The following article discusses Yevgeny Zamyatin’s dystopian novel We (1920) which was examined with the use of interdisciplinary methodology combining the tools of performativity theory and semiotic analysis. In the dystopias that gained popularity in 20th-century Russian literature and have since occupied an important place in the literary process, the aesthetic aspect gives way to political and sociological concerns. This shift of literary dominant was initiated by Zamyatin’s novel whose publication coincided with the emergence of Sergei Eisenstein’s montage theory. The analysis of the dictator’s portrayal and various instruments of political performance allows the conclusion that Zamyatin to an alarming extent anticipated political theatricalization – the procedure that gained momentum in the subsequent decades of the 20th century.

In the short story collection Titan, Sergei Lebedev examines the evidently dystopian Soviet reality from the perspective of postmemory. As is typical of his work, the author bases his narratives on real events, using them as a starting point for reflecting on unspoken injustices and traumas. He is also concerned with contemporary Russian society’s ability to confront and process these issues. This proves to be an exceptionally challenging problem for today’s society, as post-Soviet reality remains deeply marked by the legacy of dystopia. An intriguing technique employed by Lebedev is his choice of narrative convention – he draws on devices characteristic of broadly defined horror literature to construct his stories. Despite its fantastical veneer, Titan is a significant contribution to the debate on both the current state of Russian society and its prospects for future development.

The aim of this article is to present the context of functioning and the significance of the motif of Putin’s death in Esther Bol’s play Spawn [or] putin’s death. The research method applied consists in the accompanying observation and interpretation of the main character’s journey stages through a series of cultural and literary references. The tone of the entire play is pessimistic: the tyrant, struck in the heart, is resurrected, and not all artifacts necessary for his annihilation are found. Russia thus confirms its status as hell and a wasteland without any prospects for change. The motif of Putin’s death was used in the play to show its impossibility. However, the problem is not the figure of the tyrant, but the essence of Russia, which “belongs to the devil.”

The purpose of this article is to analyse the novel Кадавры by Aleksei Polarinov in terms of its references to contemporary Russia as a neo-totalitarian state. The author concludes that the titular “cadavers” (the bodies of children appearing under unclear circumstances) symbolize unprocessed collective traumas, either silenced or distorted by the authorities, as well as the self-destructive trajectory of political developments in Russia, which is passively accepted by society. The connection between the motif of collective trauma and the individual histories of the protagonists raises questions about the relationship between the fate of the individual and the collective they shape, as well as the possibility of detachment from the collective abyss.

This article examines the relationship between queer literature and politics, focusing on the treatment of LGBTQ+ individuals in the Russian Federation. It highlights the intensification of homophobic state rhetoric following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and explores the challenges faced by queer literature under these extreme conditions. Particular attention is given to two novels published shortly before and after the onset of the war, analysing how the wartime context significantly influences their interpretation. The article presents an interpretation of Pioneer Summer by Kateryna Sylvanova and Elena Malisova, indicating that, paradoxically, the novel may align with Kremlin politics. In contrast, Springfield by Sergei Davydov is discussed as a subversive text, in which the non-hetero­normativity of its characters plays a pivotal role.

The article explores the narrative structure of Mikhail Shishkin’s debut novel, Записки Ларионова (“Notes of Larionov”), focusing on the complexities and ambiguities of first-person storytelling. By examining the narrator’s self-presentation and the intricate relationship between the narrator, protagonist, and implied audience, the study highlights how Larionov crafts a self-image that blends self-justification and self-deception. Drawing on narratological analysis, the article underscores the duality of Larionov’s narrative – a text that oscillates between a “humble testimony” of an ordinary life and a veiled manipulation of truth. Special attention is given to themes such as the literary construction of identity, the unreliability of the narrator, and the ambivalence of moral and existential choices. The paper situates Shishkin’s work within the broader context of Russian postmodern litera­ture, emphasizing its intertextual allusions, ethical inquiries, and psychological depth.

In The Time of Women by Elena Chizhova, political totalitarian system is shown through the prism of intimate, familial relationships – those most basic and foundational human connections. First, the article addresses the themes of memory and metamemory, which are the novel’s leitmotif. Second, it explores the metaphor of text weaving, where sewing and knitting – sensually and haptically conveyed through the medium of fabric and yarn – symbolize the process of merging memories, images, fairy tales, and dreams into an intertextual network of the protagonists’ recollections. Finally, the article considers the role of fairy tales that contribute to a form of hypertextual narration.

This article offers an analysis of the conduct and character of Aleksandr Leontyevich Onisimov, the protagonist of The New Appointment by Aleksandr Bek. Onisimov, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Industry during the height of Stalin’s rule (1938–1953), is portrayed as someone whose traits – such as servility, caution, ruthlessness, and total subordination to the party leadership under Stalin – enabled him to maintain his position during the era of terror and purges. ­Yet Onisimov is also marked by personal honesty, modesty, and a sensitivity to the plight of the repressed. His career trajectory is primarily shaped by fear and the unconditional execution of orders from the party leadership. It is this life marked by constant fear that ultimately leads to his fatal illness. As the analysis demonstrates, Onisimov’s attitude was typical of the beneficiaries of the Stalinist era – writers, artists, scholars, and scientists who, in various ways, supported the totalitarian Soviet regime. Many of them helped construct and benefit from the criminal system, only to become its victims later. Such was also the fate of Onisimov, although he himself managed to avoid direct repression.

In this article, Charles Louis de Montesquieu’s parable of the savage peoples was used to examine the aspect of totalitarianism based on myths of the past that can no longer evolve. The properties of progressive thinking and the crisis of conservative thinking exemplified in the literary works of Alexander Turgenev (1784–1845) and Dmitry Glukhovsky (born 1979) are examined through the lens of the cultural situation at the beginning of the XIX and XXI centuries. Both types of thinking involve the phenomenon of the wisdom of hindsight (знание задним числом) which activates myth-making thinking and turns the described reality into a dystopian one. The retrospective method uses the well-thought-out ideas and concepts of Bernard Stiegler and Vardan Hayrapetyan, namely the Promethean and Epimethean orders, the temporalizations of êpimêtheia and promêtheia, as well as the progressive, conservative and myth-making types of thinking.