Poetry as the overcoming of death in the essayistics of F. Werfel and E. Canetti

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the works of the Austrian writers-contemporaries Franz Viktor Werfel (1890-1945) and Elias Canetti (1905-1994). These works are created in the genre of essay. It allows us to trace the creative individuality of a great artist being engaged in a dialogue with time. The article is aimed at revealing the specifics of the author’s mythology and philosophy of F. Werfel and E. Canetti. In the article, the conceptions of both authors are compared. F. Werfel and E. Canetti interconnect the problems of sacral and historical time and poetry as the way of defeating time. On the basis of the essayistics analysis of both authors it has been identified that they interpret poetry as a way to overcome death and eradicate fear of death, which paralizes a person’s talent and thirst for action. The research novelty lies in the scientific introduction of the unstudied texts of both authors and in the definition of their typological connections at the level of ethic and aesthetic positions of the authors. As a result, it has been proved that the literary artists are united in their understanding of a writer’s role in the modern world. This understanding consists in the confrontation between time and death. The genre of essay allows us to trace the paradoxicality of thinking of both authors, who combine different ways of world perception.

References

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About this article

Publication history

• Received: February 25, 2023.
• Published: April 28, 2023.

Keywords

• эссе
• историческая концепция
• смерть
• Ф. Верфель
• Э. Канетти
• essay
• historical conception
• death
• F. Werfel
• E. Canetti

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© 2023 Gramota Publishing, LLC

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)