Death of the Author (?) in Viktor Pelevin’s Novels:

Power, Conspiracy, and Disappointment

Valentina Vinokurova

Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

McGill University, Montreal

April 2017

A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements

of the degree of Master of Arts in Russian Studies

© Valentina Vinokurova 2017

Table of Contents

Abstract (English) ------i

Abstrait (French) ------ii

Acknowledgements ------iii

A Note on Transliteration and Translation ------iv

Introduction ------1

Literature Review ------5

Theoretical Framework ------12

Chapter 1: Reader-Response Theory as a Theme in Pelevin’s Work ------20

Chapter 2: Author-Characters and Character-Authors ------45

Author-Characters ------46

Character-Authors ------62

Chapter 3: Pelevin as Author: Branding, Marketing, Auteurism ------72

Pelevin’s Public and Media Image ------74

Auteurism and Consumerism vs. The Death of the Author ------91

Conclusion ------97

Bibliography ------104

Abstract

This thesis seeks to explore a contradiction implicit within postmodernist thought which concerns the question of authorship. It suggests that Roland Barthes’s “death of the author” might well be incompatible with the capitalist mentality which has become a theme of as well as an external condition for the existence of postmodern literature. A focused analysis of selected texts by Viktor Pelevin’s demonstrates this problem and suggests a possible resolution, at least within this author’s works: there seems to be a shift of focus from the

‘author’ (as conceived by V.V. Vinogradov and perhaps assumed by Barthes), as sole and final arbiter in the question of who dictates the meaning of the text and the ‘writer’ as the focal point of branding (a point perhaps anticipated by Fredric Jameson). This thesis explores issues of authorship in Pelevin’s The Helmet of Horror (Шлем ужаса), Chapaev and Void,

(Чапаев и Пустота), t, and Generation «П» by referring to reader-response theory (an outgrowth of Barthes’s death of the author), auteur theory, as well as Vinogradov’s “image of the author.”

i

Abstrait

L’objet du présent mémoire est l’analyse d’une contradiction implicite dans la pensée postmoderniste relative à la question de la paternité littéraire. Nous soutenons que la « mort de l’auteur » proclamée par Roland Barthes est incompatible avec la mentalité capitaliste qui est devenue un thème de l’existence de la littérature postmoderne ainsi qu'une de ses conditions externes. Notre analyse d’une sélection de textes de Viktor Pelevine confirme ce problème et nous amène à proposer une possible solution, du moins en ce qui concerne l’œuvre de l’auteur. Il semble y avoir un glissement (tel qu’imaginé par V.V. Vinogradov et sans doute assumé par Barthes) de l’auteur en tant qu’arbitre suprême vers l’écrivain comme seul point de marquage (ce que Fredric Jameson a sans doute anticipé). Ce mémoire explore des questions de paternité littéraire dans Minotaure.com : Le Heaume d'horreur (Шлем

ужаса), La Mitrailleuse d'argile (Чапаев и пустота), t, ainsi que dans Homo zapiens

(Generation «П») de Pelevine en invoquant l’esthétique de la réception (un prolongement de la « mort de l’auteur » de Barthes), la théorie de l’auteur, ainsi que l’« image de l’auteur » de

Vinogradov.

ii

Acknowledgements

I would like to offer a special thanks to Pr. Laura Beraha who helped nurture this thesis from the vaguest of ideas into a serious work. Her critical and insightful comments as well as emotional support has been invaluable throughout the process of writing this thesis. Thanks also to David Gosselin who kindly agreed to help me translate my abstract into French. Final