Philosophical novel

Often, a philosophical novel is intended to illustrate a particular philosophical position. The term “philosophical novel” does not have a clear interpretation, because many philological schools of science have a different meaning in this concept. Nevertheless, the term is well-established and is often used in both scientific and more popular literature.

Some works described as a “philosophical novel” can often be simultaneously called a parenting novel . With this genre, a philosophical novel makes a special attention to the history of the formation of the character’s worldview and the importance that the heroes’s intellectual life plays in the plot, as well as its conceptual understanding. However, a philosophical novel may not contain a description of the growing up and formation of the character of the main characters, which is a characteristic feature of the upbringing novel.

A philosophical novel is sometimes called works written in the genre of utopia or dystopia . This is due to a special conceptual consideration in utopias or anti-utopias of certain phenomena of public life, a philosophical analysis of the whole society as a whole, as well as problems of the historical development of society.

Prerequisites for the creation of the genre can be seen already in antiquity. Plato and Xenophon created the genre of philosophical dialogue in which the artistic value of the text is not inferior to its conceptual meaning. Allegories were widespread in the literature of the Middle Ages, in which one can also notice a close relationship between the purely artistic form of expression and the philosophical meaning of the work.

The satirical parables of Jonathan Swift and Mandeville played a large role in the formation of the genre. The forerunners of the philosophical novel include Daniel Defoe 's Robinson Crusoe .

A philosophical novel as such arose in Western Europe during the Enlightenment , when classical examples of the genre were created such as Candide (1759) by Voltaire or Rameau's Nephew (the exact date of writing is unknown) Didro. The publication of the novels of the French philosopher Russo “New Eloise” (1761) and “Emil” (1762) finally determined the significance of this genre in literature. At first, the German philosopher Jacobi decided to express his views in an artistic form, having published the philosophical novel Voldemar in 1779. The works of the Garden also belong to the tradition of the philosophical novel, which, despite their scandalous reputation, are largely a continuation of this literary tradition and the next stage of its development, often parody.

The development of the genre is associated with the literary movement “Storm and Onslaught” and romanticism , when such works were created in the genre of a philosophical novel, such as “The Years of the Teaching of Wilhelm Meister” (1795-1796) by Goethe , the novel “Heinrich von Ofterdingen” by Novalis , “Hyperion” by Hölderlin , "Night Vigils," published in 1805 under the pseudonym Bonaventure. The authorship of the latter novel is often attributed to the philosopher Schelling .

A huge role in the development of the genre at this time belongs to the German writer Jean Paul .

Samples of a philosophical novel can be found in representatives of late romanticism, such as Hoffmann or Mary Shelley, in whom the genre acquires features of a phantasmagoric, and often gloomy and mysterious action, sometimes with a large share of a satirical element.

The representative of Russian late romanticism Vladimir Odoevsky published in 1844 the philosophical novel Russian Nights. ^[3]

In the first half of the 19th century, representatives of the realistic trend in literature paid tribute to this genre. Of particular note is Balzac , who included in his opus magnum “Human Comedy” a special section “Philosophical Etudes” containing more than two dozen works. In particular, he included “Shagreen leather” (1831), “Unknown Masterpiece” (1831) and the novel “Seraphita” (1835) as “philosophical studies”. At the same time, the form of the philosophical novel in a satirical and journalistic spirit was also used by the British philosopher Thomas Carlyle , who published his work Sartor Resartus in 1833-1834.

A special role in the formation of the genre in the XIX century was played by the philosopher Kierkegaard . The craving for a novel form prompted Kierkegaard to publish not only treatises, but also artistically written works, imbued with the spirit of philosophical analysis.

Sometimes the program works of Russian literature of the 19th century, especially the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy, are referred to the genre of a philosophical novel.

The genre of a philosophical novel sometimes includes socially oriented works of the era of the “Great Reforms” , such as “Fathers and Sons” by Ivan Turgenev and “What to Do?” By Nikolai Chernyshevsky . ^[four]

In the second half of the XIX century, during the so-called "Beautiful era", the genre of a philosophical novel acquired a second wind. In the 1880s, one of the most famous works in this genre was written and published, “So Spoken Zarathustra” by Friedrich Nietzsche , which had a huge impact on the further development of philosophy and literature. The experimental writing technique in Nietzsche’s novel had a particularly great influence on the development of symbolism .

No less influenced the expansion of the boundaries of the genre had the publication in 1884 of the novel “On the contrary” by Huysmans and in 1890 the novel “Portrait of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde .

The novel achievements of symbolism in many respects represent the further development of the philosophical novel genre. The prose of the Symbolists can only partially be correlated with this genre. Russian symbolism, actively experimenting in a novel form, creates a number of samples of works, with its richness in philosophical problems related to this genre.

So, we can note the historical trilogies of Dmitry Merezhkovsky “Christ and the Antichrist” (1895-1905) and “The Kingdom of the Beast” (1908-1918). The works of some Russian symbolists directly come into contact with a more general movement in literature, called modernism .

On the verge of the poetics of symbolism and modernism, one of the significant novels of the 20th century is written - “Petersburg” by Andrei Bely , the first edition of which dates back to 1913, and which can be partially attributed to the genre of philosophical novel.

A huge role in the further development of the genre was played by new directions of the philosophy of this era, especially the philosophy of life and psychoanalysis , and later - existentialism .

