Postmodernism in the literature of Russia

The current, called postmodernism, arose at the end of the 20th century and combined the philosophical, philosophical and cultural moods of its time. There was an integration of science and art, religion, philosophy. Postmodernism, not seeking to study the deep problems of life, gravitates toward simplicity, a superficial reflection of the world. Therefore, the literature of postmodernism is not aimed at understanding the world, but adopting it as it is.

Postmodernism in Russia

The forerunners of postmodernism were modernism and avant-gardism, which sought to revive the traditions of the Silver Age. Russian postmodernism in literature rejected the mythologization of reality, to which the previous literary trends gravitated . But at the same time, he creates his own mythology, resorting to it as the most understandable cultural language. Postmodern writers led a dialogue with chaos in their works, presenting it as a real model of life, where the utopia is the harmony of the world. At the same time, between the cosmos and the chaos there was a search for a compromise.

Russian writers-postmodernists

Ideas considered by different authors in their works, at times, are strange unstable hybrids, called to eternally conflict, being absolutely incompatible concepts. So, in the books of V. Erofeev, A. Bitov and S. Sokolov, there are compromises, paradoxical in fact, between life and death. In T. Tolstoy and V. Pelevin - between fantasy and reality, in Victor Erofeev and Pitsukha - between law and absurdity. From the fact that postmodernism in Russian literature rests on combinations of opposing concepts: sublime and base, pathetics and mockery, fragmentation and wholeness, the oxymoron becomes its main principle.

Among the postmodern writers, in addition to those already listed, include S. Dovlatov, V. Voinovich, L. Petrushevskaya, V. Aksenova, A. Sinyavsky. In their works, the main characteristic features of postmodernism are observed, such as the understanding of art as a way of organizing text according to special rules; An attempt to convey the vision of the world through organized chaos in the pages of a literary work; Gravitation to parody and denial of authority; Emphasizing the conventionality used in works of artistic and visual techniques; Connection within the same text of different literary epochs and genres. The ideas that postmodernism proclaimed in literature point to its continuity with modernism, which in turn called for a departure from civilization and a return to savagery, which leads to the highest point of involution - chaos. But in concrete literary works one can not see only the desire for destruction, there is always a creative tendency. They can manifest themselves differently, one can prevail over another. For example, Vladimir Sorokin's works are dominated by the desire for destruction.

Formed in Russia in the period 80-90-ies, postmodernism in literature absorbed the collapse of ideals and the desire to escape from the orderliness of the world, so there was a mosaic and fragmentary consciousness. Each author in his own way broke it in his work. In L. Petrushevskaya and V. Orlov , the work combines the craving for naturalistic nakedness in describing reality and the desire to emerge from it into the mystical realm. The sense of peace in the post-Soviet era was characterized as chaotic. Often in the center of the plot, postmodernists become an act of creativity, and the main character is the writer. It explores not so much the character's relationship with real life as with the text. This is observed in the works of A. Bitov, Yu Buida, S. Sokolov. The effect of closed literature on oneself comes out when the world is perceived as a text. The protagonist, often identified with the author, in the face of reality pays a terrible price for its imperfection.

It can be predicted that, if oriented toward destruction and chaos, postmodernism in literature will one day leave the stage and give way to another trend aimed at a systemic worldview. Because sooner or later the state of chaos is replaced by the order.