Pelevin and Unfreedom: Poetics, Politics, Metaphysics

by Sofya Khagi

Sofya Khagi’s Pelevin and Poetics, Politics, Metaphysics is the first book-length English-language study of Victor Pelevin, one of the most significant and popular Russian authors of the post-Soviet era. The text explores Pelevin’s sustained Dostoevskian reflections on the philosophical question of freedom and his complex oeuvre and worldview, shaped by the idea that contemporary social conditions pervert that very notion. Khagi shows that Pelevin uses provocative and imaginative prose to model different systems of unfreedom, vividly illustrating how the present world deploys hyper-commodification and technological manipulation to promote human degradation and social deadlock. Rather than rehearse Cold War–era platitudes about totalitarianism, Pelevin holds up a mirror to show how social control (now covert, yet far more efficient) masquerades as freedom and how eagerly we accept, even welcome, control under the techno-consumer system. He reflects on how commonplace discursive markers of freedom (like the free market) are in fact misleading and disempowering. Under this comfortably self-occluding bondage, the subject loses all power of self-determination, free will, and ethical judgment. In his work, Pelevin highlights the unprecedented subversion of human society by the techno-consumer machine. Yet, Khagi argues, however circumscribed and ironically qualified, he holds onto the emancipatory potential of ethics and even an emancipatory humanism.

304 pages, Paperback

Published December 15, 2020

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book to read on Pelevin, at least for literary scholars. Khagi manages to be broad, addressing Pelevin's entire oeuvre, without losing sight of the central theme she sees in his writing: the struggle for freedom against many human and inhuman forces. This is great academic writing!

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. A little jealous, for the book is written by a foreign author, but so subtly feeling Pelevin's work. In Russia, Pelevin's critics are usually scolded, but here is a very interesting analysis of his work. Although I personally consider literary critics (and all other professional critics) as parasites - feeding on other people's work. I prefer to have my own opinion, and I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks about anything, the main thing is that I like it myself. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Why do I need a prompter explaining why it should be beautiful? But this book is a pleasant exception, adding more to the discussion. Bravo Sofia!