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Fantastyka I Ironia. Uwagi O Poetyce Cyklu the Demon Princes Jacka Vance’A

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Fantastyka I Ironia. Uwagi O Poetyce Cyklu the Demon Princes Jacka Vance’A | Piotr Stasiewicz FANTASTYKA I IRONIA. UWAGI O POETYCE CYKLU THE DEMON PRINCES JACKA VANCE’A The Demon Princes Cykl pi ęciu powie ści Jacka Vance’a znanych pod wspólnym tytułem The Demon Princes jest jednym z najbardziej oryginalnych utworów dwudziesto- wiecznej fantastyki. Cykl ten dzieli szereg cech wspólnych z innymi tworzony- mi przez ameryka ńskiego pisarza na przestrzeni wielu lat jego kariery, zarówno tymi utrzymanymi w konwencji fantasy (Lyonesse , 1983–1989), jak i balansu- jącymi mi ędzy poetyk ą fantasy i science fiction (Umieraj ąca Ziemia , 1950– 1984). Wspólne dla tych utworów, utrzymanych w odmiennych stylistykach li- terackich i osadzonych w ró żnych fikcyjnych uniwersach, s ą sposoby prowa- dzenia akcji, kreowania głównego bohatera i jego interakcji z innymi postacia- mi bior ącymi udział w fabule, technik narracyjnych, a tak że, co mo że najbar- dziej dla Vance’a charakterystyczne, opatrywania swoich powie ści pseudonau- kowym komentarzem w postaci przypisów, słowników i obszernych cytatów z fikcyjnych dzieł naukowych i literackich, b ędących w równym stopniu co fa- buła elementem świata przedstawionego. Poni ższa charakterystyka The Demon Princes zbudowana zostanie w oparciu o wnioski z analizy wspomnianych cy- klów, które przedstawione zostały w innym miejscu 1. 1 P. Stasiewicz, Mi ędzy światami. Intertekstualno ść i postmodernizm w literaturze fantasy , Białystok 2016, s. 333–344. 68 Piotr Stasiewicz Na omawiany cykl składa si ę pi ęć powie ści, z których żadna nie została przetłumaczona dotychczas na j ęzyk polski: Star King (1964), The Killing Ma- chine (1964), The Palace of Love (1967), The Face (1979) i The Book of Dre- ams (1981). Wszystkie maj ą tego samego protagonist ę, który nazywa si ę Kirth Gersen, i wszystkie tworz ą cało ść fabularn ą. Wydarzenia składaj ące si ę na fabu- łę cyklu koncentrują si ę wokół charakterystycznego dla prozy Vance’a motywu zemsty. 2 W bli żej niewyja śnionych okoliczno ściach rodzina i współplemie ńcy głównego bohatera zostaj ą wymordowani przez tajemniczych złoczy ńców, któ- rzy zawarli mi ędzy sob ą zbrodniczy pakt. Kirth Gersen, jako jedyny ocalony, będzie próbował pom ści ć śmier ć swoich najbli ższych pozbawiaj ąc życia w mniej lub bardziej wysublimowany sposób wszystkich pi ęciu zbrodniarzy, którzy współcze śnie znani s ą jako „demon princes”. Zem ście na ka żdym z nich poświ ęcony jest oddzielny tom – antagonistami w poszczególnych powie ściach są Attel Malagate (jedyny, który nie jest człowiekiem), Kokor Hekkus, Viole Falushe, Lens Larque i Howard Alan Treesong. Pod wzgl ędem fabularnym wszystkie pi ęć powie ści zbudowanych jest według tego samego wzorca: Gersen najpierw usiłuje ustali ć miejsce pobytu legendarnego zbrodniarza (co przeważ- nie organizuje spor ą cz ęść pocz ątkowej partii fabuły), nast ępnie incognito prze- nika w jego otoczenie i ostatecznie doprowadza do jego śmierci, nigdy jednak nie zadaj ąc samodzielnie śmiertelnego ciosu. Literacka konstrukcja The Demon Princes rodzi szereg problemów zarów- no je śli chodzi