Neologisms Of Stanisław Lem

Neologisms constitute a notable part of the writing style of Stanisław Lem, a Polish science fiction author and essayist.

Lem says that in building his neologisms, particularly of grotesque character, he uses the peculiarities of the Polish language. Lem's interview to Peyman Esmaeili
page 2
'' Shargh'' newspaper This presents difficulties to translators into non-Slavic languages, and critics often accused Lem of abusiveness in his creation of new words."Голос жителя Земли"
by Владимир Борисов, ''Новое литературное обозрение'' (М.), 2006, no. 82, pp. 315-325 Lem said that neologisms come up to him naturally in the course of writing only when they are necessary and that he is incapable of inventing one outside a context.

Discussion

In handling his neologisms, Lem singles out two translators. Irmtraud Zimmermann-Göllheim (German), in Lem's opinion, remarkably succeeded in literal translation, while Michael Kandel (English) was inventive in finding semantic equivalents in English in difficult cases.Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr.
Twenty-Two Answers and Two Postscripts: An Interview with Stanislaw Lem
''Science Fiction Studies'', #40 (Volume 13, Part 3), November 1986Lem's interview to Peyman Esmaeili
page 6
'' Shargh'' newspaper He also singled out a Russian mathematician Shirokov (Feliks Shirokov) for finding fitting language equivalents in translation of Lem's grotesque-humorous works.

At the end of the novel '' Observation on the Spot'' Lem even included a "Polish-Polish dictionary" of the neologisms used in it (actually, an "Earthish-Earthish Glossary"). In a letter to publisher Franz Rottensteiner Lem wrote about his intention to add this glossary and to include into it an explanation why these neologisms are a necessity, not just a fantastic embellishment.

A number of Lem's words of particular note may be found in Wojciech Orliński's book ''What are Sepulkas?'' Wojciech Orliński, ''Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie'' 'What are Sepulki? Everything about Lem'' 2007,

Quite a few neologisms Lem introduced in his essays while envisioning future developments. For example, in his voluminous essay '' Summa Technologiae'' he coined the terms "phantomatics" for what is now known as virtual reality, "molectronics" for molecular nanotechnology, "cerebromatics" for cognitive enhancement, "imitology" for the creation of artificial life, "ariadnology" for the technology of search engines, and "intellectronics" for the technology of artificial intelligence.

The first works about Lem's language are dated by the early 1960s (Wesolowska 1963, Handke 1964, Moszyńska 1964).

Strategies for translating ''The Cyberiads short story ''Jak ocalał świat'' (''How the World was Saved''), which relies on both nonsense neologisms and words which begin with the letter N in Polish, were discussed by Douglas Hofstadter in ''Le Ton beau de Marot''.

In 2006 Monika Krajewska published a Polish-Russian dictionary of over 1,500 Lem's neologisms. Each entry is supplied with the reference to the source (often with quotations), as well as with an attempt of etymology: either an exact one, or an indication to the corresponding word formation rules, or suggested associations which could lie in the origins of the neologism in question. Same with Russian equivalents (sometimes more than one, due to multiple translations). For 28 neologisms Marcin Fastyn suggested different etymologies.Marcin Fastyn
"O NIEKTÓRYCH NEOLOGIZMACH STANISŁAWA LEMA - W POSZUKIWANIU ETYMOLOGII"
In book: ''Języki słowiańskie dziś : w kręgu kategorii, struktur i procesów'', 2021, pp.111-120

See also

* Pćmy

References

Further reading

*Anusiewicz J., Funkcja i struktura neologizmów w utworach fantastycznych Stanisława Lema, „Językoznawca” 1971, nr 23-24
*Maria Lesz-Duk, "Neologizmy w twórczości Stanisława Lema", 'PRACE NAUKOWE Akademii im. Jana Długosza w Częstochowie - Językoznawstwo, 2015, z. XI, pp. 141–151 - the article analyzes word formation means used in of Lem's neologisms in '' Bajki robotów'', '' Cyberiada'', and '' Kongres futurologiczny''
*Marcin Fastyn
Neologizmy w Kongresie futurologicznym Stanisława Lema i ich translacja na język bułgarski"
Uniwersytet Łódzki, Wydział Filologiczny, Katedra Slawistyki Południowej, Nr albumu 111212/S, 2006, 241pp. - a Master's thesis analyzing over 400 neologisms in the Bulgarian translation by Svetlana Petrova, Лем С. Конгрес по футурология, София 1994
* Nowotna – Szybistowa M., Nazewnictwo „Cyberiady” Stanisława Lema, „Onomastica”, XIV, 1969, s. 186–204, XV, 1970, s. 180-201
* Domaciuk I., Nazwy własne w prozie Stanisława Lema, Lublin, 2003
*D. Wesołowska, Język fantastyczny w utworach Lema, „Język Polski”, 1963, XLIII, s. 13–27
*R. Handke, W sprawie stylistycznej wartości neologizmów Lema, „Język Polski” 1964, z. 5.
*D. Moszyńska, O stylizacji języka w beletrystyce astronautycznej, „Język Polski" 1964, z. 2.
*Z. Bożek, Dowcip językowy w twórczości Stanisława Lema, Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego CCCCLVII, Prace Językoznawcze nr 54, 1977.
Lem i tłumacze
E. Skibińska, J. Rzeszotnik (eds.), 2010
**PIOTR BLUMCZYŃSKI
"PILNIKIEM, KLUCZEM, CZY SIEKIERĄ? O TŁUMACZENIU LEMA NA ANGIELSKI "
**"Monika Woźniak
"Spaghetti z sepulkami : Stanisław Lem we Włoszech"
Spaghetti with Sepulkas: Stanislaw Lem in Italy"* Ольга Константинова
Praca magisterska "Analiza konotacji neologizmów Stanisława Lema w przekładzie Dzienników gwiazdowych na język rosyjski"
2014, Master's thesis
*,
Lem – nowator językowy?
Quart / Lem / Numer specjalny 3–4 (37–38) / 2015 - the paper describes briefly the present state of research into Stanislaw Lem's language, especially into his vocabulary, in particular his linguistic innovations (called neologisms), and outlines the main principles of a study into Lem's language that the author plans (with Łukasz Grabowski)
*Monika Krajewska: Polsko-rosyjski słownik Lemowych neologizmów. Toruń: Towarzystwo Naukowe w Toruniu 2006
A review
in ''Pzegląd Rusycystyczny'', 4, 2020. ) -- (analyzed: Bajki robotów, Cyberiada, Dzienniki gwiazdowe)
*Julia Mielczarek, BUDOWA SŁOWOTWÓRCZA I ZNACZENIE NAZW ŚRODKÓW PSYCHOTROPOWYCH W OPOWIADANIU STANISŁAWA LEMA KONGRES FUTUROLOGICZNY, ''Poradnik Językowy'', no. 9, 2003
* Stanisław Barańczak,
ELEKTRYCERZE I CYBERCHANIOŁY
, "Nurt" nr 8, 1972
*Hanna Salich
"Authorial Neologisms in Translation: Is the Translator a Smuggler?"
In: ''Między Oryginałem a Przekładem'', 2020, no. 1(47), pp. 59–78 —on translation of neologisms in '' Pamiętnik znaleziony w wannie''

External links

*Magdalena Goetz
Lemowe neologizmy
August 26, 2020
{{Stanisław Lem

Stanisław Lem
20th-century neologisms
Words originating in fiction
Speculative fiction translation
Polish words and phrases