Archetypal Heroic Matrix: From Epic Doer to the “Postmodern Wanderer” (A Comparative Study of H. Ismailov’s Mbobo And V. Pelevin’s Chapaev And Pustota)
Abstract
This article explores the radical transformation of the heroic archetype in contemporary literature, specifically tracing the evolutionary shift from the classical "Epic Doer" to the fragmented "Postmodern Wanderer." Through a rigorous comparative analysis of Hamid Ismailov’s Mbobo (The Underground) and Victor Pelevin’s Chapaev and Pustota (Buddha's Little Finger), the study examines the mechanisms by which the traditional hero’s journey – as defined by Joseph Campbell’s monomyth – is systematically subverted and deconstructed. The research demonstrates a dual trajectory of this archetypal shift: while Ismailov’s protagonist embodies a rhizomatic wandering through the tangible physical and cultural debris of a collapsed Soviet empire, Pelevin’s hero represents an ontological wandering through the hallucinatory "void" of a fractured consciousness. By utilizing a transdisciplinary framework that incorporates post-structuralist theory, semiotics, and hauntology, the study reveals how both authors redefine the heroic matrix. Ultimately, the paper argues that the contemporary hero no longer seeks a definitive "boon" or a return to a stable social order, but instead exists in a state of permanent ontological transition, where the act of wandering itself becomes the only authentic response to a world of exhausted meta-narratives.