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THE COLONISED IMPERIALIST. ON THE RUSSIAN PARADOX ON THE EXAMPLE OF 'GENERATION P' BY V. PELEVIN AND 'RUSSIA UNDER AVALANCHE' BY A. SOLZHENITSYN (Polish title - below)
(Title in Polish - 'Imperialista skolonizowany. O rosyjskim paradoksie kolonialnym na przykladzie 'Generation P' W. Pielewina i 'Rosja w zapasci' A. Solzenicyna'). The article aims at indicating the major limits of the post-colonial theory that result from its two important aspects: the moral and the political one. The existence of the first reason leads to the fact that postcolonialism is included into the leftist line of thought. The other reason makes it a sort of a weapon for a political fight for prestige and recognition. The case analysed in details is Russian imperialism whose influence on literature can be noticed not only in the past (e.g. in the 19th century classics) but also contemporarily. In order to corroborate the general remarks the author focuses on two works - 'Russia Under Avalanche' by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn and 'Generation P' by Victor Pelewin. The author underscores that both reveal the existence of the Russian paradox that consists in the fact that the identity discourse on the grounds of Russian literature results in a more or less conscious return to thinking in imperialistic categories.
Pracownia Komparatystyki Literackiej, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza, Poznan; www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~comparis; and Wydawnictwo-Drukarnia 'Bonami', ul. Warszawska 25, 61-113 Poznan; bonami@o2.pl