SUBJECT AS TRAUMA AND AESTHETIC OPPORTUNITIES OF ITS OVERCOMING. ON THE MOTIVES OF «HEART OF DERKNESS» BY J.CONRAD

Abstract

The article raises the question of the traumatic and catastrophic essence of the West European concept of the subject, since this concept is based on negativity, which follows from the paradox of the act of reflection. The formation of that concept of the subject is associated with theological attempts to determine its action in relation to the incomprehensible God. The essence of the subject is likened to the apophatic essence of God. It is suggested that J. Conrad’s «Heart of Darkness» (1899) reveals the problematic nature of such an understanding of the subject, which is revealed at that stage of its development, when it manifests itself as a total will to power, centering and subordinating the whole world to itself from the position of absolute nihilism. It is shown, however, that this nihilistic position can be overcome through a transition to aesthetic contemplation, which completes the subject’s path to God-likeness.