Social science fiction in Poland

{{Interlanguage link|Adam Mazurkiewicz|pl|Adam Mazurkiewicz (filolog)}} traces the roots of this phenomenon to the popularity of Latin American literature in Poland during the 1970s, which began with the publication of Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar in 1968. This unique cult made it possible to talk about politics without falling into journalism.{{Harvard citation text|Mazurkiewicz|2011|pp=180–181}} According to {{Interlanguage link|Przemysław Czapliński|pl|Przemysław Czapliński}}, the Polish reader received a literary statement that commented on their non-textual experience – somewhat substitutive, as it did not fit specifically into Polish realities, although it universalized the totalitarian experience, enabling Polish audiences to see parallels to their native reality.

Mazurkiewicz identifies a second factor that influenced the formation of science fiction literature in Poland at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s: the publication of the anthology series Kroki w nieznane ({{Interlanguage link|Steps into the Unknown|pl|Kroki w nieznane}}), edited by Lech Jęczmyk between 1970 and 1976.{{Harvard citation text|Mazurkiewicz|2011|p=181}} The ambitious prose presented there had a strong influence on the writers publishing at that time. Mazurkiewicz cites Rafał Ziemkiewicz's opinion that the introduction of the concept of fantasy, identified with metaphor and a means of artistic expression, to the Polish reader in the pages of 'Steps into the Unknown' had a strong impact on the writers publishing at that time, which resulted in the search for a new concept of social fantasy that metaphorically described the present.

{{Interlanguage link|Andrzej Niewiadowski|pl|Andrzej Niewiadowski}}, outlining the political and social background of the movement, writes that it was in some sense prepared by the authorities, who, at the moment of the collapse of the propaganda of success, wanted to find successors to Stanisław Lem endowed with literary talent.{{Harvard citation text|Niewiadowski|1989|p=392}} However, these actions had the opposite effect: the young writers, whose debuts were thus made easier, began to create on their own account, ignoring the enlightened advice of their mentors.{{Harvard citation text|Niewiadowski|1989|p=393}}

The first signal of changes in Polish fantasy was the publication of the anthology Wołanie na Mlecznej Drodze ({{Interlanguage link|A Call on the Milky Way|pl|Wołanie na Mlecznej Drodze}}) in 1976, where it turned out that the debutants had a critical attitude towards convention, old themes, were distrustful of technology, and contested optimistic visions of the world [...] and scientific motivation clearly loosened.{{Harvard citation text|Klementowski|2003|p=88}} Previously, a significant event in Polish fantasy of the early 1970s was the debut of Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg with {{Interlanguage link|Robot (novel)|lt=Robot|pl|Robot (powieść)}} (1973), in which the author focused on the issue of the essence of humanity in a technicized world. In the second half of the 1970s, psychological issues were taken up by Jacek Sawaszkiewicz, Wiktor Żwikiewicz, Wiesław Malinowski,{{Harvard citation text|Klementowski|2003|pp=88–89}} as well as older generation creators known until then for writing hard science fiction: Adam Hollanek, Konrad Fiałkowski,{{Harvard citation text|Klementowski|2003|p=89}} and Krzysztof Boruń.{{Harvard citation text|Klementowski|2003|p=90}}

At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, there was a quantitative and qualitative boom in Polish science fiction.{{Harvard citation text|Klementowski|2003|p=9}} Andrzej Niewiadowski writes that essentially, after 1976, almost all Polish SF became prose of a sociological nature.

During this period, creators were no longer satisfied with the conventional formulas. Instead, "space adventures" were increasingly replaced by sociological diagnoses. In works of this genre, the fantastic plot was merely a pretext for deliberations that had little to do with the described reality, and the choice of plot situations allowed for a multiplicity of meanings. As a result, fantastic works could mirror the realities of the contemporary world for the reader [...] be an allusion, a metaphor,{{Harvard citation text|Mazurkiewicz|2011|p=182}} thereby drawing attention to phenomena that troubled readers while pretending to depict a distant future, thus staying on the fringes of censorship interest.{{Harvard citation text|Mazurkiewicz|2011|p=183}}

Ziemkiewicz assessed that Polish SF creators did not focus on creating models of new social solutions (as in Western science fiction) but on formulating warnings against the degeneration of existing models. The writers themselves did not hide that the goal of their works, dealing with non-existent societies, was to expose the present. By scrutinizing the pathologies of the contemporary Polish People's Republic, they warned against their potential consequences.{{Harvard citation text|Szczerbakiewicz|2015|p=140}}

Janusz Zajdel said:

We need to write the truth in a veiled form to break through the armor that protects the real vision of the world. The truth is dressed in a costume and only then released among the people. This is characteristic of societies where the significance of words does not matter, but their sound does, where an imaginary image of reality is presented to be believed. The same truth, but expressed differently, will pass through certain cordons that are set up.

