„Inność” w powieści Artura Klinaua Szalom

Abstract

The article is devoted to the experience of otherness in the formation of an individual’s identity on the example of Arthur Klinau’s work Shalom. The focus of the study is the way in which the main character is created, including the role of an unusual object and the impact on his identity. The novel, published in 2011, is another example of the use of the motif of otherness in contemporary Belarusian literature. The analyzed work has not so far been the subject of in‑‑depth literary reflection in terms of otherness. The author of the article uses a traditional comparative analysis, in which the overriding criterion is to show the change in the protagonist’s perception of himself and the surrounding reality after putting on the helmet, as well as society’s reaction to a person distinguished by his appearance, and therefore defined by the prism of otherness. The purpose of the article is to verify the hypothesis that the selfifidentification of the main character – the sculptor André – as the “other”, determines his life fate in a Belarusian society afraid of change leading him to professional and social exclusion. In the course of the argument, it was concluded that the otherness of an individual in the world depicted in the novel with direct reference to contemporary Belarus is perceived by the authorities as a potential threat to the existing social order. At the same time, it should be stated that the protagonist’s behavior, although irrational and meaningless in essence, along with the growing repression, becomes a demonstration of independence and resistance to the authoritarian system limiting individual freedom.