Socio-critical discourse in the dystopian novel “Corpus Delicti: A Process” by Juli Zeh

The aim of the research is to identify the features of the genre specificity of Juli Zeh’s dystopian novel “Corpus delicti. Ein Prozess” (“Corpus Delicti: A Process”), taking into account the socio-critical intention contained in it. The article provides, firstly, various definitions of the terms “utopia” / “anti-utopia” / “dystopia” in order to reveal the genre originality of the novel in question, and secondly, analyzes the plot and compositional features of the novel with an emphasis on socio-critical discourse, as well as the singularity of the poetics of the work. The scientific originality of this research lies in the fact that the novel “Corpus Delicti: A Process” is a phenomenon that has been little examined in both Russian and foreign literary studies, it is a modern dystopian novel, which, in our opinion, marked a unique creative development of the evolution of the genres of socio-critical and utopian novels in modern German literature. The results of the analysis showed that Juli Zeh’s work is a biopolitical dystopia, focusing on the conflict between supporters and opponents of natural life in conditions where the state forcibly introduces the system of biotechnologies designed to “improve” human nature. Turning to the narratives used in previous literary practice, the author of the novel sharpens the apocalyptic edge of dystopia as a warning of a possible catastrophe for humanity, which has embarked on the path of changing human nature. The interpretation of the topic of the relationship between man and society at a new stage in the development of technologies affecting human consciousness presented in Juli Zeh’s novel indicates the return to literature of socio-critical discourse, here in the form of dystopia.