Westliche Elemente von Pop- und Konsumkultur in der ukrainischen Gegenwartsliteratur (Zur Problematik des Kontextwechsels)

Abstract

The paper offers a close reading of three Ukrainian novels by Yuri Andrukhovych, Serhiy Zhadan, and Lyubko Deresh in order to demonstrate, how main elements of Western pop-culture are shifted into a different Central and East European context. As a result, it becomes clear that contem- porary Ukrainian fiction uses these elements, but does by no way intend simply to imitate Western traditions of pop-culture; on the contrary, Western pop-culture in a radical way is re-shaped by the three Ukrainian writers in order to put into the foreground their own different artistic notions. In his novel Twelve Rings, Andrukhovych, for example, confronts Western consumerist culture, the former ussr, and Central Europe. Serhiy Zhadan in Depeche Mode again demonstrates the gap between Western pop-culture and the Eastern Ukraine by means of a radio-feature, which misinforms the Ukrainian listeners about the band “Depeche Mode” in an utmost strange way, and Lyubko Deresh in his novel Adoring the Lizard, finally, depicts the everyday live of younger people in Galicia, who primarily are interested in bands like “King Crimson” or “Jethro Tull” and, therefore, do not stick to the latest trends as proposed by Western pop-culture.