Abstract
The Afterworld on the Path of Transformation: From Myths to the Contemporary Novel is a book whose first part deals with parallel worlds, the afterlife in various religious systems, the relationship between dreams and death, and related themes. The second part explores the forms of the afterworld from ancient myths (the motif of descent into the underworld), epics and fairy tales, to its other forms in the Baroque and Romanticism.
From there the discussion turns to literary works of the 20th and 21st centuries, especially those in which the next world features prominently, which describe it colorfully and in detail, and which metaphorically reveal its nature. The afterlife is conceived not only as a space, but as a dimension of consciousness pervading material reality.
Though seemingly paradoxical, the characters are given the opportunity to understand their previous life not in this world but in the afterworld, where they find themselves after death. The third part is devoted to the poetics of time, characters, and especially space.
The similar way it is arranged in the analyzed works refers to the archetypal essence of afterlife stories as well as to the hope that human life continues after death in various forms outside the physical body (in a different "body"). A person's stay in the afterlife may lead to more comprehensive knowledge and to a higher consciousness.