Identification of a Reader with a Literary Hero as a Means of Self-Knowledge and Self-Development

The paper considers the study of the phenomenon of identification with a favorite literary hero and a hero that evokes negative feelings. The focus is on how the experience gained in the process of reading influences the reader's personality. This process is discussed through the prism of the reader's life experience in the context of the theory of existential analysis. The study defines the concept of "identification" in theoretical and modern empirical research. At the moment, the identification process is most fully considered in child-parent relations, where the development of a child's personality is directly related to the correct identification of oneself with a significant adult. Identification in the theory of existential analysis, as well as the concept of "reflected agency" by V.А. Petrovsky emphasize the activity of the individual in the "melting" of aspects of the external world into the internal. The process of identification of an adult person is studied mainly in the context of the development of modern media and their influence on a person, as well as in the theory of bibliotherapy. This study is especially relevant, as it is an attempt to present the stages of the identification process and describe the relationship between the reader's identification with a literary character and the process of human self-development. The research design is based on the phenomenological analysis of A. Giorgi, B. Giorgi. On the example of ten interviews with employees and visitors of the Library of Foreign Literature named after M.I. Rudomino (Moscow) managed to identify patterns, stages of the identification process and build a model based on A. Langle's theory of fundamental motivations. The data obtained will help the reader to pay more attention to himself during the reading process, develop the skills of self-distancing, self-acceptance, self-transcendence, and will also be useful to psychologists using art techniques. Key words: identification, literary hero, bibliotherapy, existential analysis.