Les traditions classiques et les anti-utopies russes contemporaines

Abstract

The classical tradition and the modern Russian dystopian novel. This article argues that modern Russian dystopian fiction draws upon such wellknown classical texts as ‘ We’ by Evgeny Zamyatin and ‘ 1984’ by George Orwell. In the analysis of modern russian anti-utopian novels by Vladimir Sorokin, Victor Pelevin, Mikhail Yur´ev features of the genre emerge as follows : 1) the impact of a failed utopian project ; 2) a catastrophic event triggers the rise of a new historical order or at least a new order of priorities in envisaging the chronology of events in the past ; 3) an ‘ anti-utopian virus’ is spread by a charismatic protagonist 4) ‘ utopian’ mythology of body 5) the presence of a border between the utopian world and ‘ another’ world ; 6) Big Brother or Benefactor whose presence is felt everywhere ; 7) symbolic representation of devices for maintaining hegemonic control : the ‘ Integral,’ ‘ Mystery Weapon,’ or ‘ Global Shield’ (as in Mikhail Yur´ev’s novel ‘The Third empire’) ; 8) parody and social satire.