THE RISE AND FALL OF THE TRICKSTER: SERGEI SHNUROV AND THE CYNICAL CONSENSUS.

This article contextualizes Leningrad in relation to the Soviet tradition of cynicism with its gallery of trickster characters. At once embodying a cynical mind and criticizing social cynicism, tricksters are able to both articulate and subvert the hypocrisy of dominant ideologies. In Leningrad's videos produced simultaneously with the first phase of Russia's war against Ukraine and the West (2014-2022), the trickster characters expose a cynical consensus between the authorities and society. While cynicism is an unlikely tool for radical critique, its variety of ambivalence appeared to retain critical political potential while retaining the critical potential. The article registers the symptomatic waning of trickster characters in Shnurov's most recent work, released since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine--the cynical consensus becomes the foundation for the new regime of repressions leaving no room for ambivalence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]