Anthropocentric Analysis Of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist: Human Identity And SelfRealization

Abstract

This article deeply analyzes Paulo Coelho's novel "The Alchemist," one of the brilliant examples of world literature, based on a modern anthropocentric approach and philosophical-aesthetic principles. The main purpose of the research is to reveal the inner world, spiritual evolution, and the dramatic and transformational processes in the search for identity of the "human" figure standing at the center of the literary text. The article evaluates the protagonist Santiago's ascent from simple shepherd activity to the level of perceiving the laws of the universe not merely as a geographical journey, but as a cognitive metamorphosis confirming the infinity of human consciousness and potential. During the research, the concept of "Personal Legend" is revealed as a mechanism for giving meaning to human existence, overcoming ontological loneliness, and finding one's place in the world. Furthermore, the functional significance of natural elements (desert, wind, sun) and secondary characters in the novel is scientifically grounded as stages in human spiritual maturation and self-realization. The article highlights issues of the ontological interpretation of the "Soul of the World", concepts of space and time, as well as human will, freedom of choice, and the harmony between love and duty at the intersection of the scientific and philosophical views of thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Henri Bergson, and Carl Gustav Jung