Janusz Andrzej Zajdel (15 August 1938 – 19 July 1985) was a Polish science fiction author, second in popularity in Poland to

Stanisław Lem Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer. He was the author of many novels, short stories, and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fi ...

. His major genres were

social science fiction Social science fiction or sociological science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, usually (but not necessarily) soft science fiction, concerned less with technology or space opera and more with speculation about society. In other wor ...

and

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

. His main recurring theme involved the gloomy prospects for a space environment into which mankind carried totalitarian ideas and habits: Red Space Republics, or Space Labor Camps, or both. His heroes desperately try to find meaning in the world around them. The Polish

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

award was named after him: the Janusz A. Zajdel Award. He was a trustee of World SF.

Life

Janusz Zajdel was born 15 August 1938 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He studied physics at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw (, ) is a public university, public research university in Warsaw, Poland. Established on November 19, 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country, offering 37 different fields of study as well ...

. He was a member of the Union of Polish Youth and the Polish Students' Association. After graduating, he worked many years as a radiological engineer and an expert on

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

at the Central Laboratory of Radiological Protection in Poland. He published a number of academic works, handbooks of safety regulations, as well as educational and

popular science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...

texts. In 1976 he joined the

Polish Writers' Union The Polish Writers' Union or the Union of Polish Writers (, ZLP) was established at a meeting of Polish writers and activists in Lublin behind the Soviet front line, during the liberation of Poland by the Red Army in 1944. Its initial name (Prof ...

. In his spare time, he popularized science by writing

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

. With his brother, he started a column in a Polish magazine for young people interested in science and engineering, ' (''Young Technician''), in which they proposed various futuristic gadgets. In 1961 ''Młody Technik'' published Zajdel's science-fiction debut, the short story "''Tau Ceti''" (). Other stories by him soon appeared in several other Polish magazines. His first book was published in 1965, a short-story anthology, ''Jad mantezji'' (''The Venom of Mantesia''), which included stories from ''Młody Technik'' and some others that had already appeared a year earlier in another anthology. By 1982 he had published four more collections: ''Przejście przez lustro'' (Through the Mirror, 1975); ''Iluzyt'' (1976); ''Feniks'' (The Phoenix, 1981); and ''Ogon diabła'' (The Devil's Tail, 1982). His first novel, ', appeared in 1966, a year after his first short-story anthology, and was geared toward young adults. His first serious science-fiction novel was a " first contact"-type SF mystery, ' (Right of Return, 1975); but it was his novels of the late 1970s and early 1980s – '' Cylinder van Troffa'' (Van Troff's Cylinder, 1980); '' Limes inferior'' (The Lower Limit, 1982); ''

Cała prawda o planecie Ksi ''Cała prawda o planecie Ksi'' (1983) (the title has been translated to English as ''The Whole Truth about Planet Xi'' as well as ''The Complete Truth about Planet Xi'') is a social science fiction novel by Polish writer Janusz A. Zajdel about ...

'' (The Whole Truth about Planet Xi, 1983); ' (Out of the Shadows, 1983); and '' Paradyzja'' (Paradise: World in Orbit, 1984) – that earned him a reputation as one of the most important Polish science-fiction writers. He was an active member of Polish and international

, and a Trustee of World SF. In the 1980s he was an active supporter of the Polish

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

movement. On 19 July 1985 he died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

, after three years' struggle against the disease.

Themes

Zajdel's early works, from the 1960s and early 1970s, focuses on scientific inventions and their role in space exploration, alien contact or artificial intelligence. As his writing career continued, however, his stories evolved to focus on the social aspects and often negative consequences of those inventions. Over time, a theme became increasingly visible in his works - a concern over dangers inherent in attempts to control the human society. He is also condemning human ignorance, warning against

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

, and asking philosophical questions about the nature of the universe, happiness and human destiny. Zajdel's works from his second period - late 1970s and 1980s - and represent the genres of

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

dystopian fiction Utopian and dystopian fiction are subgenres of speculative fiction that explore extreme forms of social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality ...

