PARADIGMATIC MODEL OF HUMANISTIC FORECASTING OF THE MICRO-APOCALYPSE CONCEPT

Abstract

The civilizational metamorphosis of the modern world necessitates the creation of new time dimensions, consciousness, and ideologies, as well as the expansion and reinterpretation of the existing space. Future studies, as a science, imply the sociological forecasting of future developments. Dystopian texts, the main feature of which is the criticism of the viciousness of the various political systems, provide valuable insight for a deeper understanding of these processes.
In his dystopian novel Blindness (2005), José Saramago, the Portuguese Nobel Prize winner and master of magical realism, advocates the idea of equality of mankind and humanism. The author’s concept is that in the age of globalization, technological dependence alienates individuals from both nature and each other, gradually leading to moral or spiritual blindness. In this providential novel, a mysterious epidemic sweeps through the city: people suddenly lose their sight due to an unknown, contagious disease, as if submerged in a white, milky sea.
José Saramago’s Blindness depicts a micro-apocalyptic hellish world inhabited by merciless, blind creatures, where people are deprived of both physical sight and spiritual vision. Understanding the symbolism of the novel clarifies the author’s intention: salvation lies in the purging of vice. Through catharsis, humans may return to their original, divine essence.