THE ORIGIN AND POLYSEMY OF THE TERM IDENTITY

Abstract

The article traces the genesis and semantic evolution of the term identity in the humanities and analyzes its polysemy in literary studies. It examines the main historical-philosophical and socio-scientific antecedents of the concept, the ways it was borrowed by literary scholarship, its key characteristics (multiplicity, dynamism, relativity, narrativity), and methodological implications for analyzing literary texts. Special attention is given to the contributions of Erik H. Erikson, Stuart Hall, Anthony Giddens, Paul Ricoeur, and Homi Bhabha in shaping modern approaches to identity and their applicability to literary analysis.