Destruction of the Pretexts in Dystopia («The Slynx» by T. Tolstaya)

Abstract

In this article, the authors consider the features of the intertext poetics employed in the novel «Slynx» by Tatyana Tolstaya. The genre of dystopia, which basic characteristics this novel reveals, is considered as a discourse that has established its normative features in a retrospective dialogue with previous texts. The pretexts widely presented in the novel and the nature of their interaction with the receiving text are revealed. Various forms of transformation of intertextual elements implicated in the narrative lead to a violation of the original meanings of the pretext, creates an ironic narrative intonation of the novel, and carries the author’s main artistic intentions. The linguistic transformation of logoepistemic texts in Tolstoy's novel represents the linguocognitive mutation of «post» society, its civilizational degradation. The destruction of the logocentric picture of the world indicates the impotence of the Word as a carrier of cultural meanings, its inability to structure a new valueable reality, or to restore lost connections with previous cultural paradigms.