Interpretation Of The Myth In The "Prince Of Central Planning" By V. Pelevin

The article analyzes V. Pelevin's novella "The Prince of Central Planning" resorting to the hermeneutic method. It presents the myth of a little man who, playing a computer game, perceives himself as a hero-Prince. Constant escapes from reality into the world of virtuality serve as a source of computer captivity of the hero and a failure in understanding the situation, which leads to a surreal vision when interpreting what is happening. The end of the game does not give the hero satisfaction, putting metaphysical questions in front of him. But he shies away from finding answers to them, plunging into a new game. In the artistic narrative of V. Pelevin, a new type of personality – an electronic nomad who is immersed in the technological environment - is anticipated. The constant expansion of the digital world captures the nomad in computer dependency and gives rise to electronic addiction. Being in a virtual environment and neglecting reality leads to the birth of a surreal vision of life, which is reflected in the existential myth of the nomad, where many episodes of reality are replaced by fantasy, quite possible ones, borrowed from the virtual environment. V. Pelevin's intuition about the modern electronic nomad, manifested in the 1991 novella, makes it possible to draw a conclusion about the transformation of the myth into reality.