Polyvalence of the Cave Paradigm: Iris Murdoch’s Reception
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31861/pytlit2018.98.317Keywords:
Iris Murdoch, reception, the Cave paradigm, the Good as a moral category, gnoseologic, gender, ethic and aesthetic aspectsAbstract
The article analyzes the literary and philosophical aspects of the Cave paradigm both in the context of Iris Murdoch’s fiction and her philosophical essays. The purpose of the article is to study the specifics of the Cave paradigm embodiment in the genrelogic structure of Murdoch’s philosophical novel. The multiple-aspect approach to the issue is proposed. In addition to the gnoseologic and gender aspects much attention is paid to the ethic-aesthetic structure component of Murdoch’s literary texts. Investigation of this paradigm in such view makes it possible to realize the resources of the author's style, emphasizing the connection between the author's ethics and the aesthetics of her fiction. In this case the proto-text is the famous Plato's myth about the Cave and the meta-text to reveal Murdoch's reception of this myth and interpretations in her novels are her own writings: “The Sovereignty of Good over other Concepts”, “The Fire and the Sun: Why Plato Banished the Artists”, “Concepts of Unity. Art”. As for cognition, likewise Plato, Murdoch regards the idea of Good has a limit, and it is vaguely recognizable, but having recognized it, we come to the conclusion that it is precisely the cause of all that is the true and beautiful. Developing the metaphor of the sun, as the understanding of the Good, Murdoch finds it extremely rich. Unlike her theoretical and philosophical writings, in her novels Murdoch ironically plays with the Plato's myth. She considers the Cave as a “magic space”, “theatre space”, “sacred space”, “place of initiation” or a “place of illusions”. The author's interpretation of the Cave paradigm is unique, worthy of a true philosopher. It is revealed by means of the material (topos) and spiritual (logos) factors correlation.Overall, this is no longer a real topos, but the consciousness of her characters as such, with all its mazes, shadows, dark corners, unconscious queer illusions.
References
Murdoch I. More, more [The Sea, the Sea]. Kyiv, 1995, 480 p. (in Russian).
Mizinina I. N. Romany I. Murdoch kontsa 1960-kh – nachala 1970-kh gg. (Idei filosofii Platona v zerkale khudozhestvennoy struktury) [I. Murdoch's novels of the late 1960s – early 1970s. (ideas of Plato's philosophy in the mirror of the artistic structure)]. Extended abstract of PhD dissertation. Moscow, 1991, 16 p. (in Russian).
Pavlychko S. D. Labirynty myslennya. Intelektualʹnyy roman suchasnoyi Velykobrytanyy [Labyrinths of thinking. Intellectual novel of modern UK]. Kyiv, 1993, 104 p. (in Ukrainian).
Plato. Gosudarstvo [State]. In: Readings on Western Philosophy: Antiquity. Middle Ages. Renaissance. Moscow, 2003, pp. 101–122. (in Russian).
Samosoznaniye yevropeyskoy kul'tury XX veka: Mysliteli i pisateli Zapada o meste kul'tury v sovremennom obshchestve [Self-consciousness of European culture of the twentieth century: Thinkers and writers of the West about culture in modern society]. Moscow, 1991, 366 p. (in Russian).
Freud S. Tolkovaniye snovideniy [The Interpretation of Dreams]. Kyiv, 1991, 384 p. (in Russian).
Entsiklopediya. Simvoly, znaki, emblemy [Encyclopedia. Symbols, signs, emblems]. Moscow, 2004, 556 p. (in Russian).
Gilbert S., Gubar S. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven and London, 1979, 719 p.
Irigaray L. Speculum de l’autre femme. Paris, 1974, 464 p.
Johnson D. Key Women Writers: Iris Murdoch. Brighton, 1987, 130 p.
Murdoch I. Conceptions of Unity. Art. In: Murdoch I. Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals. New York, 1993, pp. 1–24.
Murdoch I. The Bell. London, 1959, 316 p.
Murdoch I. The Fire and the Sun: Why Plato Banished the Artists. In: Murdoch I. Existentialists and Mystics. Writings on philosophy and literature. New York, 1999, pp. 386–463.
Murdoch I. The Nice and The Good. London, 1968, 362 p.
Murdoch I. The Philosopher’s Pupil. New York, 1983, 576 p.
Murdoch I. The Sovereignty of Good over other Concepts. The Leslie Stephen Lecture. In: Murdoch I. Existentialists and Mystics. Writings on philosophy and literature. New York, 1999, pp. 363–385.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Aliona Matiychak
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
