Sociology of the transcendental delirium world

Abstract

The author analyses the individual-empire relationship in the Soviet Union. The literary work Moscow-Pietushki, by Venedikt Yerofeyav, is treated as a superb instantiation of Soviet interaction rituals. The author rejects the Homo sovieticus model, the orthodox implementation of which leads to a recognition of individuals as puppets of the system. The analysis, inspired by Goffman's and Collins' findings, shows the social mechanisms which make possible the construction of a temporary world of transcendental delirium, located on the borderline of system reality. The constitution and duration of this anti-utopia system inside society reveal the relative autonomy of Soviet social actors: their conduct within this world is conditioned mainly by the availability of alcohol and the capability to play the 'parlour game'. Such analysis, which surveys the universal logic of interaction rituals, facilitates a reasonable comparison of the practices of Soviet actors with the practices of actors located on the 'friendly' peripheries of the system, and with the relevancy systems and the actions of the CEE and the Western bourgeoisie.