Citizens of the Universe – Poles in Jacek Dukaj’s Prose

The fate of Poland and Poles is an important topic in Polish science fiction literature. Until1989, writers could comment on the state and the nation only by means of metaphors, and thus,science fiction was a great tool for describing reality. After the fall of communism, Polish authorscould finally speak about Poland and Poles directly. However, as a result, we received politically andideologically inspired literature. In this respect, the works of Jacek Dukaj seem to be an exception.The writer shows Poles as the elite of civilization development. The aim of this paper is therefore toidentify certain characteristic features of the model hero of Dukaj’s novels.