Until 1918 Polish science fiction grew out of utopian literature, and it started in the late 18th century during the
Polish Enlightenment, when
Michał Dymitr Krajewski wrote a novel about the adventures of a Pole on the Moon. His work, ''
(Wojciech Zdarzyński, Describing His Life and Adventures
), was the first Polish literary work to describe a journey to the Moon, using a balloon as the means of travel to lend credibility to the narrative. Descriptions of flying machines, rapid-fire weapons, and future medicine can be found in Podróż do Kalopei, do kraju najszczęśliwszego na świecie
(Journey to Kalopea, the Country of the Happiest People in the World
) by from 1817. In Polish Enlightenment literature, fantastical elements were typically debunked by the end of the work, as seen in The Manuscript Found in Saragossa'' by
Jan Potocki, where the appearance of ghosts serves as a satire of superstitions by the rational author. In the mid-19th century, during the age of
romanticism in Poland,
Adam Mickiewicz, regarded by many as Poland's greatest poet, also worked on a
Verne-like science fiction novel
A History of the Future, but never published it (only a few fragments remain). Fantastical elements can also be found in works inspired by folk literature, such as Adam Mickiewicz's
Ballads and Romances or
Juliusz Słowacki's
Balladyna, as well as in
Gothic novels. In the 1840s, the literary group drew on fantastical motifs from folk literature and German Romanticism, particularly the works of
Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann. One of the works from this period that is close to the conventions of science fiction is the historical novel
Sędziwoj by from 1845. Science fiction of the
positivist era included popular science lectures with educational purposes (e.g.,
Baśń o niezgodnych królewiczach by
Maria Julia Zaleska or ''
by ) and works about "wondrous inventions", e.g., Niewidzialny
by or the Parisian episode in The Doll by Bolesław Prus, perhaps the most famous Polish writer of the time.For many years, Polish science fiction developed somewhat in the shadow of Jerzy Żuławski, but no work until Stanisław Lem's era matched the trilogy either in the weight of the issues discussed or in literary quality.''Science fiction of the
Young Poland period was associated with the era's interests in paranormal phenomena and the causes of personality disorders.
1918–1939 In Polish science fiction of the interwar period,
grotesque elements began to be used, mainly for satirical purposes. New authors and new issues emerged. Among the new themes, the concept of a miraculous invention was particularly explored (e.g.,
Eliksir profesora Bohusza [
Elixir of Professor Bohusz] by from 1923), a motif that also appeared in crime novels (e.g.,
Błękitny szpieg [
The Blue Spy] by from 1926) and adventure stories (e.g.,
Wyspa elektryczna [
The Electric Island] by Edward Krüger from 1925,
Wyspa Mędrców [
The Island of the Wise] by from 1930). The catastrophism of the era led to the creation of future-oriented novels from the 1920s onward, in which disaster often played a central role, sometimes on a cosmic scale. In high literature, the theme of catastrophe was presented in the form of grotesque (e.g.,
Nienasycanie [
Insatiability] by
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz,
S.O.S. by
Jalu Kurek).
1945–1989 After
World War II, in the first decade of the
People's Republic of Poland, science fiction was used as a
propaganda tool by the
communist regime, with its main purpose being to show the "bright future" of
communism. Only after
Joseph Stalin's death were Polish writers to gain more leeway and start questioning the reality around them, albeit always struggling against
censorship. Science fiction literature was treated with caution by the authorities of the Polish People's Republic. Despite this, in 1946,
Stanisław Lem's first novel,
The Man from Mars, was published in the magazine '
. The first post-war science fiction book was ' (
The Shelter on Castle Square) by from 1947; that same year,
Baczność! A.R. 7: Powieść o atomie (
Attention! A.R. 7: A Novel About the Atom) by was also published. A slight increase in interest in science fiction was sparked by the anthology ''
(Polish Fantastic Novel'') published in 1949 by
Julian Tuwim. At that time, he was an undisputed leader of Polish science fiction, first questioning the regime's actions in his
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub. He was followed by
Janusz A. Zajdel,
Konrad Fiałkowski and
Czesław Chruszczewski, and from the mid-70s for a short period by the acclaimed writings of
Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg. The principles of socialist realism adopted in 1949 meant that some works were written in a tendentious and sometimes even caricatural manner. The
Polish October led to changes in cultural policy, allowing the publication of novels written many years earlier – in 1956,
Zaziemskie światy (
Worlds Beyond Earth) by
Władysław Umiński, a veteran of Polish science fiction, and ''
(People of the Atomic Age
) by (both completed in 1948) were released. The literature of this period is characterized by an optimistic vision of a future society that, having satisfied its needs on Earth, decides to "reach for the stars". Before 1960, several more novels of varying quality were published, such as (Across the Ocean of Time
) by , (In Pursuit of the Black Dwarf
) by , (Aspasia
) by , (The Disaster on the "Sun of the Antarctic"
) by Adam Hollanek, and the final part of the Boruń and Trepka trilogy, (Cosmic Brothers
). Finally, Poland began to print science fiction works by Western authors (the first American anthologies, [Toward the Fourth Dimension
] and [Rocket Trails''], were published in 1958 through the efforts of ). The 1960s marked the flourishing of Lem's work, during which he published such novels as
Eden (1959),
Solaris,
Return from the Stars, and
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub (all in 1961),
The Invincible (1964), and ''
His Master's Voice'' (1968). Simultaneously, Lem's works began to include grotesque elements that referenced the philosophical tales of earlier authors (e.g.,
The Star Diaries, ''
[The Book of Robots
], The Cyberiad''). This period also saw the crystallization of the conventions of Polish science fiction, accomplished by writers such as Lem,
Krzysztof Boruń,
Konrad Fiałkowski, , and . During this time, several new authors debuted, including
Edmund Wnuk-Lipiński and
Janusz Zajdel, while
Jerzy Broszkiewicz and
Alfred Szklarski published fantastic works for young readers. ,
Katowice), containing only new releases of science fiction and fantasy by Polish authors with surnames from P to Z (approximately from first half of 2006). Despite their popularity in Poland, virtually none of these books have been translated into English. In the 1970s, writers such as ,
Wiktor Żwikiewicz, and
Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg published their first works, with Wiśniewski-Snerg's debut novel ''
causing a significant stir in the literary community. In the late 1970s, the genre social science fiction (Polish: fantastyka socjologiczna'') arose in the
People's Republic of Poland. At these times it focused on the development of societies dominated by
totalitarian governments. The genre is dominated by
Janusz A. Zajdel (
Limes Inferior,
Paradyzja),
Edmund Wnuk-Lipiński (
Apostezjon trilogy),
Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg and
Marek Oramus. Some works by
Stanisław Lem can also be classified within this genre. The fantastical settings of books of this genre were usually only a pretext for analysing the structure of Polish society, and were always full of allusions to reality.
After 1989 The systemic transformation that took place in 1989 also affected the position of fantasy literature in the country. State-owned publishing houses lost their monopolistic positions. Newly established, often short-lived companies sought to make up for many years of backlog by massively publishing Western science fiction literature, which was often of low quality. The genre largely transformed itself into
political fiction, represented by writers such as
Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz, although an echo is visible in the 1990s
dystopia/
hard sf duology by
Tomasz Kołodziejczak. Changes also affected the only magazine on the market,
Fantastyka. The fall of the state publisher meant that the editorial team took over the magazine, with
Lech Jęczmyk becoming the editor-in-chief, followed by Maciej Parowski for a longer period. The scene was transformed around and after 2002, with SuperNOWA losing its dominant position, and many new Polish writers, the "2002 generation", appearing. == Modern writers ==