmowy ze Stanisławem Lemem

Other|

* Honors bestowed on Lem
* Neologisms of Stanisław Lem
* Sepulka
* Lem's Law
* Works about Lem
* Year of Lem

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