Bioethical problems in lukas bärfuss's drama

Abstract

The article deals with the literary work by modern Swiss dramatist Lukas Bärfuss who has reflected an important tendency of young German language drama - the development from formal experiments of postmodern theatre to actual problems of today, to important philosophical and social and psychological issues of modernity. One of the problem spheres that perturbs the playwright is bioethics and spectrum of problems and points at issue related to it. This article analyzes two plays by L. Bärfuss devoted to this range of problems - "Alisa's Trip to Switzerland" and "The Test". The first play focuses on the problem of euthanasia, here the arguments "for" and "against" are presented in a literary form. The second one concerns the DNA test and an example of its negative influence on family and interpersonal relations. The author's point of view is revealed in the analysis of the problem-thematic, narrative-compositional level of the plays and means of artistic figurativeness, to which the dramatist resorts. The authors of the article come to the conclusion that the plays by L. Bärfuss are a meaningful example of the artistic understanding of philosophical and socio-psychological problems that stir the modern society and are weighty contribution to the polemics developed around the problems of bioethics.