Aktor w tekstowym theatrum mundi. Rozważania o specyfice bohatera utworu Moskwa-Pietuszki Wieniedikta Jeroflejewa

Abstract

In this article, the author describes the specific existence and status of central character of Venedikt Yerofeyev’s famous work Moskva-Petushki (1977; Moscow to the End of the Line), regarding the theatrum mundi (“world’s a stage”) motif. The construction of Yerofeyev’s hero is founded upon opposition to totalitarianism, which attempts to control all aspects of individual life. In order to escape this constraint, the hero assumes cultural schemes of behaviour, for example Sheherazade or Jesus Christ. These ready-to-unfold scenarios do not serve as masks. They’re functioning rather as consecutive “incarnations”. Thanks to such attitude, the hero aspires to become a creator of surrounding reality. This position of actor-director, combinaned with openness to discourse of the Other, leads to the trap. Thus, the hero is doomed to be locked up within the tricky “textual world”. He “creates”, against his will, the word essentialy similar to what he had thrown away.