• Edmund Wnuk-Lipiński: Apostezjon Trilogy – Wir pamięci ({{Interlanguage link|The Whirlpool of Memory|pl|Wir pamięci}}, 1979), Rozpad połowiczny ({{Interlanguage link|Half-Life (1988 novel)|lt=Half-Life|pl|Rozpad połowiczny}}, 1988), Mord założycielski ({{Interlanguage link|Founding Murder|lt=|pl|Mord założycielski}}, 1989);
• {{Interlanguage link|Andrzej Krzepkowski (writer)|lt=Andrzej Krzepkowski|pl|Andrzej Krzepkowski}}, {{Interlanguage link|Andrzej Wójcik|lt=|pl|Andrzej Wójcik (pisarz)}}: Obszar nieciągłości ({{Interlanguage link|The Area of Discontinuity|pl|Obszar nieciągłości}}, 1979);
• Janusz Zajdel: Van Troff's Cylinder (1980), Limes inferior (1982), Wyjście z cienia ({{Interlanguage link|Emerging from the Shadow|pl|Wyjście z cienia}}, 1983), Cała prawda o planecie Ksi (The Complete Truth About Planet Xi, 1983), Paradyzja (1984);
• Marek Oramus: Senni zwycięzcy ({{Interlanguage link|Sleepy Victors|pl|Senni zwycięzcy}}, 1982), Dzień drogi do Meorii ({{Interlanguage link|A Day's Journey to Meoria|pl|Dzień drogi do Meorii}}, 1990);
• Wiktor Żwikiewicz: Druga jesień ({{Interlanguage link|Second Autumn|pl|Druga jesień}}, 1982);
• Maciej Parowski: Twarzą ku ziemi ({{Interlanguage link|Face to the Ground|pl|Twarzą ku ziemi}}, 1982);
• {{Interlanguage link|Czesław Białczyński|pl|Czesław Białczyński}}: Miliardy białych płatków ({{Interlanguage link|Billions of White Flakes|pl|Miliardy białych płatków}}, 1983);
• Andrzej Ziemiański: Daimonion (short stories, 1985), Wojny urojone (Imaginary Wars, 1987), Bramy strachu (Gates of Fear, 1990);
• Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz: Władca szczurów (Lord of the Rats, short stories, 1987).

The first published work in this subgenre of science fiction is considered to be Edmund Wnuk-Lipiński's Wir pamięci, released in 1979.{{Harvard citation text|Parowski|1990|p=298}} However, the novels by Janusz Zajdel gained the most recognition and popularity.{{Harvard citation text|Parowski|1990|pp=303, 313–314}}{{Cite book |last1=Niewiadowski |first1=Andrzej |title=Leksykon polskiej literatury fantastycznonaukowej |last2=Smuszkiewicz |first2=Antoni |date=1990 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Poznańskie |isbn=978-83-210-0892-9 |edition= |location=Poznań |page=227 |language=pl}}{{Harvard citation text|Szczerbakiewicz|2015|p=142}} Critics believe that Marek Oramus' novel Dzień drogi do Meorii from 1990 marks the symbolic closure of this trend in Polish science fiction.{{Cite book |last=Mazurkiewicz |first=Adam |title=O polskiej literaturze fantastycznonaukowej lat 1990–2004 |date=2007 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego |isbn=978-83-7525-117-3 |location=Łódź |page=17 |language=pl}}{{Harvard citation text|Leś|2008|p=75}}

