''Insatiability'' ( pl, Nienasycenie) is a speculative fiction

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by the Polish writer,

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, philosopher,

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and photographer,

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (; 24 February 188518 September 1939), commonly known as Witkacy, was a Polish writer, painter, philosopher, theorist, playwright, novelist, and photographer active before World War I and during the interwar period. ...

(Witkacy). ''Nienasycenie'' was written in 1927 and was first published in 1930. It is Witkiewicz's third novel, considered by many to be his best. The novel consists of two parts: Przebudzenie (Awakening) and Obłęd (The madness).Donald Pirie, John Bates, Elwira Grossman
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz.
Faculty of Arts,

Summary

The novel takes place in the future, circa 2000. Following a battle, modeled after the

Bolshevik revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

, Poland is overrun by the army of the last and final

Mongol conquest The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire (1206-1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastation ...

. The nation becomes enslaved to the Chinese leader Murti Bing. His emissaries give everyone a special pill called ''DAVAMESK B 2'' which takes away their abilities to think and to mentally resist. East and West become one, in faceless misery fueled by sexual instincts.Pietro Marchesani
Witkacy – mit „żółtego niebezpieczeństwa”.
''Dekada Literacka'' Magazine, 1992, nr 22 (58) Witkiewicz's ''Insatiability'' combines chaotic action with deep philosophical and political discussion, and predicts many of the events and political outcomes of the subsequent years, specifically, the invasion of Poland, the postwar foreign domination as well as the totalitarian

mind control Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashi ...

exerted, first by the Germans, and then by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

on Polish life and art.David A. Goldfarb
"Masochism and Catastrophe in Insatiability"
Published in The Polish Review, 37:2 (1992), 217–27.

Characters

* Genezip (Zip) Kapen – The protagonist of the story. Zip is nineteen and has recently graduated from school. The book opens with Zip contemplating the previous night's events, starting with his visit to the residence of Princess di Ticonderoga. * Papa Kapen – Zip's father. They don't have a very strong relationship, but make peace on his deathbed, becoming friends of sorts. Zip's father is also the reason for his entry into the army, when he was lying in the hospital bed he wrote a letter to his friend, recommending Zip to be the general's aide. * Princess Irina Vsevolodovna di Ticonderoga – * Putricides Tenzer – A composer and friend of Princess di Ticonderoga. Tenzer specializes in atonal and unstructured music, and is also a brutal critic of art and philosophy. He is a hunchback and has a deformed leg because of a bone disease. He is married with two children, but is occasionally unfaithful and often flirts with the Princess. His wife is a mountain woman that he had married when he was young for some money and a

chalet A chalet (pronounced in British English; in American English usually ), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, typical of the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-supp ...

, though at the time he found her somewhat attractive as well. "To be born a hunchback in Poland is bad luck; to be born an artist in addition the worst luck of all." * Sturfan Abnol – An ex-lover of the princess. Abnol is a novelist and eventually becomes romantically involved with Zip's sister. * Prince Basil Ostrogski – Another ex-lover of the Princess. He is a beginner neo-Catholic. * Afanasol Benz – An old friend of Prince Basil's. He used to be rich, but after he lost his estate in Russia he created his own form of logic, which no one other than him can understand. * Toldzio – Zip's cousin. * Erasmus Kotzmolochowicz – The legendary quartermaster general of the Polish Army. Kotzmolochowicz is seen by most of the world as the only force that could possibly stop the "mobile Chinese Wall" that looms over Europe. Very little is known about him, which is later found out to be intentional; he doesn't even allow portraits of himself so that he cannot be caricatured.

Influence and translation

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation, ...

frames the first chapter of his book ''

The Captive Mind ''The Captive Mind'' (Polish: ''Zniewolony umysł'') is a 1953 work of nonfiction by Polish writer, poet, academic and Nobel laureate Czesław Miłosz. It was first published in English in a translation by Jane Zielonko in 1953. Overview ''The ...

'' around a discussion of ''Insatiability'', specifically the "Murti-Bing pill," which allows artists to contentedly conform to the demands of the equivalent of

Socialist Realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

. The novel was translated into English in 1977 by University of Toronto professor of Polish and Russian literature

Louis Iribarne Louis Michael Iribarne (September 1940 - 5 December 2020) was a Canadian translator of Polish into English. He translated works by Witold Gombrowicz, Stanisław Lem, Czesław Miłosz, Bruno Schulz and Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. He also taught Po ...

and published by

Northwestern University Press Northwestern University Press is an American publishing house affiliated with Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It publishes 70 new titles each year in the areas of continental philosophy, poetry, Slavic and German literary criticism ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

* Full text of ''Nienasycenie'' in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

. ''Part one:'
Przebudzenie.
''Part two:'
Obłęd.
''Cyfrowa Biblioteka Narodowa "Polona".'' Polish novels Polish science fiction novels 1927 science fiction novels 1930 science fiction novels 20th-century Polish novels Alternate history novels Dystopian novels Fiction about mind control Novels about substance abuse