«THE DIVINE COMEDY» AND «THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST» AT CLASSES ON THE HISTORY OF FOREIGN LITERATURE

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to highlight specific common characteristics of Dante's «Divine Comedy» and «Journey to the West», which can be presented in classes on the History of Foreign Literature (Middle Ages and Renaissance) for undergraduate students studying philological specialties.

Methodology of this study is cultural hermeneutics. The work uses specific methods of analysis of an artistic work: textological, problem-thematic and stylistic analysis, «close reading», etc. The structural-functional method was used to clarify the role and functions of different types of texts in culture. The historical-cultural method made it possible to trace the genetic connections and trends in the development of fiction as such and its specific cultural-historical forms. Comparative analysis made it possible to identify typologically similar elements in different cultural paradigms and, conversely, to differentiate fundamentally different forms that can converge in similar cultural conditions.

Scientific novelty. The article presents for the first time a comparative analysis of two masterpieces of world culture in the aspect of teaching the History of Foreign Literature to students of philology.

Conclusions. For a more complete and adequate presentation of the European and world cultural process in classes on the History of foreign literature (the Middle Ages and the Renaissance), it is possible to highlight certain moments of intercultural parallels. Namely, to demonstrate both typological similarities and fundamental differences between paradigmatic texts of various ethno-national traditions. Іn this case, the comparison of Dante Alighieri's «Divine Comedy» and «Journey to the West» allows us to appreciate the common and different aspects of the European and Chinese worldviews. In both texts, we see the motif of a journey that connects the levels of the world – from Hell to Heaven, is connected with the moral improvement of the heroes, and has a religious and instructive meaning for readers. The division of gender roles is also similar: active male characters and their heavenly patronesses.