Demon of Motion, Demons of Modernity

Abstract

Stefan Grabiński, the outstanding fantasy writer of the Polish interwar period, is known especially for his short story collection entitled Demon ruchu (The Motion Demon), first published in 1919. By using the theme of macabre trains, this book reveals the author’s fascination with motion which was the most important term in the philosophy of Henri Bergson. In the railway stories Grabiński confirms his interest in Bergson’s thought, presented in famous work entitled Creative Evolution. However, Grabiński’s wandering trains can be considered as well as an emblem of a modern technology which was first used on a large scale during the Great War. Demon ruchu shows that the modern technology in the time of Grabiński aroused ambivalent feelings, both fascination and fear. Besides, by constructing the railway mythology, Grabiński proves that in the period of emerging modernity a technology was able to create myths, which is not possible nowadays.