Document Type : Original Article
Author
A Phenomenological Analysis of "The Little Prince" Based on Martin Heidegger's Perspective
Abstract
Phenomenology provides the possibility for humans to know phenomena by returning them to themselves, as they manifest. This type of knowledge, i.e., ready-to-hand (zuhanden) knowledge, is different from propositional or present-at-hand (vorhanden) knowledge of phenomena. Using a qualitative analysis method and relying on Heidegger's phenomenology, this research analyzes the story of The Little Prince not as a children's tale, but as an openness to human existence (Dasein). By passing through various planets, the Little Prince encounters Daseins entangled in inauthenticity and ultimately moves towards an authentic understanding of the being of love and responsibility. The findings of this research show that, firstly, the Little Prince underwent a process from inauthenticity to authenticity. The story's characters, due to falling into everydayness and forgetting Dasein's most authentic possibility—being-towards-death—have become the "they" (das Man). Also, their horizon of knowing phenomena is entirely present-at-hand, theoretical, and propositional. The flower does not become meaningful for the Little Prince's life and does not gain importance for him unless he has an understanding of the experience of loss and care (Sorge). The fox, by reminding him of the concepts of relationship and responsibility, creates this possibility for the Little Prince. The Little Prince first experienced the authentic opening, i.e., love for the flower, in its absence, and then accepted Dasein's most authentic possibility—being-towards-death—and faced it with composure.
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