Stanislaw Lem: Socio-political sci-fi. From: The Modern Language Review | Date: July 1, 1999| Author: Tighe, Carl | COPYRIGHT 1999 Modern Humanities Research Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Stanislaw Lem focuses on human society in his novels, portraying the results of blocked communication channels and the difficulties of altering human nature by political or social engineering. Lem was born in September 1921 in Lwow, Poland/Ukraine, his academic career in medicine was cut short by the invasions of Poland by Russia and Russia by Germany between 1939 and 1944. An overview of Lem's background, works and influences is given.

This article examines the life and work of the wor...