Vampires, sots-art, et réalité virtuelle: Victor Pélévine, ou l’assimilation de la pop culture par un auteur académiquement reconnu
Vampires, Silly Art, and Virtual Reality: Victor Pélévine, or the Assimilation of Pop Culture

Summary/Abstract: This article is dedicated to the borrowings of tropes belonging to popular culture (American pop and soviet mass culture), in the works of the postmodern author Victor Pelevin. With the opening of the book market in the 1990s, numerous critics started lamenting the end of an authentic Russian culture, caused by the invasion of pop culture, imported primarily from the anglo-saxon sphere. However, we will see, through the works of Pelevin, how this cultural mix can be a fruitful source of renewal. In Homo Zapiens, Pelevin mixes references as in sots-art technique, and parodizes both Lenin and coca-cola, Sometimes, his use of pop motifs go beyond parody and serve political satire (Tchapaev and Poustota) and social commentary (Empire V, The Sacred Book of the Werewolf). A focus on the display of monstrous creatures in his books will also lead to a reflexion on the presence of numerous folkloric monsters in russian contemporary dystopias, such as mutants or vampires. Far from being just a market strategy, we believe these creatures may also serve as cultural metaphors, embodying some of the changes resulting from the fall of the USSR.

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