Solaris: The Sovietisation of Space
Amidst the nirvana of economic and political collectivisation during the Sovietization of Poland, the Poles were constrained by the lingering menace of Soviet surveillance. With the KGB’s watchful eye came an incessant apprehension; the very apprehension that influenced Stanislaw Lem’s procreation of the Planet Solaris. Standing as Lem’s magnus opus, ‘Solaris’ is a masterful amalgamation of science fiction and dystopian allusions. Though it may seem like a novel that is far ahead of its time, ‘Solaris’ speaks to the very nature of life in the Soviet utopia that was Poland in the 1960s. At the spearhead of the New Wave movement in science fiction, ‘Solaris’ buckles down on the dark underbelly of the human imagination. Rather than contributing to the generic sci-fi sphere of futuristic technology and aliens, Lem’s ‘Solaris’ entails a more brooding and unforgiving landscape. Regardless of being a newcomer to the sci-fi genre, the feeling of trepidation put forth in the novel was well-acquainted with the Poles in the 1960s.
‘Solaris’ tells a tale of human sentience through a research station on a planet covered in a homeostatic plasma that regulates its being. Protagonist Kris Kelvin arrives at Solaris and senses something gravely amiss about the other researchers who seem to be bordering on psychosis. Soon, he finds out why. The unsettling emergence of hyper-realistic ‘visitors’, one of which is Kelvin’s deceased wife, haunt the researchers and steer them away from research and towards self-questioning. The storyline of ‘Solaris’ begs the question of why humans yearn to explore far beyond their means to learn about the universe when we cannot truly understand our own selves.
Written in the era of Yuri Gagarin and the Soviet Space Program, ‘Solaris’ pertains to humans’ profound thirst for knowledge. Stanislaw Lem himself has a robust foundation in science and details the narrative of space exploration very vividly. What may seem like a work of hard sci-fi delves instead into philosophical realms and the reality of Polish life under Soviet rule. Upon touchdown on Solaris, Kelvin immediately addresses a sense of “feeling watched” and “imprisonment”. This epitomizes a Soviet state where communist ideals and surveillance were part of the air people breathed. An almost stifling atmosphere is curated in the novel which parallels Polish life with censorship, bans on alcohol and cigarettes, and no valuable possessions. The Soviet rule regulated quotidien life in a manner that left it with no recreation and enjoyment. However, the bland taste that leaves on your tongue is no match for the terror in which people lived. A society ridden by the scrutiny and violence of the KGB alludes to a dystopia that the Poles called everyday life. Lem repeatedly refers to this consternation through Kelvin’s dialogues such as “thick scum of morbid apprehensions that pervade me” and “fixed stare was becoming unbearable.” Lem makes the reader, too, feel immersed in a suffocating atmosphere of impending doom.
The author displays the limits of human intelligentsia and questions our willingness to confront the unknown. As Snow says in the novel, “We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors.” This bears stark importance in the dystopian sphere which reiterates that humans cannot primitively conceptualize that which is foreign. It links back to the concept of Plato’s Cave from ‘The Republic’ which elucidates that omnipresent ideals control our society but we cannot perceive them due to proximity. Similarly, it parallels George Orwell’s iconic lines “War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength.” All of these authors have their own takes on the interplay between human philosophy and society.These ideologies correlate with ‘Solaris’ by addressing the cognitive dissonance that humans experience upon encountering something that surpasses our bounds of comprehension. This distress is that which is felt by the crew at Solaris when ‘visitors’ appear.
All in all, Stanislaw Lem masterfully concocts an amalgam of an allegorical representation of communist Poland as well as commentary on the human condition. ‘Solaris’ is a testament to the afflictions of the Poles under Soviet rule as well as a philosophical discussion on the ceiling of human comprehension and intellect. Lem’s eccentric take on sci-fi exhibits the darker facets of being human while remaining in touch with the essence of sci-fi.