Almost all of these novels were published long after their creation. This delay was partly due to the cultural policies of the authorities following the declaration of martial law in Poland. In 1982, to alleviate public discontent, the government decided to release many previously withheld works (including mainstream literature like Jerzy Andrzejewski's Miazga ({{Interlanguage link|Pulp (1979 novel)|lt=Pulp|pl|Miazga (powieść)}}){{Cite book |last1=Synoradzka-Dermadre |first1=Anna |title=Miazga |last2=Synoradzka-Demadre |first2=Anna |date=2002 |publisher=Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich |isbn=978-83-04-04608-5 |editor-last=Andrzejewski |editor-first=Jerzy |editor-link=Jerzy Andrzejewski |location=Wrocław; Kraków |page=CXX |language=pl |chapter=Wstęp}} and, after years of efforts, allowed the publication of the magazine Fantastyka.{{Harvard citation text|Parowski|2011|pp=43–44}} Druga jesień, a novel completed in 1977, was published five years later.{{Harvard citation text|Parowski|1990|p=107}} Senni zwycięscy, written between 1976 and 1978,{{Harvard citation text|Parowski|1990|p=121}} was released four years later.{{Harvard citation text|Parowski|1990|p=300}} Twarzą ku ziemi, completed in 1979, was published after three years.

• Science fiction and fantasy in Poland

• {{Cite book |last=Parowski |first=Maciej |author-link=Maciej Parowski |title=Czas fantastyki |publisher=Glob |year=1990 |isbn=83-7007-193-7 |location=Szczecin |language=pl |ref={{sfnref|Parowski|1990}}}}
• {{Cite book |last=Parowski |first=Maciej |author-link=Maciej Parowski |title=Małpy Pana Boga. Słowa |publisher=Narodowe Centrum Kultury |year=2011 |isbn=978-83-61587-72-9 |location= |language=pl |ref={{sfnref|Parowski|2011}}}}
• {{Cite book |last=Leś |first=Mariusz |url=https://repozytorium.uwb.edu.pl/jspui/handle/11320/7820 |title=Fantastyka socjologiczna. Poetyka i myślenie utopijne |publisher=Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku |year=2008 |isbn=978-83-7431-191-5 |language=pl |ref={{sfnref|Leś|2008}}}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Mazurkiewicz |first=Adam |year=2011 |title=Między fantastyką i aluzją: SOCIAL FICTION jako kryptopolityczny nurt polskiej literatury lat siedemdziesiątych i osiemdziesiątych XX wieku |url=https://dspace.uni.lodz.pl:8443/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11089/2272/Adam%20Mazurkiewicz.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Polonica |language=pl |location=Łódź |publisher=Uniwersytet Łódzki |volume=14 |issue=2 |issn=1505-9057 |ref={{sfnref|Mazurkiewicz|2011}}}}
• {{Cite book |last=Niewiadowski |first=Andrzej |title=Spór o SF |publisher=Wydawnictwo Poznańskie |year=1989 |isbn=83-210-0815-1 |editor-last=Handke |editor-first=Ryszard |location=Poznań |language=pl |chapter=Świadectwa prognoz społecznych w polskiej fantastyce naukowej (1945–1985) |ref={{sfnref|Niewiadowski|1989}} |editor-last2=Jęczymyk |editor-first2=Lech |editor-last3=Okólska |editor-first3=Barbara}}
• {{Cite book |last=Klementowski |first=Robert |title=Modelowe boksowanie ze światem. Polska literatura fantastyczna na przełomie lat 70. i 80. |publisher=Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek |year=2003 |isbn=83-7322-608-7 |location=Toruń |language=pl |ref={{sfnref|Klementowski|2003}}}}
• {{Cite book |last=Szczerbakiewicz |first=Rafał |url=https://repozytorium.uwb.edu.pl/jspui/bitstream/11320/11228/3/1984_Literatura_i_kultura_schylkowego_PRL_u.pdf |title=1984. Literatura i kultura schyłkowego PRL-u |publisher=Uniwersytet w Białymstoku |year=2015 |isbn=978-83-64703-69-0 |editor-last=Budrowska |editor-first=Kamila |series=Badania filologiczne nad cenzurą PRL |volume=V |location=Białystok |language=pl |chapter=Metonimie PRL-u w fantastyce lat 80. Przypadek Paradyzji (1984) Janusza Zajdla |ref={{sfnref|Szczerbakiewicz|2015}} |editor-last2=Jurkowska |editor-first2=Elżbieta |editor-last3=Gardocki |editor-first3=Wiktor |chapter-url=https://repozytorium.uwb.edu.pl/jspui/bitstream/11320/11137/1/R_Szczerbakiewicz_Metonimie_PRLu_w_fantastyce_lat_80.pdf}}

Category:Social science fiction

Category:Science fiction by genre

Category:Polish science fiction

Category:20th century in Poland

Category:Polish People's Republic