Space as an image of consciousness in the novel Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanisław Lem

Abstract

This paper discusses one of the most polysemic novels by Stanisław Lem – Pamiętnik znaleziony w wannie. The main protagonist’s world, bereft of liaison with what is outside, is completely contained within his own mind. Paradoxically, it is impossible to achieve self-identification, indissolubly linked with isolation, in the labyrinth of corridors. The protagonist’s “self”, striving to “be oneself”, cannot attain plenitude of identity because it is not able to define itself in relation to the structures of the Building.