Bodily Transformations as a Sign of Personal Identity Loss of Heroes of World Literature Works of Second Half of XX — early XXI Centuries

Abstract

The question of the self-identity crisis of the heroes of literary works at the turn of the century is considered. Particular attention is paid to the bodily transformations of characters as a sign of the loss of personal identity. The relevance of the study is due to the need to fill the existing lacunes in modern literary criticism on the problem of bodily metamorphosis, considered in the designated context. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that previously unexplored works of art by individual writers are analyzed. The authors offer an analysis of the most representative novels of the second half of the 20th — early 21st centuries: “The Last Dream of Reason” by D. Lipskerov, “Second Body” by M. Pavich, “Box Man” and “Alien Face” by Kobo Abe. An analysis of works through the prism of V. Podoroga’s phenomenological theory of corporeality is presented in the paper; special attention is paid to the concepts of “body without skin” and “body outside the norm”. The idea of physicality and identity of J. Baudrillard is also reflected in the work. It is proved that in the novels there are several ways of bodily modifications: moving to another body or object, changes in the functions of internal organs, fusion with an object, which is interpreted by the authors as a sign of the loss and fruitless search for the personal identity of the heroes.