STANISŁAW LEM AND THE QUESTION OF ALIENS

One of Stanisław Lem’s fundamental themes is that even if there were alien life in outer space, we would never be able to understand it or communicate with it, a theme instantiated in Solaris. This paper argues that two dialectics of the alien encounter—aggressivity vs. non-aggressivity and comprehension vs. non-comprehension—define a schema within which Fiasco, Eden, Solaris and The Invincibles can be interpreted.

Duke Scholars

Author Fredric Jameson Literature