The Stanislaw Lem mailing list is to discuss the fictional and non-fictional works of Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem, and issues that arise from those works. This includes discussions of other authors of similar works in fiction regardless of genre. In fact, Lem fans tend to show great interest in non-genre works and much of Lem's unique character is the way he defies genre conventions.
In general, no topic is off topic if it in some ways originates from or relates to science fiction and literature. Lem wrote passionately and opinionatedly about the history, methods and possibilities of science fiction and its place in western literature. This included critiques of science fiction marketing, specific authors (Philip K. Dick, Strugatski, Borges), and theory on the construction of stories. As such, any literature topic is on topic, but it would be nice if it tied back (on occasion) to Lem, or his viewpoint.
This list is also to allow the readers to gain new information about authors and works that may interest them, including movies and multimedia. And, to learn about how literary theory views science fiction and in particular Lem. This necessitates some flexibility to allow topics to follow their natural course, even if the end is ``off topic.'' In short, we don't know where the next good idea will come from, so the rule is to not stifle a thread unless it has clearly degenerated, or is drawing complaints.
In short, you own your words and this is your list. Treat it well.
To Join, send an email message to listproc@lists.rpi.edu containing the following in the body of the message (and nothing else---you're talking to a program):
SUBSCRIBE LEM-L <your name>
where ``<your name>'' is your given name (the listproc
software will extract your email address from the message header). Leave
the subject of the message blank. If you have problems, send email
to owner-lem-l@lists.rpi.edu.
If you would like to be able to post from more than one email address. Or, if you tend to read from one email address, but respond later from a different account, you will need to subscribe under each address, then turn off list email from all but one of the accounts (to avoid duplicate messages from the list). To turn off email for an account send the following command to listproc@lists.rpi.edu:
SET LEM-L MAIL POSTPONE
This mail should be sent from the account whose email should be postponed.
This is also how you suspend email from the list while away on vacation, although in the past our volume of email has not been high enough to make this an issue.