Pagan motifs as the manifestation of anti-modernism in the novels of N. Gaiman “American Gods” and A. Rubanov “Mahogany Man”

Abstract

The subject of this research is the “pagan” images in modern mass culture in the context of the novels “American Gods” by the English writer Neil Gaiman and “Mahogany Man” by the contemporary Russian writer Andrey Rubanov. The goal of this article lies in the analysis of the US and Russian experience of assimilation and integration of pagan heritage in the context of mass culture of consumer society. Research methodology employs the methods offered by Eric Hobsbawm in his theory of “inventing traditions”. Thus, the author perceives pagan motifs as one of the “invented traditions” of the modern literature of consumer society. The scientific novelty lies in the comparative analysis of actualization of pagan images in the English and Russian literature of consumer society in the novels “American Gods” by N. Gaiman and “Mahogany Man” by A. Rubanov.  Analysis is conducted on the “pagan” images in the context of ethno-futuristic discourse defined as an alternative to modern serial identities of consumer society. It is demonstrated that in the literary texts of mass culture, pagan motifs have multiple and heterogeneous origins and cultural genealogies, localized in the classical heritage and popular culture simultaneously. The author believes that pagan images in the prose of mass culture actualize the problems of identity crisis, as well as the erosion of ethnic traditional cultures in globalizing society. It is suggested that visualization of literary texts may become the key trend in the development of pagan images in the mass literature of consumer society.