Professor Tarantoga

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Professor Tarantoga (from the 1986 animated film "From the Diaries of Ijon Tichy. A Voyage to Interopia") Professor Tarantoga (Azerbaijanfilm).png
Professor Tarantoga (from the 1986 animated film "From the Diaries of Ijon Tichy. A Voyage to Interopia")

Professor Tarantoga (full name: Astral Sternu Tarantoga), an eccentric xenozoologist, traveller, and inventor, is a fictional character from science fiction works, mostly humorous, by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem. [1] [2]

Contents

Originally he appeared in The Star Diaries as a friend of the space traveler Ijon Tichy and later appeared in some other works of Lem. [1] Russian literary critic Roman Arbitman  [ ru ] describes Tarantoga as "a hybrid of mini-Sabaoth and mini-Frankenstein with good-heardedness of Doctor Aybolit and absent-mindedness of Paganel", who exploited Ijon Tichy to test his crazy ideas: what will happen if the time will be slowed down or will be made into a closed loop, etc. [3]

In addition to secondary appearances, Tarantoga is the main character of four plays (published and broadcast by radio; some adapted for TV). [1]

Curriculum vitae

Tarantoga is professor of xenozoology at the University at Fomalhaut, chairman of the editorial committee for Ijon Tichy Opera Omnia ("Dzieła Wszystkie Ijona Tichego"), member of the Scientific Committee of the Institute of Tichology, inventor and creator of various fascinating devices (most of which being parodies of common science fiction tropes). [1]

In the printed stories Tarantoga appears to be a humanoid. In the 1986 Azerbaijanfilm Russian-language animated TV film Из дневников Йона Тихого. Путешествие на Интеропию [From the Diaries of Ijon Tichy. A Voyage to Interopia] based on "The Fourteenth Voyage" [4] he is a Fomalgautian, a nearly-humanoidal creature with antennae on the head, four upper arms and some lower ones hidden under the robe. [5] In German TV series Ijon Tichy: Space Pilot he is a three-eyed and two-nosed humanoid who lost his arm during experiments with teleportation.

Inventions and other achievements

Appearances

Tadeusz Huk, who playerd Tarantoga in 1992 Tadeusz Huk.jpg
Tadeusz Huk, who playerd Tarantoga in 1992

Naum Vilenkin in his 1968 popular math book Рассказы о множествах [Stories About Sets] invented a story in which Tarantoga debunks a tall tale of Ijon Tichy using concepts from combinatorics and set theory, such as Venn diagrams and the inclusion–exclusion principle. [17]

The novel Monday Begins on Saturday by Soviet science fiction writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky mentions "Tarantoga phenomenon" as a synonym for instant teleportation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Wojciech Orliński, "Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie". Kraków: Znak, 2007, Section "Tarantoga", pp. 226–227. ISBN   978-83-240-0798-1.
  2. 1 2 "Astral Stern Tarantoga", wyborcza.pl
  3. ↑ Роман Арбитман, Поединок крысы с мечтой, p. 300
  4. 1 2 Iz dnevnikov Yona Tikhogo. Puteshestvie na Interopiyu at IMDb
  5. ↑ "Из дневников Йона Тихого. Путешествие на Интеропию"
  6. ↑ Пьесы о профессоре Тарантоге, at fantlab.ru
  7. ↑ Przygody profesora Tarantogi, filmpolski.pl
  8. ↑ Wyprawa profesora Tarantogi, text at lem.pl
  9. ↑ The Art and Science of Stanizlaw Lem, ed. Peter Swirski, p. 169
  10. ↑ Die seltsamen Begegnungen des Prof. Taratonga at IMDb
  11. ↑ Łukasz Maciejewski,"Święty spokój", an interview with Lem
  12. ↑ Wyprawa profesora Tarantogi
  13. ↑ Łukasz Maciejewski,"Święty spokój", an interview with Lem
  14. ↑ Professor Tarantoga und sein seltsamer Gast at IMDb
  15. ↑ Erik Zyber, Homo utopicus: die Utopie im Lichte der philosophischen Anthropologie, pp.85-86
  16. ↑ "Tribute To... Ijon Tichy Raumpilot - Staffel 2"
  17. ↑ y Наум Виленкин, Рассказы о множествах, 2017 print, ISBN   5457931315, pp. 42-44
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