Intuition of immortality in Vladimir Nabokov's "Ultima Thule"

The aim of the work is to find the points of contact between Bergson's philosophy and Nabokov's worldview, to determine the extent and depth of Bergson's influence on Nabokov, and due to this to more accurately describe the metaphysical views of the writer. It seems possible to read the story "Ultima Thule" in the light of the metaphysics of Bergson, the only author whose influence the writer himself acknowledged, and to make sure that Nabokov not only borrows some of the principles of the teachings of the thinker close to him, but, as the original creator, transforming them, creates his own philosophy of life. The protagonist of the story, the artist Sineusov, who lost his wife, tries to unravel the mystery of death and immortality. And some Adam Falter should help him in this. He used to be the main character's tutor, later became a businessman, and eventually turned into a "madman", accidentally discovering "the essence of all things". An attempt to understand what Falter's discovery consists in constitutes the content of the article. It is known that in Bergson's theory, Nabokov was primarily attracted by the concept of the temporary existence of the world and man realized in such categories as memory and intuition. These themes permeate the entire work of the writer. They also appear in "Ultima Thule". Besides this, Nabokov shared the views of the French philosopher on the problem of reason. Both of them say that it is impossible to know the mystery of the world only with the help of conceptual thinking. Accordingly, there must be a different path, a different method of cognition. In Bergson's philosophy, intuition becomes this method. In the course of the study, it is shown how the main principles of Bergson's philosophy are realized in Nabokov's text. Based on the comparative and contrastive analysis, the article draws the following conclusion. Both Bergson and Nabokov perceive life not as a secondary system in relation to eternity, or otherworldliness, but as the very essence of the world, its primary principle. Accordingly, true knowledge can be approached only by studying life, perceiving it not indirectly, like using various gnosiological methods, but directly. Rejecting the positivist view of the world, Bergson introduces time, duration into the very foundation of the world, and the world becomes alive - creative, dynamic and continuously developing. In accordance with the new understanding of the world as a creative substance, a new understanding of man also comes. Man is first of all a creator. And for Nabokov, whose main character is always a creator, the comprehension of the mystery of the otherworldness is possible not only by immersion in the very fabric of life, but more through art. The answers to the main questions of "Ultima Thule" - life, death, immortality - by definition cannot be straightforward and unambiguous. But, as it seems, reading the story in the light of Henri Bergson's ideas clears up a lot. REFERENCES

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