von Hans Pfleiderer
•
10. April 2025
The novel The Great Gopnik (Большой Гопник) by Viktor Yerofeyev is a biting satire that describes the influence of the Gopnik-spirit on Russian society: From the streets to the Kremlin, a mentality of ruthlessness, opportunism and strength at all costs reigns. Chapter 1: Introduction In this book, Viktor Jerofejew describes a dark and satirical vision of today's Russia. The title refers to the figure of the "gopnik", a common stereotype in Russia of a petty criminal, usually an unemployed and violent young man from the lower classes, often in tracksuits and with a penchant for brute force. Yerofeyev means an exaggerated, almost mythical version of this type - an embodiment of brutal power that extends to the highest political and social levels. It is a metaphor for the current Russian state leadership, which rules through authoritarian methods, intimidation, corruption and violence. Some interpretations see this figure as an allusion to President Vladimir Putin and Russia's political system, which is increasingly permeated by mob-style structures. It tells of Putin's unstoppable rise to the top of the state and presents him as the embodiment of this species of rowdy, who sees the Russian empire as a kind of fairytale world that needs to be saved from the influences of Europe and America. At the same time, the author himself acts as his antagonist and offers a literary explanation for current events in Russia. The novel is divided into short chapters, that alternate between different perspectives, time frames and layers of meaning. This structure reflects the complexity and chaos of Russian reality. A reoccurring hint the size of a billboard is the date of February 24, 2022, the day of the Russian attack on Ukraine, runs like a thread through the book and is reflected in italicized passages that express the author's thoughts and feelings. Overall, the book offers an in-depth analysis of Russian society and its political leadership, wrapped up in a literary work that combines elements of autobiography, essay and fiction, a masterful and compelling novel that explores the human and systemic drama of today’s Russia, set against a backdrop of chaos, transformation, and deep societal unrest. Chapter 2: The Joycean attempt riffing on unfamiliar words Moscow under a sky like wet fabric over dull gold Ivan Tsarevich steps through glass into a city that has forgotten him or knows him too well no music only machines breath of metal shadows await the air as heavy as oil his heart beats out of sync with the times no star only neon that never blinks cold fingers grasp rules bend through corridors without doors faces mute voices hollow the Great Gopnik towers over maps without people only borders only blood Ashes fall like snow, tanks roll by, a woman stands with a child, breath freezes, hunger does not, Alexei falls, the film continues, the hero becomes a number, is forgotten, men freeze in cells without light, their breath paints shadows in a system that knows no people, only guilt. Then, much later, the news out of nowhere: Alexei Navalny is dead, they say, but the name lives on in whispers. Ivan rides through forests, through nights, through a Russia that may awaken or may never! And so the fairy tale ends The great Gopnik sits on bones In front of him, maps without people Only borders, ice, blood Smoke rises like snow While houses burn Streets empty A woman with a child Breath frozen, hunger hot A power plant falls Sparks extinguish Snow on the ruins and dead Alexei falls Uniforms await The hero becomes a number, is forgotten Men freeze in cells Their bodies only guilt in the system Later the news hits Alexei Navalny is dead they say But what is death When the name continues to whisper Chapter 3: Literary influences The grotesque legacy of Russian literature rumbles in Viktor Yerofeyev's work. He is a literary master blaster. His novels and essays unfold like an abysmal carnival festival in which violence, madness and sarcasm collide. But his work does not exist in a vacuum - it is deeply rooted in Russian and European literary history. Six great writers have influenced his style, and in each of their characters there is an echo of Yerofeyev's over-the-top narrative style. Yerofeyev combines these influences to create an independent style that oscillates between satire, philosophy and radical provocation. Viktor Yerofeyev stands in the tradition of the Russian literary avant-garde and absurd realism. His most important role models and influences are: a. The devil as playmaker: Mikhail Bulgakov, especially The Master and Margarita with its mixture of satire, fantasy and social criticism, influenced Yerofeev's style. The grotesque depiction of Soviet reality and the playful use of the absurd can also be found in Yerofeyev's work. Hardly any other author has woven the grotesque into Russian literature as artfully as Mikhail Bulgakov. In The Master and Margarita, the devil Voland and his demonic troupe create chaos in Moscow and expose the hypocrisy of Soviet society. Yerofeyev follows this model when he stages the Russian present as a grotesque circus in The Great Gopnik, in which power and anarchy become blurred. His characters are often diabolical figures who destroy