Pelevin’s experiments with the genre of utopia

Abstract

The Article considers the specifics of postmodern utopia on the material of V. Pelevin’s literary work. Letting his characters reject reality and aspire to a different, perfect existence, Pelevin deprives his utopias of all visible space-time characteristics. He displays no social transformation, but an individual transformation of the spirit. In his world this allows few chosen people to achieve harmony and happiness. In his anti-utopian novel “SNUFF” he constructs two very different but equally terrible worlds, doomed to mutual destruction. Even though the image of utopia, which appears at the end of the novel, is gaining more specific social features, at the same time it acquires a tinge of irony. The protagonist of the story, who is also the narrator, does very well understand the true ugly essence of his world, but he is not tempted to escape romantically into the space of utopia. His decision to stay in a dying world can be seen to be courageous and noble. Choosing his physical death, the hero, however, finds a path to immortality through art. Like his hero, Pelevin refuses to escape into some utopian ideal space. He remains with us in this crazy, chaotic, violent and terrible world for the sake of the last utopia, in which he still believes, for the sake of creativity.