THE ONTOTHEOLOGICAL IMAGE OF DEATH IN OTOKAR BŘEZINA’S POETICS

Abstract

The problem of death – not only as an unavoidable final point of human life, but also as a transcendental sign of being – plays a key role in the metaphysical philosopy of Otokar Březina (1868-1929) – the most significant Czech symbolist poet. This paper is an attempt to rethink a popular thesis that has been dominating Czech literary criticism: the one about the connection between Catholicism and Březina’s transcendental vision of the human soul and the universe. The research is based on the term ontotheology which, according to Heidegger, is essential for metaphysics but is not equal to theology.