THE ROLE OF METAFICTIONAL NARRATION IN THE PORTRAYAL OF ANIMALS IN “THE SACRED BOOK OF THE WEREWOLF” BY V.O. PELEVIN

Abstract

The paper investigates the role of metafictional narration in the portrayal of animals, using V.O. Pelevin’s “The Sacred Book of the Werewolf” as an example. The two-dimensional artistic structure formed by different narrative time and space imbues the work with a metafictional quality. The text’s fictional nature is accentuated through the transition between the first-person narration and the meta-narration, thereby providing broader possibilities for parodying the fox and the wolf. The paper explores the relationship between metafictional narrative strategies and the structural composition of the work, and on this basis analyzes the characteristics of animal writing within this framework, elucidating critical reflection and deconstruction of contemporary society.