the system with sadistic relish - not unlike Woland's henchman, the talking cat Behemoth, who shoots guns and cracks jokes about hell. b. The madness of everyday life: Daniil Charms, the Russian avant-gardist and founder of absurd realism, had a great influence on Yerofeyev. His short, often surreal texts full of violence, humor and nihilism are reflected in Yerofeyev's fragmentary, often grotesque narrative style. The master of the literary absurd has created a world in which people simply disappear, dissolve or fall from windows - not for dramaturgical reasons, but because the logic of reality is suspended. His short text A Certain Old Man tells the story of an old man who falls over and dies without warning - just like that. Yerofeyev uses this principle of sudden, senseless violence in many scenes in his work. In The Great Gopnik, a minor character is killed in mid-sentence as if he were an annoying fly - life in Russia is random, brutal and without compassion. c. Man's lost souls: Nikolai Gogol is known for his satirical exaggeration of characters and the absurd depiction of bureaucracy and power structures. No one has exposed the absurd bureaucracy of Tsarist Russia as farcical as Nikolai Gogol. In The Nose, a civil servant wakes up to find that his own nose has disappeared - and even worse: it is on the loose in St. Petersburg and is making a career for itself. The grotesque powerlessness of man in the face of an opaque system is a theme that Yerofeyev continues to explore. His characters do not fight against ghosts or demons, but against a Russian reality that is just as unpredictable and mocking as Gogol's overdrawn bureaucrats. d. The cabinet of Fyodor Dostoyevsky: The psychological depth and existential struggle with morality, guilt and chaos in works such as The Idiot and The Demons in particular influenced Yerofeyev's dark, philosophical reflections on his torn Russian soul. If there is a literary tradition that illuminates the inner abyss of man, it is that of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In The Demons, a revolutionary murder becomes a farce because the perpetrators themselves do not know whether they are fighting for what is right or simply murdering. Yerofeyev continues this tradition by creating characters who teeter between megalomania and nihilism. In The Great Gopnik, a small-time crook suddenly becomes a politician - not because he is convinced or interested in power, but because circumstances drive him into this role. Like Dostoyevsky's Kirillov, who wants to kill himself to prove his absolute freedom, Yerofeyev's hero stumbles from one existential catastrophe to the next. e. Venedikt Yerofeyev and the Art of Drinking as Philosophy: One author with whom he is often confused is Venedikt Yerofeyev, who in the cult novel Moscow - Petushki lets a drunken, melancholy narrator stagger through the Soviet provinces. With his alcohol-soaked, poetic and tragicomic prose, this author left behind a legacy, a literary image of Soviet and post-Soviet neglect, which is also in streaks present in The Great Gopnik. His hero philosophizes about love, power and alcohol while getting drunk on spirits. Viktor Jerofejew's protagonists are very often alcoholics, but in his case the drunkenness turns into sheer violence. Where Venedikt Jerofejew still finds a tragicomic poetry, Viktor Jerofejew depicts a dehumanized world in which drinking is no longer rebellion, but merely survival. f. Franz Kafka and Jean-Paul Sartre: The absurdity of existence and the feeling of existential forlornness—central to the works of Kafka and Sartre—resonate in Yerofeyev’s portrayal of Russian society as a theater of the absurd. His Gopnik staggers through a meaningless system, fueled by vodka, poetry, and philosophical despair. Sartre’s famous line, “L’enfer, c’est les autres” (“Hell is other people”), from his play No Exit (Huis clos, 1944), captures the existential torment of being defined by the gaze of others. We are “prisoners” and our identities shaped and judged externally, which can become a form of psychological torture. Kafka anticipated similar ideas exploring how anonymous, inscrutable systems oppress the individual. In The Trial, Josef K. is condemned without knowing why—a symbol of how external forces, whether social or bureaucratic, strip away autonomy. To conclude, Viktor Yerofeyev's The Great Gopnik is characterized by a provocative, satirical and absurd writing style. His narrative is often fragmentary, exaggerated and full of grotesque exaggerations. He uses a laconic yet poetic language that oscillates between vulgar directness and philosophical reflection. He plays with excesses, crude comedy and surreal images to expose social and political grievances in Russia. He works with a mixture of black humor, existential despair and a certain playful resignation. His style is reminiscent of a mixture of Russian underground, postmodern satire and absurdist theater. His way of depicting Russian reality as a kind of grotesque carnival in which violence, power and chaos condense into an absurd farce is particularly striking. His work is a mirror in which not only Russia, but the entire modern world recognizes itself in its absurdity - and perhaps even laughs, albeit bitterly.