Biblical Themes and Allusions through the Prism of the Concepts Faith vs. Disbelief (based on the Novel The Black Obelisk by Erich Maria Remarque)

Abstract

The presented article examines the concepts of "Faith (Glaube)" and "Disbelief (Unglaube)" and highlights their most frequent meanings (based on the material of E. M. Remarque's novel The Black Obelisk). Through the analysis of critical works on Remarque's books, it is proved that the novel has not been practically studied (both in domestic and foreign literary studies). At the first stage, dictionary and etymological analysis of the constituent concepts of "Faith (Glaube)" and "Disbelief (Unglaube)" is carried out, also their ethnospecific content is interpreted through German idiomatics. At the second stage, the text of the novel is examined for the presence of biblical images, themes and allusions. The analysis allows us to conclude about the importance of concepts for the artistic perception and interpretation of the novel.