Статтю присвячено дослідженню теми віри у творчості видатного французького письменника ХХ ст. Ф. Моріака. Аналіз релігійного аспекту романів митця дає можливість зробити
висновок про те, що істотну частину світосприйняття письменника становить католицька
віра, яка в складній, іноді проблемній формі відбивається в його творчості. Важливою особливістю моріаківських творів є те, що вони не мають ознак дидактизму чи доктринальної придатності. Іншим аспектом віри у розумінні письменника є те, що вона є чимось не лише емоційним, чи лише інтелектуальним. При цьому однією з центральних тем для романів Ф. Моріака
з виразно окресленою релігійною проблематикою є шлях людини до справжньої живої, а не обрядової та фарисейської віри.
The article addresses the theme, or rather the problem of faith in the works of a prominent French
writer of the 20th century, Nobel Prize winner and a foremost representative of the French Catholic
Revival F. Mauriac. Analysis of the religious aspect of the writer’s novels grants us the possibility to
conclude that the essential part of his worldview is the Catholic faith, which is reflected in the Nobel
Prize winner’s works in a complex and even problematic form. Mauriac’s own searches in this field constitute an important reason to consider the faith theme. It is important to remember that his attitude to
faith and its corresponding reflection in his works differ from the attitudes of his contemporaries. Mauriac’s works lack didacticism. An important feature of them is the mode in which Mauriac treats the
problems of “lost creatures”, the depiction of which his whole literary career is dedicated to. He does not
use moral discourses and does not try to force his reader to agree with him. He instead feels sorry that
the reader cannot recognize the means of overcoming senselessness, which most people are eager to fill
with much useless effort. Another peculiarity of Mauriac’s works is the morose atmosphere, even though
it does not seem to correspond to Christian faith in the kind Father, which brings harmony. The novelist
explains this phenomenon with the factor of necessity reflecting the truth of life. He therefore thinks that
his duty is to depict life in the way he sees it around himself.
The fact that a person has a free will causes the presence of a different basis for relations among
people in Mauriac’s creations. Therefore, one can find in them intersubjectivity grounded both on the
principles of Christian love and opposing ones – power, violence, and compulsion. The other feature of
faith in the author’s understanding is that it is not only emotional but also intellectual. For the novelist,
highly intellectual faith is of little effect as is totally emotional faith, which can be seen in his works and
in his characters. The path of a person towards living, rather than ritualized and hypocritical faith, is a
central motive in Mauriac’s novels. This route, not an easy one for the heroes of these works, indicates a
search for the sense of being and truth.
