S.N.U.F.F. — utopia zrealizowana (o pewnym aspekcie powieści Wiktora Pielewina)

Abstract

The following paper concerns Victor Pelevin’s newest novel. The author discusses one of the most interesting aspects of the work; more specifically, the allusions and references to our reality that are present within its storytelling. There are many of them. Not only the shape of the world itself, a world divided into two hostile and competing nations, but also the relationships within these nations do resemble processes and phenomena present in our time. The regimes of Bizantium and Urkagana, the divisions within them, and the deciding roles of mass media and the world of advertising seem vaguely familiar to us. Wars to a great degree seem to be inspired by conflicts that exist in “our” world. Such a picture brings to mind the realities of not only modern Russia but also the West, understood in a wide sense. All of this allows us to view S.N.U.F.F. not only as a post-modernist novel, but, above all, as a social and political satire.