Konson, G. R. The Image of the Devil in Literature as a Symbol of Approaching Catastrophism

Abstract: The subject under review of the present research is the images of the devil in classical literature that were, on one hand, obtained from fairylore and science fiction and, on the other hand, created by the human mind. Introduction of the image of the devil into a literary work has become one of the conceptual symptoms of the threat to human life. Appearance of the image of the devil as been usually accompanied with all sorts of incidents and has been making a bold and explosive impression in the drama. These observations have made the author of the present article to study the so-called ‘demonic tradition’ in famous literary works. In order to view this topic, the author of the article uses the method of psychological analysis that is based on the phenomenon of the binary archetype discovered by M. Uvarov and used by the author of the present article as the representation of the ‘twins effect’ of the man and devil. The novelty of the research is in the description of the main source of psychological relations between the man and the devil, in particular, the sale of one’s soul. The author of the article shows that in each case human soul has its own price which, in the end, reveals the degree of the feeling of catastrophism experienced by the man. The author also describes different motives for the sale of one’s soul based on which he shows the moral failure of the man and inevitable physical destruction. The author of the article shows that the images of the devil in literary works are nothing else but the fantasy of the man reveling against the reality. Based on the results of the research of different interpretations of catastrophism expressed in art through depersonalization of human, the author concludes that the history of the humankind is based on his attitude to transcendence and inevitably connected to the moral principles of the humanity. When these moral principles are defied, transcendence in the human mind assumes a particular shape and becomes humanized gaining the force of the catastrophic expectations and achievement of the moral punishment.

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