Stanisław Lem i biologiczna wzniosłość. Biologia, technologia, fantastyka naukowa

This article introduces the concept of the biological sublime and argues that it is central to Stanislaw Lem’s science-fictional poetics. The biological sublime is an aesthetic reaction to the monstrous body conceptualized in terms derived from the aesthetic theories of Burke, Kant, Lyotard, and Barthes. This reaction fuses attraction and repulsion, awe and horror. It transcends the moral calculus of good and evil but has profound ethical implications as it grapples with the concept of the “totally Other” beyond human understanding. The article discusses the visual poetics of Lem’s major novels Solaris, Eden, and Fiasco, alongside lesser-known works such as the story Darkness and Mildew and the Twenty-second Voyage of Ijon Tichy. It suggests that Lem’s deployment of the biological sublime offers important clues to understanding our ambivalent relationship with biotechnology and our perennial fascination with monster movies.