The category of play as philosophical and aesthetic factor in the works by Hermann Hesse

Abstract

In the scientific work has been carried out an interpretation of Hermann Hesse’s novels «Steppenwolf» and «The Game of Beads» on the basis of the dialogue «author – hero – reader», built on the principles of intellectual play. It has been illustrated that the category of play – as an artistic, magical element of creativity, as a means of creating and functioning of cultural values, as an artistic communication – is conceptual for the artist. The purpose of this game is the reader endowed with rich imagination. The model of the ideal reader, who is able to co-create and agrees to accept all the rules of the proposed game, laid down in the literary texts by H. Hesse. Emphasis is placed on the fact that philosophy and aesthetics are the basic, integral principles of Hesse’s game concept. The artist proceeds from the standpoint of aesthetics (as a way of escape from reality), and thanks to this aesthetics seeks a philosophical understanding of the depths of his own subconscious and conscious, solving this problem by the act of creation. Hesse’s literary works were a kind of playful communication with his own depths, which the author was not afraid to make «on people». The constant duality of the characters, the study of variations in life paths, the formation of a spiritual personality, the search for truth – the problems that most concerned Hesse, and therefore were covered in his works. The author «played» in the construction of his own personality, not forgetting for a moment about the annoying reality that was the source of his real «I». The game helps him to overcome this reality, gives him the opportunity to be «who the soul wants to be» and «where» he aspires. Most of the writer’s works are based on the game of intellect, but Hesse needs the reader’s trust, he does not intend to deceive him, on the contrary – the author wants to make him his partner in creating the world of novels: he plays «beauty» and offers to do so to his readers. It is proved that the concept of the game for Hesse is the principle of organization of the literary text and the basis of literary communication. The game is the main basis of the dialogue «author – hero – reader». Keywords: Hermann Hesse, «Steppenwolf», «The Game of Beads», dialogue «author – hero – reader», intellectual game.