Ksenija Atanasijević u kontekstu francuske filozofske i moralističke književnosti
KSENIJA ATANASIJEVIĆ IN THE CONTEXT OF FRENCH PHILOSOPHICAL AND MORALISTIC LITERATURE

Author(s): Vladimir Đurić
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Институт друштвених наука
Keywords: philosophy; literature; French moralists; Blaise Pascal ; Ksenija Atanasijević
Summary/Abstract: The main focus of this article will be the influence and impact of French philosophy and literature on the work of our philosopher Ksenija Atanasijević. Starting from her research visit to Paris and the printing of her doctoral dissertation in French, the life and work of Ksenija Atanasijević would significantly be marked by French moral values and models. Her philosophical and socially engaged texts will be primarily analyzed in the context of French philosophical and moralistic literature, and then in a more general context of French contemporary literature and culture about which Ksenija Atanasijević thoroughly wrote in numerous newspaper articles. Apart from the classical authors of the French “Grand Century” such as Pascal, La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère, we will especially highlight her spiritual connection with the philosophy and ethics of her contemporaries such as Jules Payot, Jean-Marie Guyau and perhaps the most influential Henri Bergson. The short, precise and thorough writing style of Fragments perfectly suits the concise and rich expression of the above-mentioned French moralists who nurtured the classical form of maxims and aphorisms. Just like in the scripts of those French moralists, no realm of human existence and spirituality remained unaddressed by the “sharp” pen of the Serbian philosopher: divinity, eternity, immortality, human suffering, virtues and flaws, ethical and social issues, ontological and axiological thoughts. Reflecting on these eternal questions, Ksenija Atanasijević always strived towards the truth and an honest desire to help individual or the community. Literature, metaphysics and ethics were the key points in Ksenija Atanasijević’s construction of man’s identity and dignity. Primarily built upon the thoughts of Pascal, Guyau and Payot, the main philosophical and anthropological credo of Ksenija Atanasijević is the applied ethics which consists of theoretical pessimism, but also of applicable optimism and enthusiasm. Therefore, from this kind of ethics arise the ethics of courage and feminism as the first, true and superb value of the human existence.

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