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Political Discourse and Artistic Fiction in Utopian Reality Representation

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Political Discourse and Artistic Fiction in Utopian Reality Representation CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Siberian Federal University Digital Repository Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 7 (2015 8) 1325-1343 ~ ~ ~ УДК 82.09 Political Discourse and Artistic Fiction in Utopian Reality Representation Natalia V. Kovtun and Vadim V. Kovtun* Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia Received 20.01.2015, received in revised form 17.02.2015, accepted 22.04.2015 In Russian and Western literary studies, the peculiarity of Russian culture is often considered through the prism of Utopia. This article discusses the formation of an utopian metagenre in Russian fiction, tracing a change in emphasis from the political discourse to artistic means, and, conversely, archetypes that distinguish utopian world-modelling in different cultural epochs. Perhaps there is no better term than “Utopia” to characterize modern literature, where the avant-garde Utopias anticipate global communist Utopia that was formalized in artistic creativity through the theory of socialist realism, which in the 1950–1960s was replaced by retrospective Utopia of “the villagers” in the diversity of author’s variants and technocratic Utopias of the “youth prose”. In this paradigm the place of postmodernism as a set of techniques used for opposing Utopian intentions is determined by the role of anti-Utopia. Keywords: Utopia, anti-Utopia, utopian metagenre in Russian fiction, political discourse, utopian world-modelling. DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-2015-8-7-1325-1343 Research area: philology. Introduction century it included a travelling (also undertaken The problem of studying fictional utopia and in a dream) to an unknown land depicting a state principles of utopian world-modelling remains of universal Law, in the 19th century it included one of the most important in the modern literary an image of a technocratic civilization, in the 20th studies. Creators of classical utopias regarded century it included the horrifying images of the text as an opportunity to represent their own future, stirred by the science-fiction techniques. ideas, when “fiction is necessary... only as an Utopian thinking, the ways of its representation entertaining outline” (Morton, 1956, 117), a in text became the subject of analytical criticism choice of the expression manner was dictated by only in the 20th century. the level of its entertaining and ranged from the The purpose of this article is to show how methods of a tale to the form of a novel (Bellamy, gradual shift of emphasis from the political 1893, 1–2). The form of utopia was highly discourse (Bourdieu, 1998) to plot and vice versa influenced by historical conjuncture: in the 18th takes place in the history of utopian metagenre1, © Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved * Corresponding author E-mail address: [email protected] – 1325 – Natalia V. Kovtun and Vadim V. Kovtun. Political Discourse and Artistic Fiction in Utopian Reality Representation and to identify archetypes that distinguish utopian classical utopias hope that their works will serve world-modelling in different cultural epochs. to enlighten the sovereigns. F. Bacon wrote his Particular attention is paid to the literature of book “for the good of the Dauphin”, hoping to the 20th century, where utopia and anti-utopia are find a monarch capable to implement into ideas the major types of creativity. The legitimacy of into life, with the same purpose J. Harrington the set task is identified by the specific character wrote “Oceana”. The utopian text of Count of utopia as one of the basic ideas of human Mikhail M. Shcherbatov (A Journey to the Land culture, related to the concepts that “denote the of Ophyr, 1784), A. Radishchev (A Journey from phenomena, equally characteristic to all the St. Petersburg to Moscow, 1790), and those of the epochs, that allow to see the connection of times Decembrists can be considered as the tools of and succession of ideas”, fundamental basics political rhetoric. and time representations (Artem’eva, 2005, 480). In one of the recent theoretical works utopia is Theoretical framework regarded as an analytical tool for the analysis The most important principle of utopia of the contemporary culture at large, intensified creation is the method of absolutization, by utopianism: “We can explore culture (in postulating the ideal as unconditional and its broadest sense) for its utopian aspects, its creative, which often excludes the possibility expression of longing and fulfilment. The strength of critical perception, including the creator and of this analytical definition is that it encourages protagonist of utopia