o kwesti ę przynale żno ści gatunkowej cyklu, jak i jego poetyki. Zagadnienia z nim zwi ązane zostan ą podzielone na poszczególne kategorie: świat przedstawiony, bohater, fabuła, poetyka oraz tekstowy kształt cało ści. Świat, bohater, narracja Cykl Vance’a okre ślany jest najcz ęś ciej mianem fantastyki naukowej, jed- nak nale ży stwierdzi ć, że jest zbyt daleko id ące uproszczenie. Pod wzgl ędem kreacji świata przedstawionego zdecydowanie bli żej tym powie ściom, jak i wie- lu innym utworom autora Lyonesse , do space opery . W zasadzie żadne z typo- wych cech fantastyki naukowej nie s ą wykorzystane w tym cyklu do kreacji świata przedstawionego – uniwersum The Demon Princes wydaje si ę nie mie ć 2 J. Rawlings, Vance’s Plots , w: Demon Prince. The Dissonant Worlds of Jack Vance , Bor- go Press/ Wildside Press 1986, s. 66–85. Fantastyka i ironia.Uwagi o poetyce... 69 nic wspólnego z empirycznym światem czytelnika, balansuj ąc pomi ędzy czysto preteksowym wyobra żeniem przyszło ści, światem alternatywnym i ba śniow ą fantastyk ą. Jedyny element kojarz ący świat cyklu z fantastyk ą naukow ą – mo ż- liwo ść podró ży kosmicznych i istnienie wielu zamieszkałych światów – reali- zowany jest przez Vance’a zgodnie z zało żeniami typowymi dla „opery ko- smicznej”. Wydarzenia umieszczone s ą w rzeczywisto ści, której poszczególne elementy ró żne s ą od świata przedstawionego potencjalnego czytelnika, ale spo- sób ich istnienia – na przykład mo żliwo ść nieograniczonego przemierzania ko- smicznych przestrzeni lub terramorfizm obcych planet – traktowany jest jako oczywisty i niewymagaj ący naukowego lub pseudonaukowego wyja śnienia ty- powego dla narracji science fiction . Wiele z elementów świata, szczególnie nadnaturalne umiej ętno ści antagonistów Gersena, zmierza do wywołania wra- żenia inno ści oraz fantastyczno ści historii i równie ż nie znajduje w powie ściach racjonalnego wyja śnienia. Świat The Demon Princes , b ędący lu źną federacj ą cywilizowanych planet nosz ącą nazw ę Oikumene, jest jednak do ść skompliko- wany i jego organizacja, zamieszkuj ące go humanoidalne lub niehumanoidalne ludy, struktura polityczna i handlowa s ą na ró żne sposoby i w ró żnych etapach narracji stopniowo prezentowane czytelnikowi. W sposób typowy jednak dla strategii literackiej Vance’a mieszaj ą si ę tu elementy w oczywisty sposób fanta- styczne (odległe planety, ich fauna i flora) z elementami dobrze czytelnikowi znanymi (handel, mi ędzygwiezdna policja) lub b ędącymi wariacj ą na temat rze- czywisto ści (alternatywne organizacje społecze ństw). Żaden z tych elementów nie jest jednak znacz ący z punktu widzenia czytelnika, to znaczy w typowy dla SF sposób nie domagaj ą si ę one zinterpretowania w kontek ście współczesno ści lub projektowanego rozwoju empirycznego świata, co jest podstawowym celem fantastyki naukowej. Pozorno ść zwi ązku świata przedstawionego The Demon Princes z poetyk ą typowej science fiction pogł ębia obraz Ziemi, która pojawia si ę w powie ści The Palace of Love . Ta cz ęść cyklu manifestacyjnie umieszczo- na zostaje w fikcyjnym holenderskim mie ście Rolingshaven, podkre ślaj ąc ima- ginacyjny charakter cało ści, co uwypuklone zostaje poprzez całkowity brak ja- kichkolwiek informacji pozwalaj ących na usytuowanie w realnym czasie histo- rii opowiadanej