Spatial Dichotomies and Labyrinth in the Novel the Sacred Book of the Werewolf by V. Pelevin

Abstract

The article presents the study of postmodern artistic work’s space organization. The aim of the study is to reveal specifics of the space of a postmodern work as a category of the artistic world of a literary work. The paper considers the hypothesis about the assertion of a causal “character” – “space” relationship. The material for the analysis was the novel The Sacred Book of the Werewolf by V. Pelevin. The methods of structural analysis, as well as comparative and historical-cultural methods were used to study the work. During the study the spatial dichotomies were identified (“feminine” – “masculine”, “dark” – “light”, “top” – “bottom”), which are formed according to activity of a particular character, which determines the novelty of the study. The novel is divided into feminine and masculine spaces, each of which possesses, albeit with certain limitations, stable features: feminine space is characterized by semi-darkness, narrowness, downward orientation, while male space is characterized by the boundlessness or illusory nature of boundaries, light and brightness, the location is at the top. The feminine space is physically limited, but expands into reasoning, memories and metaphors. Open space appears most often where a male character dominates. In addition, the article provides examples proving that the concretization of the image of a location is associated with the psychological and mental state of a character. The work also explores the image of a labyrinth in the space of a work of art. The study will help both in the further study of the space realized in the V. Pelevin’s work, which will allow us to systematize and identify the pattern characteristic of his prose, and in analysis of the space of a postmodernist work.