The Us–Them Opposition in Stories by Sapkowski and Lem

The article discusses the us- them opposition in the stories by Stanisław Lem (1921– 2006) from the volumes The Cyberiad and Mortal Engines, and by Andrzej Sapkowski (b. 1948) series The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny. Both authors deconstruct the simple opposition and its typical in fairy tales. In Lem’s stories, the narrative takes place from the robots’ point of view, while man is framed as an alien species. In Sapkowski’s work, a simple and clear opposition between good- bad, man- monster, is denied and rendered ambiguous.