THE GENESIS OF THE CONCEPT OF "ILLNESS" IN EUROPEAN AND RUSSIAN ROMANTICISM

Shtyrova Alima Nikolaevna

The article considers that the concept of "illness", "illness of the soul", "illness of the age" in European and Russian romanticism of the "Byronic" type is genetically rooted in the tradition of Christian thought and is associated with the concept of the conflict of value orientations. The source of the philosophical and aesthetic conflict characteristic of the Romantic worldview as a whole is seen in the fact that the true need for the existence of absolute values does not find confirmation in the life experience of the heroes. The article points out that the French Romantics and Byron gave modern man a middle position in the dichotomy 'old man - new man'. The passionate and creative beginning, the intellect as the integrity of the rational-logical and imaginative sides are the essence of the Romantic personality, the denial of which is tantamount to its annihilation. But they are also the source of the romantic hero's sinfulness and rebellion against the will of the Creator. Doubt in God and his ability to organise the world in the right way relativises ethical precepts and justifies the egoistic arbitrariness of the individual. The paradox is that the romantic heroes of the Byronic type, in their confessions, a genre originally Christian, moderate their actions with the ethics of the Christian "new man". Lermontov stressed the possibilities of impartial knowledge. The intellect, freed from the influence of the affective sphere and its barriers, can comprehend the meaning of the divine universe and suffering.

Keywords:Romanticism, sickness of the century, dichotomy, romantic conflict of values.