Amazement and Interpretation: On the Never-Ending Study of Literature. Stanisław Lem in Conversation with Mateusz Nowak

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LOOK INSIDE
Published
2 December 2025
Series
Other publications - scientific monographs
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Copyright (c) 2026 University of Silesia Press & Tomasz Lem. All rights reserved

Details about this monograph

ISBN-13 (15)
978-83-226-4508-6

Amazement and Interpretation: On the Never-Ending Study of Literature. Stanisław Lem in Conversation with Mateusz Nowak

Authors

Mateusz Nowak
Stanisław Lem
Piotr Gorliński-Kucik (red. i oprac.)
University of Silesia in Katowice
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3733-4023
Paweł Jędrzejko (red. i oprac.)
University of Silesia in Katowice
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3251-2540
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31261/PN.4259
Keywords:
Stanisław Lem, literary theory, science fiction, interview, Mateusz Nowak, critical edition

Synopsis

Amazement and Interpretation: On the Never-Ending Study of Literature. Stanisław Lem in Conversation with Mateusz Nowak gathers a series of conversations between Mateusz Nowak and Stanisław Lem, conducted from 1992 to 2004—perhaps the very last book of its kind. While some of these dialogues appeared in print years ago, the heart of this volume is Stanisław Lem as a Connoisseur of Literature, a previously unpublished, in-depth interview that sheds new light on Lem’s literary worldview. Here, Lem speaks freely—incisive in his judgments, unafraid to revisit the past, and razor-sharp in his insights into contemporary literature, politics, and technology. Thoughtfully edited and critically introduced by Piotr Gorliński-Kucik and Paweł Jędrzejko, and featuring a foreword by acclaimed Lem scholar Professor Stanisław Bereś, this book offers an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s most original thinkers—captured in the quiet intimacy of his Kraków study.

Patronaty

Author Biographies

Mateusz Nowak

Graduate of the Polish Studies at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, and former journalist, is known for his in-depth engagement with the life and work of Stanisław Lem. In the 1990s, he conducted a series of interviews with the writer, the most extensive of which—unpublished for many years—forms the core of this volume. Nowak’s reflections combine philosophical sensitivity with a deeply personal perspective shaped by Poland’s era of transformation. [24.07.2025]

Piotr Gorliński-Kucik (red. i oprac.), University of Silesia in Katowice

Polish Studies scholar specializing in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Polish literature, with a particular focus on science fiction. He works at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, and is the author of TechGnosis, Uchronia, Science Fiction: The Prose of Jacek Dukaj (Katowice 2017) and “Tomorrow”: SF as a Mode of Thinking (Katowice 2024). [24.07.2025]

Paweł Jędrzejko (red. i oprac.), University of Silesia in Katowice

Theoretician of culture, Americanist, translator, and an Associate Professor at the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland. His research focuses on literary theory and existential philosophy in literature. He is the founding editor-in-chief of The Review of International American Studies and Vice-editor-in-Chief of Er(r)go: Theory – Literature – Culture. [24.07.2025]

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