Pelevin and Unfreedom. Poetics, Politics, Metaphysics

Victor Pelevin's prose became an expression of the doubts and fears of the generation of the 1990s, trying to formulate and build new life strategies on the ruins of the collapsed empire. Despite his long-standing success with readers, Pelevin's texts did not become the subject of serious literary reflection for a long time. Sofia Hagi's book is intended to fill this gap, focusing on the philosophical problem of freedom in the context of the writer's artistic worldview. How did Pelevin transition from deconstructing Soviet ideology to criticizing today's global reality? What dangers does the writer see in accelerated technological development? Why does he believe that the concept of freedom in modern society is radically distorted? The author seeks answers to these questions by offering a close reading of Pelevin's unique socio-metaphysical fantasy. Sofia Hagi is a professor of Russian literature in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor).