Therapeutic Function of an Artistic Image: Poetics of Biblical Images Serhiy Zhadan

Abstract

This article delineates the specific therapeutic function of art in general and the artistic image in particular. Their therapeutic and compensatory potential is examined within philosophical and literary discourses. The discussion engages with Plato’s reflections on the educational and moral role of art and Aristotle’s theory concerning the cathartic effects of tragedy. Contributions from V. Maggi, S. Haupt, G. Lehnert, E. Zeller, E. Müller, and J. Bernays are considered. The study explores Friedrich Nietzsche's notion of the receptive-compensatory function of art, particularly the reconciliation of Apollonian and Dionysian principles. Sigmund Freud’s concepts are interpreted in relation to the unconscious and the interaction between individuals and art during periods of epistemological crisis. Roman Ingarden’s perspective emphasises the therapeutic aim of literature when there is a corresponding receptive inquiry from the reader. Key ideas from reception aesthetics are foregrounded, highlighting art’s capacity to act as a medium of transcendence, influence the reader, and underpin the therapeutic effects of art and literature. Hans Robert Jauss’s concepts of the “horizon of expectations” and catharsis as a communicative dimension of aesthetic experience are revisited. Wolfgang Iser’s analysis of aesthetic experience in addressing gaps of indeterminacy is examined, alongside Umberto Eco’s insights on receptive indeterminacy as a defining feature of the “open work”, which catalyses co-creation by the recipient, stimulating imagination, fostering empathy, and providing intellectual therapy. The study also considers the therapeutic potential of sacred images during periods of radical epistemological shifts prompted by cataclysms, historical events, revolutions, or wars. Mircea Eliade’s framework of the “sacred-profane” dichotomy and the capacity of sacred images to function as points of transcendence, transcendent centres, or ontological anchors is discussed. Paul Ricoeur’s interpretation of the therapeutic influence of sacred motifs, images, and symbols on readers as they engage with existential questions is also addressed. Finally, the therapeutic role of biblical imagery – God, the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, and the Apostle Thomas – is analysed through the lens of Serhiy Zhadan’s poetry collection “Life of Maria” (2015).