. In his works, he envisions

totalitarian states Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

and societies living under extreme forms of

mass surveillance Mass surveillance is the intricate surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population in order to monitor that group of citizens. The surveillance is often carried out by Local government, local and federal governments or intell ...

. His works are also recognized as being a critique of the totalitarian, communist state, a reality of his life in

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

. Science fiction genre, with its outer-worldly, clearly fictional, and often

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

setting and invented jargon was able to debate fundamentals of such systems with frankness that more mainstream literature would not be allowed to.

Importance

Zajdel has been described as the second science fiction writer in popularity in Poland after

. He has also been described as the writer who replaced Lem as the "top Polish SF writer", after "Lem vacated his positionearlier of his own volition". He is recognized as an originator of the

genre in Polish science fiction, known in Poland as the sociological speculative fiction (''fantastyka socjologiczna''). He has been an inspiration to a number of younger Polish science fiction authors such as Maciej Parowski and Marek Oramus. His works have been translated into Belarusian, Bulgarian, Czech, Esperanto, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Russian and Slovenian. , the only work translated into English is the short story ''Wyjątkowo trudny teren'' ("Particularly Difficult Territory") that Zajdel wrote for the English language '' Tales from the Planet Earth'' anthology edited by

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...

and Elizabeth Anne Hull.

Recognition

In 1973 Zajdel received an honorary award Magnum Trophaeum from the ''Młody Technik'' (''Young Technician'') magazine for long-term cooperation. In 1980 Zajdel received the Polish Ministry of Culture and Arts Best SF Book of the Year Award for ''Van Troff's Cylinder''. Zajdel also received the Golden Sepulka Award two times: for ''Limes Inferior'' (1982 novel; 1983 award) and ''Wyjście z cienia'' ("Out of the Shadow") (1983 novel; 1984 award). He was awarded the Medal of Merit for National Defence for his educational film scripts. Winner of Śląkfa for 1984. In 1984 Polish fantasy and science fiction

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...

(associated with the Polish SF convention Polcon) decided to establish an annual award, initially named ''Sfinks'' ("Sphynx"). Janusz A. Zajdel became the first winner of this award, for his 1984 novel ''Paradyzja''. He won the award posthumously in 1985, shortly after his death, at which time it was decided to rename the award after him, and it became known as the Janusz A. Zajdel Award.

dedicated the anthology '' Tales From The Planet Earth'' to Zajdel and A. Bertram Chandler. p. v

Bibliography

In addition to the solo-authored works listed below, Zajdel's stories have also appeared in many anthologies of science-fiction stories, together with works by other authors.

Novels

* ', 1966 * ' (Right of Return), Nasza Księgarnia, 1975 * '' Cylinder van Troffa'' (Van Troff's Cylinder), 1980 * '' Limes inferior'' (The Lower Limit), 1982 * ''

'' (The Whole Truth about Planet Xi), 1983 * ''Wyjście z cienia'' ('' Coming out of the Shadow''), 1983 * '' Paradyzja'' (Paradise: World in Orbit), 1984 * ' (A Second Look at Planet Xi), 2014 ** Posthumously completed by Marcin Kowalczyk, see ''

'' for details

Short-story collections

* ''Jad mantezji'' (The Venom of Mantesia), Nasza Księgarnia, 1965 * ''Przejście przez lustro'' (Through the Mirror), Iskry, 1975) * ''Iluzyt'', Nasza Księgarnia, 1976 * ''Feniks'' (The Phoenix), Nasza Księgarnia, 1981 * ''Ogon diabła'' (The Devil's Tail), KAW, 1982 * ''Dokąd jedzie ten tramwaj?'' (Where Is This Streetcar Going?), 1988 * ''Wyższe racje'' (Higher Considerations), Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, 1988 * ''List pożegnalny'' (Farewell Letter ncluding outlines of unfinished novels, Alfa, 1989 * ''Relacja z pierwszej ręki'' (First-hand Account), superNOWA, 2010

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zajdel, Janusz Andrzej 1938 births 1985 deaths Recipients of the Medal of Merit for National Defence Polish science fiction writers University of Warsaw alumni Writers from Warsaw Deaths from lung cancer in Poland