himself. K. Mannheim the identification of an element that different defines utopia as a category that describes “any cultural forms have in common, although in so thinking, stimulated not by reality, but by models doing, it may also at times gloss over important and symbols”. Utopian consciousness “turns differences between them. If we start from here, it away from anything that can shake its faith or is evident that contemporary culture is saturated paralyze its desire to change the order of things” with utopianism, even (or especially) where there (Mannheim, 1994, 41). “Non-textual reality” is is no figurative representation of an alternative transferred into the text of utopia according to world” (Levitas, 2013, 5). In this paper we the principle of conformity to the author’s idea consider the notion of utopia utopia as a kind of of “the best social order”. The ideal, mastered in analysis tool, which is essentially evaluative (in the language of fictional images influences the case of the content) and impartial (in case of the readers’ minds, evoking a response. The unity level of its realization). of the fictional utopia is provided by the unity The interest in utopia is intensified in the of aesthetic vision and artistic and philosophical critical periods of civilization development, intuition of its creator. It is connected to the when a total revision of the dominant values messianic tones of utopia and its prophetic takes place: “The search for a positive image monologism. of the future, if it is regarded as spiritual work, A utopian text that models alternate reality, as absolutely inevitable in the crisis epochs, serves as a kind of mirror reflecting the evils of especially at our time of total critisism of the reality. The path, shown by an author reminds a foundations of modern civilization” – says maze, at the end of which glimmers the image of E. Chertkova (Chertkova, 1993, 81). At this the “better f ut ure” or the “golden age” of the past, time an artist comes forward with a project that the movement through the maze is defined and is alternative to the present one. The authors of “provided with signposts; and no matter how we – 1326 – Natalia V. Kovtun and Vadim V. Kovtun. Political Discourse and Artistic Fiction in Utopian Reality Representation tried to escape, we will return to the same place of author versions and technocratic utopias again and again” – this is the semiotic nature of the “youth prose”. In this paradigm, the of utopia (Petrucciani, 1991, 112). Crossing the place of postmodernism as a set of practices of borders of the text, A. Petrucciani connects confrontation to the utopian intentions is defined with the will of the author, who puts a dot, by the role of anti-utopia. awakening-return of a character or willfulness The fall of the Russian history into the of a reader who closed the book (ibid). Whatever “utopian abysses” is often only identified by the challenges the traveler coped with on his way experts; analysis of the underlying causes of this to the Promised Land, whatever lessons he issue is limited to references to the authorities of learned from the experienced, Utopia escapes F. Nietzsche, A. Schopenhauer and to the ideas and the ideal can not be completely adjusted of Western Enlightenment and the Renaissance. to the reality. Disappointment in the utopian However, the genre (metagenre), as shown by perspective leads to different consequences: M. Bakhtin, is not only an aesthetic category, either the author himself revises relations with but the field of value perception of the world, the the reality (F.M. Dostoyevsky opposed the main way of understanding reality. And it means idea of Christian existentialism to the project that one should look for reasons to explain the of revolutionary transformation of the world) mobilization of creative pathos of utopia in the or comes to the establishment of the power history of the nation itself (Egorov, 2007). Mentality of of utter anti-world (anti-ideal), which anti- the artist of the 20th century was determined at the utopia embodies: Y. Zamyatin’s novel “We” is time when F. Nietzsche’s thesis “God is dead” was a reaction to the standardization of being that proclaimed. The resulted “Twilight of the Gods” is sarcastically developed in the direction of forced them to two consequences: construction of the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers a new universe where the artist-demiurge takes (Kazarkin 2001, 5). The project of an ideal over the vacant place of God, the Creator. Artist, society, represented in Utopia, and the image the Demiurge takes over the vacant place of God, of the back side of being (not-being) that is the Creator (Pavlova, 2004). Utopias become the represented in anti-utopia, are related to each messengers of political theories, the embodiment other according to the principle of mirroring, of hope, and
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