In Pursuit of Neo: The Matrix in Contemporary Russian Novels

Abstract

Arguably, few popular films during the last decade have caused so much debate, and been more frequently quoted as film The Matrix (1999), written and directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski. This paper analyzes allusions to the film in four works of contemporary Russian prose fiction. These works exploit, to various degrees, The Matrix in order to evoke visual representations from the film, and to draw on structural concepts and similarities. Further, I argue that references to The Matrix are made in order to benefit from the film’s eclectic mythological concepts and transpose them to the literary realm. This kind of cross-fertilization could be seen as a growing trend where the borders between different media are becoming more fluid, and where they benefit from each other, be they novels, films, or computer games.