Antycypacja i wyobraźnia. Tekstowa „przyszła Polska”

Abstract

The starting point of the article is an analysis of the volume PL +50 (2004), edited by Jacek Dukaj and the short stories by Łukasz Orbitowski: Nadchodzi and Popiel Armeńczyk (2017). The interpretation of those alternate stories is used as a point of departure for posing a broader question regarding the social and cultural functions of constructing a coherent imaginations regarding the future. Particular attention is paid to the dominance of negative visions of the future and the dangers of describing what is yet to come in overly optimistic colors. The article combines the methodology arising from the analysis of alternative histories, affect studies and memory studies to indicate that theory of premediation (Richard Grusin, 2010) can be especially useful in order to explain the positive social impact of negative visions of the future. Premediating threatening future can be – as indicated for example by B. Hirst and M. Topcu – the first step towards improving the present.