WITTGENSTEINIAN CONTEXT OF CONSIDERING THE PROBLEM OF THE OTHER IN D. F. WALLACE’S PHILOSOPHICAL NOVELS
The article deals with the philosophical background of David Foster Wallace’s considerations of the Other as a philosophical notion. The writer explores human alienation in the modern technological era, the loss of individuality and inability to communicate as the most acute problems of the day. Working in the genre of the philosophical novel, Wallace intends to study the problem from an intellectual point of view, constructing the inner world of his books in accordance with the key ideas gleaned from his professional occupation in philosophy. One of the most profound influences on his works comes from Wittgenstein’s philosophy. His novels, “The Broom of the System” and “Infinite Jest”, are based on Wittgenstein’s concept of reality as a linguistic construction that strips people of their freedom and prevents them from getting in touch with the surrounding objects. At the same time, both novels are directed against solipsism that Wallace regards as the most dangerous consequence of the theory. The research demonstrates that while in his early novel, “The Broom of the System”, the writer hopes to find the solution to the problem of disconnection with the outer world through establishing self-identity in opposition to the Other, the later novel, “Infinite Jest”, poses the necessity of building relationships with the Other as a condition for preserving one’s own identity.