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PHENOMENOLOGY OF LIGHT IN THE AESTHETIC VIEWS OF J. FOSSE ON THE EXAMPLE OF HIS WORK “ANOTHER NAME. SEPTOLOGY I–II”

Abstract
The aim of this article is to study the phenomenology of light, which plays a significant part in the aesthetics of Jon Fosse, the Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023. According to Jon Fosse, art is not only a way of perceiving the world around us but also a necessary condition for harmonious existence in it, which is most fully reflected in the work “The Other Name: Septology I–II,” first published in 2019. One cannot help but agree that the deep religiosity of the author, who converted to Catholicism in 2013, has had a huge influence on his work. Many hundreds of years ago, the Nativity of Christ illuminated the “darkness” of the pagan world, and the degree of “manifestation” of this “Divine Light” in works of art, according to Jon Fosse, is one of the main criteria for their authenticity. As for “darkness,” it acts as the primary source of light, the very same “Nothing” that from time to time peeks through “Being,” and against the background of which the light “sounds” especially prominently and brightly. According to the concept of the “Septology I–II,” art not only activates the process of self-determination of the individual, who is in continuous dialogue with “others-in-themselves” (the painter Asle and his “alter ego”), but also the work of art as such has its own identity, which is constantly evolving, opening “in-itself-for-us” new facets and shades. Moreover, according to Jon Fosse, the artist’s mission, in the broad sense of the word, is to show people the path to the “Divine Light” in the “tunnel” of quantum uncertainty, especially during transitional periods of history.

Keywords
phenomenology, aesthetics, Jon Fosse, septology, identity, self-determination, light, darkness.

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