Literary modernism gave such examples of a philosophical novel as The Magic Mountain (1924) by Thomas Mann , The Steppe Wolf (1927) by Hermann Hesse , The Man Without Properties (1931-1932) by Robert Musil , The Blind (1935) by Elias Canetti , “Nausea” (1938) by Jean-Paul Sartre .

Somewhat stand out in this row are the works of Gustav Meyrink , imbued with an atmosphere of occultism.

In Soviet literature of that time, the genre of a philosophical novel was developed by the writer Leonid Leonov . Based on the traditions of Russian literature of the 19th century, he creates, in particular, the novel The Thief (first edition - 1929), permeated with philosophical problems. One of the most significant achievements of Russian literature in the genre of philosophical novel is The Master and Margarita (1929-1940) by Mikhail Bulgakov .

It is known that the philosopher and writer Jacob Golosovker created in 1925-1929 a philosophical novel, "The record is indestructible." However, the manuscript of the novel, given by Golosovker on the eve of the arrest for the preservation of the trustee, perished. Later, Golosovker partially restored the text under the new name “Burnt Novel”. These fragments were published only in 1991.

In the period 1932-1934, the philosopher Alexei Losev wrote several prose works, including the philosophical novel The Woman The Thinker, first published only in 1993. ^[five]

A special place in the literature of that time was made by both domestic and foreign anti-utopias , such as “We” (1920) by Evgeny Zamyatin and “Brave New World” (1932) by Aldous Huxley .

Such professional writers as the already mentioned Sartre, as well as Albert Camus and Gabriel Marcel , are often called representatives of the philosophy of existentialism . Although they themselves often had difficult relationships with this intellectual movement, nevertheless, the philosophy of existentialism had a significant influence on them and was reflected in their work. These writers contributed to the development of the genre of philosophical novel, largely breaking with modernism and creating their own ways of artistic expression.

Understanding the experience of totalitarianism and the horrors of World War II with renewed vigor has necessitated a philosophical understanding of reality. At this time, the genre of philosophical novel takes on additional relevance. German writers living in exile create significant examples of a philosophical novel dedicated to the role of the artist and creator in the years of social upheaval.

This is the novel “The Bead Game” (1943) by Hermann Hesse , which tells of a difficult choice for a cultural figure to close up in a utopian country of pure art or to enter a world full of social disharmony, “Dr. Faustus” (1947) by Thomas Mann , narrating about the fate of the composer, painfully reflecting on the purpose of art, “The Death of Virgil” (1945) by Herman Broch , a meditation novel in which sad lips reflect on the fate of creativity in the world, on the relationship between the creator and the authorities, in the mouth of the dying Roman poet Virgil .

In the post-war era, the philosophy of existentialism has become extremely popular, posing with particular force the eternal question of the responsibility of man for the choice that he makes. The experience of World War II merges with existentialist discourse in the work of Albert Camus, who wrote his famous novel The Outsider in 1942, and the novel Plague in 1947.

In Soviet post-war literature, the appearance of a philosophical novel that tells about the role of the creator in society, about the relationship between man and the world, “Doctor Zhivago” (1945-1955) by Boris Pasternak , became one of the most debated events, and his publication in the West caused a flurry of accusations writer in treason in relation to his homeland.

The largest representative of the poetics of absurdism, Samuel Beckett , who actively turned to the form of the novel in the postwar years, creates a number of works, such as “Molloy” (1951), “Malon Dies” (1951), “Watt” (1953), “Nameless” (1953), which can be described as philosophical novels of the absurd.

A philosophical novel throughout its history has been influenced by the poetics of the fantastic. A work that poses metaphysical questions can be particularly expressive by describing extreme, incredible events and by introducing fantastic, symbolic, or conditional characters as characters. The same effect is achieved by transferring the action to a conditional or fantastic place - to a mysterious island, to a fictional country or to another planet.

With the development of science fiction as a separate genre, the philosophical novel took its special place there. Among the philosophical science fiction novels, one can note the fantastic trilogy of 1938-1946 Clive Lewis , Solaris (1961) and Fiasco by Stanislav Lem or the novel Stranger in a Foreign Country (1962) by Robert Heinlein .

In domestic science fiction, the Snail on the Slope (first published as two separately printed fragments in 1968) Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky and Geometric Forest (1975) by Gennady Gore can be classified as a philosophical novel. Many works of Ukrainian science fiction writers Marina and Sergey Dyachenko belong to the genre of a philosophical novel .

• Agenosov V.V. Soviet philosophical novel. M .: Prometheus, 1989 (1990) .- 300 p.
• Zababurova N.V. French philosophical novel of the XVIII century: self-consciousness of the genre // (XVIII century: literature in the context of culture. - M., 1999. - P. 94-104.
• Peter Jones, Philosophy and the Novel (Oxford, 1975).
• Stephen D. Ross, Literature and Philosophy (New York, 1969).
• Murdoch, Iris (1992) Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals: Writings on Philosophy and Literature. Penguin ISBN 0-14-026492-2
• Murdoch, Iris (1997) Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Philosophy and Literature. Penguin ISBN 0-14-026492-2

• The tradition of confession and the tradition of the novel, L. R. Goryashina
• A. F. Losev “Woman-thinker”