Kondycja człowieka w rosyjskiej poezji rockowej i prozie postmodernistycznej (Wiktor Coj i Wiktor Pielewin)

Abstract

This monograph consists of an introduction, five chapters, a bibliography and a summary in English. Selected works and selected aspects of the works of Viktor Tsoi and Victor Pelevin are the subject of an analysis in individual chapters of the monograph. The introduction to the monograph includes a series of reflections on the profiles of Viktor Tsoi and Victor Pelevin, and the creative strategies they employ. Viktor Tsoi (1962–1990) is one of the most famous, key, iconic and mysterious figures of Russian rock music and Russian rock poetry; the founder and leader of the cult rock band Kino, a singer and songwriter, a poet, an actor, and an artist. Tsoi is a symbol of the struggle for freedom and change, and the idol of millions. Born in 1962, Victor Pelevin has established a reputation as one of the most interesting, controversial, and mysterious contemporary Russian writers. He is also known as an attentive and critical observer of the surrounding reality. The writer is a deep thinker, a prophet, and a visionary. He always leaves behind more questions than answers. Pelevin is one of the most prominent exponents of Russian literary postmodernism. The first chapter, entitled "The category of freedom and forms of its expression in the creativity of the poet and the musician Viktor Tsoi", constitutes an attempt to “break” into the art world of Viktor Tsoi’s philosophical rock poetry and to identify and discuss its main themes and motifs, among which the category of freedom and the category of freedom of choice occupy a special place. Particular attention is paid to Tsoi’s point of view on the moral choice between material and spiritual well-being (“to have” or “to be”) and between action and inaction (“to be” or “not to be”). The lyrical subject of Tsoi makes a choice in favour of moral values and tries to achieve inner freedom and inner harmony in the “unfree” and “inharmonious” world. The focus of this chapter is an analysis of selected Tsoi’s songs-poems, including: "Звезда по имени Солнце" (A Star called Sun), "Война" (The War), "Мама, мы все тяжело больны" (Mother, all of us have serious illness), "Печаль" (The Sadness), "Ночь" (Night), "Песня без слов" (Song without words), "Закрой за мной дверь, я ухожу" (Close the door behind me, I’m leaving), "Перемен!" (Changes!). The analysis conducted in the first chapter shows that Tsoi’s philosophical reflections on the concept of freedom, the dilemma of choice, and the need for change (in the broadest sense of the last word) are still relevant and become particularly important in the context of geopolitical events. The second chapter, entitled "“Homo transformens” according to Pelevin (“contemporary” werewolves, vampires and androids – Victor Pelevin’s postmodernist variations)", is an attempt to show and discuss distinguishing features and characteristics of Pelevin’s “non-human beings”. This chapter comprises the following considerations, divided into two main thematic groups: firstly, Pelevin’s “postmodernist and eclectic” conception of “supernatural creatures”, namely werewolves and vampires; and secondly, Pelevin’s point of view on human–robot relationships, which is developed and analysed in detail in the following chapter of the monograph. It is crucial to emphasise that in depicting the process of transition-transformation of a human being into “another”, “non-human” being, Pelevin uses literary schemes, folklore traditions, the most famous images and codes of mass culture, as well as his own, unique discoveries and inventions. We can therefore speak of a peculiar strategy of deconstruction and reinterpretation of “werewolf and vampiric discourses”. The following Pelevin novels are the subject of the analysis in the second chapter: "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf" (2004), "Empire V" (2006), "S.N.U.F.F." (2011), and "Batman Apollo" (2013). The third chapter of the monograph "“S.N.U.F.F.”: a man in the trap of simulacra (the postmodern concept by Victor Pelevin)" is the analysis of the novel "S.N.U.F.F." (2011). This Pelevin’s novel is set in the future (but the book contains frequent allusions and references to contemporary reality). In the aftermath of the collapse of the old world (after apocalyptic events), the Earth has been divided into two countries (two nations): Byzantion (Big Byz) with advanced technology (where 3D simulations have almost completely replaced real life) and Urkaine whose inhabitants are called Orks and who are technologically backward. To keep the people of Byzantion entertained, the news companies periodically start wars, filmed by CINEWS INC. Pelevin focuses our attention on mass media manipulation methods and techniques. The writer demonstrates how television manipulates information and produces its “own” versions of events – its “own” version of the war. This self-creation of television (“hyperreality”) has no reference to what is authentic. The aim of this chapter is to present and discuss the relations and connections between “real reality” and “hyperreality” (virtual reality), between real emotions and their simulacra, and between a “real” man and a “sura” (a surrogate woman, a human-like doll). Pelevin’s novel "Secret Views of Mount Fuji"(2018) is the subject of the analysis in the fourth chapter, entitled "In search of lost (or unattainable?) happiness… The postmodernist-Buddhist “treatise” by Victor Pelevin (based on the novel “Secret Views of Mount Fuji”)". The plot of this novel is based on the story of three Russian oligarchs (unhappy oligarchs) who, having experienced all the joys of life, begin to use a start-up that offers different kinds of happiness. Pelevin pays special attention to a businessman named Fedya (Fyodor Semyonovich). The writer refers to the Buddhist concept of happiness and explains in detail the Buddhist theory of jhan – the successive stages of understanding the ultimate truth. Pelevin concludes that everyone has their own happiness. To reach this state, one needs the truth, the other its absence. The aim of the analysis in this chapter is firstly, to show Pelevin’s point of view on the correlation between happiness and wealth, and secondly, to discuss Pelevin’s answers to the following questions: “What exactly is happiness?”, “Is it true that money does not make us happy?”, “Can we buy happiness with money?”. The fifth chapter, entitled "“To be or not to be” – a transhumanist vision of the future according to Victor Pelevin (based on the literary work “Transhumanism Inc.”)", is devoted to Pelevin’s novel "Transhumanism Inc." (2021). The objective of the research in this chapter is to present and discuss Pelevin’s transhumanist vision of the future, in which an isolated brain (removed from its host) will be able to survive indefinitely in a specialized container (“a jar”) and human consciousness will exist within a virtual reality. However, access to this “jar dimension” will be exclusive, limited only to the wealthy, leaders, and world oligarchs. The vampires, as supernatural creatures, will be the real architects of the world order. This chapter focuses on the analysis of the selected aspects of Pelevin’s literary work, those which can be viewed in connection with the assumptions of the transhumanist project. Key concepts explored include cyber immortality, morphological freedom and mind uploading. In conclusion, it should be stated that in the oeuvre of both authors, who have gained a cult status, the issues of spiritual freedom and independence, freedom of choice, including the choice between truth and falsehood, between being oneself and losing oneself, and finally the choice between “to be” and “to have” attitudes, occupy an important place. The phenomena of enslavement (for example, enslavement by consumption) and manipulation, as well as the objectification of the human being, also remain at the centre of Pelevin’s interests.