Utopia and Dystopia as Two Facets of Artistic Reality in V. P. Krapivin's novel "Green's Ampoule"

Abstract

The object of literary analysis in this article is V. P. Krapivin's novel "Green's Ampoule", the subject of the study is the features of utopia and dystopia in the artistic world of this work. Its genre nature is complex and multifaceted, but the signs of utopia and dystopia, from the point of view of the author of the work, are clearly visible in the text. The study of social and moral-philosophical issues characteristic of the genres mentioned above is being conducted. The author also analyzes the features of the poetics of this work, which work to create images of dystopian and utopian worlds. The method of holistic analysis helps to identify the relationship between two toposes: Empire and the city of Insom – and features of two genres: dystopia and utopia. The study of these genre components of "Ampoule Green" is conducted for the first time and allows us to come to the following conclusions. The image of the Empire, which is associated with the dystopian component of the novel, is the embodiment of totalitarianism, and the life of this country is marked by a deep contradiction of the interests of the individual and the state. The image of the Free City of Insk bears the features of utopia. Describing his life, the author uses the technique of breaking expectations. The assumptions of the reader and the hero playing the role of a traveler in a utopian world are motivated by patterns typical of a society that is far from ideal, and they are refuted by the reality of Insk, where goodness and harmony reign in human relations. It is not by chance that the novel presents the hypothesis that Insk arose from the materialized fantasy of children. If the image of the Empire has the features of the world of the beginning of the XXI century, when the novel was created, then the image of Insk is replete with details related to the past. It is natural to assume that dystopian features for the author are embodied in the present, and utopian – in the past, in the memories and impressions of childhood, that is, the world of adulthood is represented as dystopian, and the world of childhood is represented as utopian.