The Anamnesis of the Insane Bond: Heterotopia in the Novel "Diary Found in a Bathtub" by Stanisław Lem

Abstract

This study examines the utilization of heterotopia as a spatial construct in the novel Pamiętnik znaleziony w wannie (Memoirs Found in a Bathtub) (1961) by Polish writer Stanisław Lem. The argument put forth is that, in contrast to common interpretations of the novel, Lem presents it not merely as anti-totalitarian or satirical, but as an endeavor to actualize a specific system of information perception. Within the novel, the realization of the information concept proposed by American mathematician and philosopher Norbert Wiener, a pioneer in cybernetics, is evident and employed by Lem to construct a form of heterotopia.
The perspective maintained is that Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, considering the author’s own confessions and well-known biographical details, serves as unofficial evidence of Lem’s reception and adept incorporation of Wiener’s ideas into a masterful artistic form. The ostensibly nonsensical espionage struggle, metamorphosed within the text into an ongoing production of quasi-meanings, establishes a state of paranoid semiotics within Lem’s novel. This intriguingly postmodern experiment illustrates the practical embodiment of information theory within the genre of a spy novel.