Journal article

Publication year: 2010

Pages: 117-144

Journal: Anzeiger für slavische Philologie

Volume number: 38

Issue number: 1

URL: https://unipub.uni-graz.at/anzeiger/periodical/titleinfo/10457565?

Publisher: Harrassowitz

Abstract: 

Theorists have offered a wide assortment of descriptions for the temporal, logical or even causal order between new technological developments in the media sector and fiction, ranging from implication(of the message in the medium; McLuhan) through reflection(of new technologies in fiction; Kittler) to anticipation(of new technological developments by science fiction; Rieger). Although reviewers have paid much attention to Pelevin’s usage of new media technologies, hardly any exhaustive attempt has been made to conceptualize the interconnection between his fiction and the actual technological level achieved(and practised in Russia) at the time he wrote novels such as Generation P[ Homo Zapiens/Babylon](1999) or Shlem uzhasa[ The Helmet of Horror](2005). This paper intends to profit from Pelevin’s way of addres¬ sing media technology in order to learn more about the temporal and logical interrelation between technology and literature. 1. From Buddhist heights down to the technical foundation? Viktor Pelevin’s fiction is notorious for a dually structured world in which two realities undermine each other:“Pelevin always writes about the same thing. All his works revolve around the same situation, which consists of characters experiencing two(at least two) realities simultaneously.”

Harvard Citation style: Uffelmann, D. (2010) Pelevin between Media Determinism and Media Marginality, Anzeiger für slavische Philologie, 38(1), pp. 117-144. https://unipub.uni-graz.at/anzeiger/periodical/titleinfo/10457565?

APA Citation style: Uffelmann, D. (2010). Pelevin between Media Determinism and Media Marginality. Anzeiger für slavische Philologie. 38(1), 117-144. https://unipub.uni-graz.at/anzeiger/periodical/titleinfo/10457565?