Lemology.

Lem's most important study of science fiction Fantastyka i futurologia (Fantastic Literature and Futurology, 1970) contains a very detailed analysis of (mostly English language) science fiction (SF) literature, described by Lem as a "marriage of Einstein with Scheherazade". It is also an attempt to create an empirical theory of SF. This theory was intended to be a part of his more general `empirical theory of
literature', as outlined in the earlier Filozofia przypadku (Philosophy of Chance).
Fantastyka i futurologia (referred in this paper as FiF) is certainly not well known even in Lem's native Poland, so it should be no surprise that it was translated into only one principal foreign language. The main reason for this book's relative obscurity is its unusual status: a major theoretical treatise on a subject which was regarded (even in the 1970s) in most of the European academic circles as unworthy of any serious
analysis. Thus people who were capable of fully understanding and appreciating FiF were actually so prejudiced that they did not bother to publish a critical analysis or even a review. On the other hand, the book was too academic and theoretical not only for the `ordinary' readers of SF, but also for critics of the genre and even fanzine editors.
If FiF was translated into the English language, then there could be a chance for some critical reception. Unfortunately, there was no publisher prepared to take a risk and finance such a project. At the moment (in the early 2000s) there are only a few chapters available in English, and they are scattered around various periodicals (such as Science-Fiction Studies, further referred in this paper as S-FS) and collections
(such as Microworlds), hence it is very difficult for non-Polish speakers to fully appreciate Lem's contribution to the analysis of the genre. As Lem's theory of SF is well-written, innovative, passed well the test of time, and (above all) can be regarded as the most important key to his own SF and futurology, it actually deserves more attention than any of his other works.
The first volume of FiF, which is a subject of this paper, is titled `Structures'. It contains some highly theoretical reasoning on SF, which was (especially when it was originally published in 1970) without a precedent not only in Poland and the other countries of the former Soviet Bloc, but also in the West. The second volume is titled `Problem Fields of Fantastics'. It contains a detailed discussion of the major subjects
of the genre and a critique of the way those subjects have been handled by the authors and critics. Because of political constraints, Lem discusses mostly Western writings, but this does not mean that he ignored his Eastern European colleagues - see, for example, his essay `About the Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic'.
FiF is a continuation of the earlier study `SF' printed in 1962 in his collection of studies and essays Wejście na orbitę (Getting into Orbit). In this early study Lem rigorously investigated the theoretical basis of the genre, analysed in detail its major topics and themes and strongly criticised the SF prose written in the US and the UK between the early 1940s and late 1960s. According to Lem this Anglo-American SF was much more fictional than scientific, and thus akin to fairy tales for older children.

Introduction to "Solaris" by Stanisław Lem. The original text was to be published in "Życie Literackie" in a cycle “Nowe lektury szkolne” (“New Reading List for High Schools”). It should be also noted that in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Lem’s socrealistic SF novel "Obłok Magellana" (“Magellanic Cloud”) was a mandatory item on the high school reading list. This essay was published in Polish (in an abridged version) in the collection “Lektury licealisty. Szkice” (“Lectures of a High School Student. Essays”) edited by W. Pykosz and L. Bugajski, Wrocław, Ossolineum, 1986 pp. 137-149. Its full version was originally printed
in “Życie Literackie” No. 48 of 1983.

At this place I would like to analyse in more detail Lem's fall as a writer, the fall that began after he published in 1987 his last science fiction novels Fiasco (Fiasco) and Peace on Earth (Pokój na Ziemi). Only two years after the publication of these books, the Soviet ("communist') system collapsed in Poland, but also and definitely, Lem's creative vein ended. His collections of essays published after year 1990, such as Lube czasy (1995, The Pleasant Times), Tajemnica chińskiego pokoju (1996, Secret of the Chinese Room), Sex Wars (1996), Dziury w całym (1997, Holes in the Whole), Bomba megabitowa (1999, Megabyte Bomb), Okamgnienie (2000, The Twinkling of an Eye), Dylematy (2003, Dilemmas), Krótkie zwarcia (2004, Short Circuits) and especially Rasa drapieżców. Teksty ostatnie (2006, The Race of Predators. The Last Texts) are of almost unbelievably low quality, especially compared to the generally high quality of his earlier works, especially those written in the 1960s and 1970s.