Published: 2025-06-17

Puppet Masters — The Dystopia of Anna Starobinets "The Living"

ALEKSANDRA MARIA ZYWERT

Abstract

This paper examines the issue of the existence of God in the future society. The primary source is a dystopia by the relatively young but highly acclaimed Russian author, Anna Starobinets, The Living (Живущий, 2011). In this novel, the author presents a world almost entirely dominated by cyberspace, where humans are essentially an extension of technology—still necessary, but no longer treated as subjects. Therefore, one could argue that this novel is a materialization of the fears held by internet skeptics, as it explores the question: what will happen if a post-biological organism comes into existence? Starobinets effectively deconstructs both God the Father and the Son of God. The true deity in this world is the information conveyed by the System. This information is the most valuable element of reality, as it enables progress, which in turn becomes the source of money and practically unlimited power. The people of the future, as the author predicts, will be permanently dependent on technology, will cease to think independently, and will become weak—just as every computer system is ultimately vulnerable. If the pessimistic forecasts of Jean Baudrillard come to pass, sooner or later humanity will disappear, as in its desire to improve life, it will unknowingly strive toward self-annihilation

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ZYWERT, A. M. (2025). Puppet Masters — The Dystopia of Anna Starobinets "The Living". Przegląd Rusycystyczny [Russian Studies Review], (2 (190). https://doi.org/10.31261/pr.18167

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No. 2 (190) (2025)
Published: 2025-06-17


ISSN: 0137-298X
Ikona DOI 10.31261/pr

Publisher
Polskie Towarzystwo Rusycystyczne oraz Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego

Licence CC Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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