w The Demon Princes . Typowa dla Vance’a i jednocze śnie nietypowa dla fantastyki naukowej jest równie ż kreacja głównego bohatera i jego usytuowanie wzgl ędem zarówno po- wie ściowych wydarze ń, jak i narracji. Kirth Gersen jest motorem nap ędowym wydarze ń – historia jego osobistej zemsty jest de facto to żsama z fabuł ą wszystkich pi ęciu powie ści. Gersen jest te ż konsekwentnie bohaterem prowa- 70 Piotr Stasiewicz dz ącym – wszystkie wydarzenia w cyklu opowiadane s ą z jego perspektywy i we wszystkich scenach utrzymana jest personalna narracja prowadzona z punktu widzenia głównego bohatera. Teoretycznie wi ęc czytelnik wie, dzi ęki narracji, o świecie i o wydarzeniach dokładnie tyle, co protagonista. Strategia taka znamienna jest dla fantastyki naukowej lat 50. i 60., szczególnie tej o za- barwieniu zdecydowanie epistemologicznym, w której nie charakter samego świata, ale zapis indywidualnego poznania tego świata staje si ę głównym przedmiotem zainteresowania. Zjawisko to typowe dla powie ści Stanisława Lema ( Eden, Solaris , Powrót z gwiazd ) i Philipa K. Dicka ( Ubik , Czy androidy marz ą o elektrycznych owcach? , Człowiek z Wysokiego Zamku ) jest elementem łącz ącym fantastyk ę naukow ą z realistyczn ą powie ści ą modernistyczn ą XX wieku. Ta strategia narracyjna u Vance’a nie słu ży jednak tym samym celom, jakim słu żyła w „modernizuj ącej” science fiction . The Demon Princes zdecy- dowanie bli żej jest do powie ści detektywistycznej, która jest zreszt ą postrzega- na przez badaczy jako odmiana powie ści modernistycznej 3. Świat i jego fanta- styczne (z punktu widzenia czytelnika) elementy nie s ą przedmiotem zaintere- sowania głównego bohatera, który albo traktuje je jako znan ą sobie oczywi- sto ść , albo postrzega jako istotne dla prowadzonego przez siebie śledztwa i po- stanawia wykorzysta ć dla swoich celów. W narracyjnej perspektywie retorycz- nej, z punktu widzenia czytelnika, działaj ący bohater umieszczony zostaje w fantastycznym, ale oczywistym dla niego, uniwersum, co pozornie czyni cykl The Demon Princes typowym utworem fantastyki – by posłu żyć si ę terminem wprowadzonym przez Farah Mendlesohn – imersyjnej 4. Pozornie – bo byłoby tak, gdyby narracja była jedynym no śnikiem informacji o wydarzeniach i świe- cie przedstawionym; tak jednak, w sposób typowy dla wielu utworów Jacka Vance’a, nie jest. Równie problematyczny co narracja i zakres wiedzy potencjalnego czytel- nika o świecie przedstawionym jest sam charakter fabuły, a raczej jej znaczenie i mo żliwo ści interpretacyjne. Historia zemsty Gersena na tajemniczej pi ątce demonicznych zbrodniarzy wydaje si ę bowiem nie mie ć żadnej interpretacji. Dzieje si ę tak z dwóch oczywistych powodów: poprzez umowno ść i dosłown ą „fantastyczno ść ” opisane w powie ściach wydarzenia nie maj ą żadnych zwi ąz- ków z empiryczn ą rzeczywisto ści ą czytelnika, a wi ęc nie mog ą by ć źródłem ty- powych dla „intelektualnej” fantastyki naukowej futurologicznych lub filozo- 3 B. McHale, Powie ść postmodernistyczna , przeł. Maciej Płaza, Kraków 2012. 4 F. Mendlesohn, Rhetorics of Fantasy , Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press 2008. Fantastyka i ironia.Uwagi o poetyce... 71 ficznych refleksji. Vance unika te ż alegorii
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