by Cora Buhlert
In the last two entries in this series, I gave you an extensive overview of West German science fiction. Now let's take a look across the iron curtain at what is going on in East Germany. For while the inner German border may be nigh insurmountable for human beings, mail does pass through. A lot of us have family in the East, including myself, and are in regular contact with them via letters and parcels. Parcels from West to East Germany usually contain coffee, nylons, soap, canned pineapple and all sorts of other consumer goods that are hard to come by in Communist East Germany.
Unfortunately, we cannot send books and magazines, cause they will probably be seized at the border for fear of "dangerous" ideas spreading. East Germans, on the other hand, are free to send books and magazines to relatives and friends in the West. And since my love for reading in general and for "space books" in particular is well known to my aunts in East Germany, the occasional science fiction novel from beyond the iron curtain has found its way into my hands.
The collaborations of authors Lothar Weise and Kurt Herwarth Ball mostly seem to be fairly straightforward science fiction adventures aimed at a younger audience. Eberhardt del'Antonio's 1959 novel Titanus is set in a utopian Socialist future where humanity is united and war has been abolished. A spaceship with a multinational crew, commanded by a Russian, of course, leaves for a distant planet, only to realise that the aliens are in the middle of preparing for a devastating attack against their neighbours.
Our heroic space travellers proceed to warn the intended targets only to learn that the aliens have a defence system in place that will destroy the attackers, for war is bad. I certainly can't argue with that sentiment, though the novel itself is rather wooden and unimaginative.
Als die Götter starben (When the gods died) by Günther Krupkat, which only appeared this year, is a variation on the ancient astronaut concept. An alien spaceship is found on the moon and records indicate that the aliens first landed on Earth in Mesopotamia millennia ago. It's not exactly an original idea, but it is certainly well told.
The ancient astronaut idea certainly seems to be popular in East Germany, for another science fiction novel published this year, Der Blaue Planet (The Blue Planet) by Brazilian born author Carlos Rasch, used the same concept. Two years ago, Carlos Rasch also published Asteroidenjäger (Asteroid hunters), an enjoyable romp featuring a spaceship with a multinational crew that is supposed to clear the asteroid belt, when the ship receives mysterious signals that might be evidence of alien life or might be something else.
What makes Asteroidenjäger remarkable is that there is an interracial romance on board between a white German doctor and a black African mathematician. Somehow, I don't see something like this happening in American science fiction anytime soon.
However, the most exciting of those voice from beyond the iron curtain is not German at all, but a Polish writer, Stanislaw Lem, whose work I encountered via East German translations. I particularly enjoy Lem's humorous stories about the adventures of a space traveller named Ijon Tichy, which have been collected as Die Sterntagebücher des Raumfahrers Ijon Tichy (The Star Diaries of the Spaceman Ijon Tichy).
Lem's more serious works include the novels Eden with its fascinating portrayal of a truly alien society, Planet des Todes (Planet of Death), which was even filmed in 1960, and the generation ship story Gast im Weltraum (Guest in Space), which is currently being filmed in Czechoslovakia.
When comparing East and West German science fiction, the most striking thing is that in spite of all the superficial differences, the underlying themes and concerns are remarkably similar. Of course, West German science fiction tends to be set in capitalist futures, which somehow have managed to abolish all the negative side effects of unfettered capitalism, while East German and East European science fiction tends to be set in utopian Socialist futures, which have somehow managed to abolish all the negative side effects of real existing Communism.
However, it is notable that both East and West German science fiction tends to feature spaceships with multinational and multiracial crews, that it is set in futures where the world and humanity are united as one, where war and strife are but a distant memory. Whether it is Perry Rhodan single-handedly ending the Cold War and uniting humanity or Stanislaw Lem's and Eberhard del'Antonio's space travellers horrified by the relics of past wars they encounter in outer space, German (and Polish) science fiction clearly expresses the desire for peace and unity, a desire that is only too understandable in our divided country.
And that's it for now. In a future article, I will take a look at science fiction film in East and West Germany, where we are currently seeing some very exciting developments.
A fascinating insight into SF that's largely unknown to me. I look forward to reading more from you.
Glad you like the post, Ashley.
The first picture is an ad for an East German manufacturer of electrical experimentation kits for kids BTW. The two photos show the city of Leipzig, near where my Aunt Metel lives, by night, the crumbling facades dressed up with neon. Leipzig hosts a biannual trade fair, which gets plenty of international, including western visitors, therefore the city is in better condition than other East German cities.
BTW, in a future instalment I will be reviewing "Der Schweigende Stern" (The Silent Star), the East German film adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's novel "Planet of Death".
Can't wait!
Very interesting. It seems unlikely that we in the West will be reading translations of these works, or seeing dubbed versions of these films, any time soon.
@ Ms. Cora Buhlert –
I believe that the film 'The Silent Star' ('Milcząca Gwiazda' in Polish) is actually an adaption of Stanislaw Lem's first novel 'Astronauci' (in English 'The Astronauts') from 1951.
The film has also been — or will be in various world releases that have not yet achieved existence — retitled, variously, as 'First Spaceship on Venus', 'Spaceship Venus Does Not Reply,' 'Planet of the Dead', and 'Planet of Death.' As a book, though, it has always been named 'The Astronauts.'
Incidentally, Lem does not now regard this first book of his, 'The Astronauts,' as worth anything. Still, he's notoriously a harsh critic — and this apparently even extends to his own work. His 1959 novel, 'Eden,' for instance, he apparently regards as merely so-so, though by all lights it's more original and stranger, than 99 percent of what gets published in English-language SF.
For an idea of just how original Lem is becoming a little novel of his from 1961, 'Solaris,' gives some indication. This novel concerns the ongoing century-old first contact of humanity with an alien — a apparently sentient ocean that covers the surface of its planet. Of course, nobody would ever be able to film something like _that_.
Still, it may be that Lem is on his way to becoming fully the equal of an Arthur C. Clarke or an H. G. Wells.
You're right, Stanislaw Lem's first novel is indeed entitled "Astronauci" in Polish. But for reasons best known to themselves, the (East) German translators retitled it "Planet des Todes", "Planet of Death" in English.
The 1960 film version, a joint Polish/East German production, is called "Der Schweigende Stern" (The Silent Star) in East Germany and "Raumschiff Venus antwortet nicht" (Spaceship Venus does not reply). I'll discuss it in an upcoming column. I've also heard that it will get a US release, though I wonder how they will handle some of the more overly political parts of the film.
I've heard that Lem is no longer happy with "Astronauci/Planet of Death", but then authors often disavow earlier works as their writing improves. Though I didn't know that he also isn't happy with the more recent "Eden", which I thought was excellent.
As for "Solaris", I'm very much looking forward to reading it, since it's by all accounts excellent. Alas, it doesn't have a German translation yet, nor an English translation for that matter, and I don't speak Polish. I have no idea why Lem's East German publisher "Verlag Volk and Welt" hasn't translated "Solaris" yet, but then publishing behind the iron curtain is subject to the whims of the powerful "Hauptverwaltung Verlage und Buchhandel" (main administration for publishing companies and booksellers), a governent organisation which has to approve every book published in East Germany and may well reject individual titles for being too subversive, not Socialist enough, too pessimistic, undermining public morals or a dozen other reasons. No idea if that is what happened here, though it is notable that "Solaris" is the only one of Lem's science fiction novels that hasn't had an East German release yet. Well, maybe they're holding it back for next year's Leipzig book fair.