The evolution of philosophical views of R. M. Rilkein the context of his literary works of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries

Abstract

The works of Rainer Maria Rilke, one of the most influential modernist poets of the XX century does not lose its relevance and continues to draw interest of the researchers. The goal of this work is to trace the evolution of philosophical views of R. M. Rilke in the context of his literary works of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries. The research employs hermeneutical approach for interpretation of the texts of R. M. Rilke through the prism of socio-historical conditions of that time. Systematization and generalization of the acquired data allowed assessing the formation and significance of philosophical and aesthetic views of R. M. Rilke, as well as contradictions therein. Rilke did not adhere to any philosophical systems; however, his works reflect the philosophical-worldview principles and patterns of the era, first and foremost, the symbolic aesthetics, philosophy of life, and metaphysics of art of Nietzsche. The philosophical views of R. M. Rilke in the works of his early period developed in pursuit of the unique, and in many ways, subjective attitude towards life. The conducted analysis demonstrates the process of philosophical reorientation from the subject-centered recognition of the great creator towards the objective world of things. In the lecture on Maurice Maeterlinck (1902), Rilke clearly expresses the ideas on the function of art, tasks and capabilities of an artist. After getting familiar with the work of A. Rodin, Rilke turns to the “poem-thing” genre, when the concept of thing encompasses the entire universe. The establishment of transcendental-poetic unity between the subject and the world is one of paramount philosophical ideas in the works of R. M. Rilke. The artist, objectively depicting the “thingness” of the world, is an intermediary between God and the divine spark in its interaction with the real world and man, correlates times and spaces and preserves the eternal values, which comprise the basis of the cultural code of each nation.