He is called the classic of postmodernism and the star of literary social art. The books of Vladimir Sorokin are not just controversial. His prose and dramatic works are a scandal, a reason for protests, a reason to start legal proceedings.
His work is too extraordinary even for modern Russian literature, in which complete freedom has long been proclaimed. For those who believe in the existence of a domestic literary tradition, Sorokin is, above all, an outstanding master of words, owning an arsenal of linguistic heritage, giving birth to new directions in the development of the Russian language. Although the tangible influence of the writer's books on modern society is not limited only by the virtuosity of the style.
Start
He was born in Bykov near Moscow on August 7, 1955. After graduating from the Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas, he became a mechanical engineer. The writer himself calls the Moscow art and literary underground of the early 80s the environment where artistic preferences and views on the surrounding reality were formed.
The first published books of Vladimir Sorokin - the novel "The Queue" and a collection of short stories - appeared in Russian, but in Paris, in the immigrant publishing house Syntax (1985). Since then, abroad, especially in Germany, France, Poland, Japan and China, all of his most important works have been published in large editions. Sorokin reached the masses of readers in his homeland only in 1992, when the first publications in the journal “The Art of Cinema” appeared.
The absurdity of socialist realism
From the first responses of critics and readers, it became clear that a major master had appeared. The high quality of possession of the syllable was not in doubt, but the ideas expressed in an impeccable style gave rise to furious polemics. Early novels - “Norma” (1983), “Thirtieth Love of Marina” (1984) - painted a society based on strict regulations at all levels: from state ideology to everyday trifles. The form of grotesque and absurdity chosen by Sorokin could not hide the object of analogy. The shock from some of the details of the text was especially strong among those who saw the optimal structure of life in the Soviet past.
The writer is called one of the main gravediggers of socialist realism in literature and the leading master of social art that arose on his wicked remains. “Thirtieth love of Marina” is a vivid example of this trend.
In the texts verified by style, it is easy to identify references to what filled bookstores by decision of ideological bodies. Replacing the usual and agreed goals and aspirations of the heroes of production epics with an absurd and cruel symbol, the books of Vladimir Sorokin proclaim the unnaturalness of unfreedom, a protest against the pressure of the absolute will of the majority.
Mirror of Change
Sorokin's texts possess all the visible signs of belonging to the postmodern era. They are characterized by free circulation with the form and plot of the narrative, the presence of irony and black humor, the use of informal vocabulary and language experiments. They also have a classic tradition of topical reaction to events and their analysis with building global or close-in-time forecasts.
The following major things of the writer - “Roman” (1989), “Hearts of Four” (1991) and “Blue Fat” (1999) are contemporaries of the global changes that the country and the world underwent with the beginning of perestroika and publicity. Their influence in the text is felt, although there is no journalistic reaction to what is happening. The story is based on an alternative story or fantasy improvisation.
The amplitude of social and political upheaval resulted in a particularly large-scale deviation from the usual literary and moral principles. For "Blue Fat", a case was opened against the author about the dissemination of pornography, and "Hearts of Four" is even considered admirers of Sorokin one of the most cruel books.
Cycles and trilogies
The country, changing, entered the XXI century. Sorokin appeared to his readers in a new “ice” trilogy: “Ice” (2002), “Bro's Way” (2004) and “23,000” (2005). The writer created in these novels, which have common plot moves, a special and complex world. As they left, they expanded and complicated the plot, camouflaged under the usual moves for Soviet science fiction. The writer himself said that in the trilogy for the first time for him, content was more important than form. The result, as always, caused an ambiguous reaction.
Serial thinking is one of the most relevant features of the modern literary process. The books of Vladimir Sorokin, which appeared in the zero years of the new century, tend to form entire universes built around one piece of software. Such is the “Day of the Oprichnik” (2006). Threads stretch from him to the Sugar Kremlin and the latest texts.
A look into the future?
Suddenly, Sorokin began to be considered a seer. The omnipotence of power structures, the fervent patriotism of the worst damage, isolation from the world, living in an “unrighteous” way, suddenly began to acquire an objective character from phantasmagoria.
Many people feel the likelihood of realizing the reality drawn in the novel Telluria. Vladimir Sorokin, in public speaking, says that he is not happy with such a coincidence with his opinion on the development of the world community, and the return of civilization to the Middle Ages is just one of the options.
Theater and Cinema
The modern writer has enough places for the application of strength and talent. In addition to literary texts, Sorokin maintains blogs and pages in electronic media, writes plays for the theater, scripts for films and even a libretto for opera. The production of Leonid Desyatnikov’s opera “Children of Rosenthal” at the Bolshoi was accompanied by protests by moral guardians who called for not to allow swearing and pornography on the main stage of the country. In the forefront of moralists stood the youth movement, which at one time demanded a ban on one of the best novels that Vladimir Sorokin wrote, “Blue Fat”. The result was a highly effective advertising campaign that raised the circulation of Sorokin's books and attracted even more interest in productions of his plays.
Literature has long ceased to be a guide to action in the real world. From the extraordinary and shocking texts of Sorokin precisely those who remember the printed word as an indispensable instruction faint. But there is Time - the most correct and reliable literary critic who will set the necessary accents and determine the levels of influence.