Thanatological Motifs in Fiction

Abstract

Even the wisest and brightest minds are broken when faced with death. No scientific degree or professional certificate can guarantee that we will be able to talk about death openly, delicately, without fear. In science today, we see two different but interdependent processes that develop and enrich human knowledge. There was a differentiation of literature and science, which started in the 19th century with positivism. Today, a modern researcher researches and works in one or more fields and is interested in several objects of research. Since the second half of the 20th century, the integration of scientific knowledge has been taking place, the inter-disciplinary ties have been strengthened. Natural science studies rely on philosophical foundations, looking for existential subtexts, while humanities strive for precision and the formulation of laws. The horizon of knowledge is limitless, but we can stop at the circle that is the most important for humanity. For example, a French historian wrote: "It is enough to study only a few terms that have influenced European life" (Fevre, 1991: 239). What topics and terms, constants and concepts, stories and motives are these? These persistent thoughts, the cornerstones of human mentality, which have been transformed over the centuries: "Man", "Life", "Death", "World", "Time"... Many of them are already the subject of study of anthropology, aesthetics, cultology, sociology. This work is dedicated to one of these topics - "death" and one of the disciplines - thanatology.