Naumchik, O. S., Smirnov, V. N. CONCEPT OF THE MULTIVERSE IN FANTASY LITERATURE: FROM M. MOORCOCK TO A. SAPKOWSKI // Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2020. Vol. 42. No 3. P. 43–51. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2020.463


Literary studies

CONCEPT OF THE MULTIVERSE IN FANTASY LITERATURE: FROM M. MOORCOCK TO A. SAPKOWSKI

Naumchik
O. S. 		Lobachevsky State University
Smirnov
V. N. 		Lobachevsky State University
Keywords:
Multiverse
chronotope
C. S. Lewes
M. Moorcock
R. Zelazny
D. W. Jones
P. Pullman
A. Sapkowski		 Summary: This article analyzes the principles of the creation of Multiverse in the works of various authors of the second half of the 20th century in the context of cultural and scientifi c prerequisites. It uses comparative-historical and descriptive methods. These methods allow us to generalize scientifi c theories from Antiquity to the 20th century and to determine how ideas about the existence of many worlds infl uenced the literature of fantasy in the 20th century. It is concluded that the concept of Multiverse was very demand in the genre of fantasy, as it allowed to expand the boundaries of the world and complicate the structure of the narrative. It is important to emphasize that these ideas develop in parallel with the emergence of esthetics of postmodernism, which denies the only truth and consequently the existence of one single world. The authors, whose works were analyzed, represent the multiworld differently. In the works of C. S. Lewis, M. Moorcock and R. Zelazny, we we see a tendency toward a cosmological center, but it is presented in different ways. In the works of D. W. Jones, the system of parallel worlds is structured and their appearance is explained most logically; at the same time, the system of twins living in different worlds appears in the concepts of D. W. Jones and R. Zelazny. P. Pullman does not seek to create a thoughtful structure of the Multiverse, since he emphasizes ethical and humanistic problems. But in his books, the image of an object that allows creating portals between dimensions is important. In the works of A. Sapkowski the structure of the Multiverse is also not fully revealed, but this concept performs a worldforming function.



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