Abstract
<jats:p>Background. The relevance of studying Mick Jackson's novel "The Underground Man" stems from the need for a deeper exploration within contemporary literary scholarship of modes of historical representation, issues of individual memory, the role and significance of a single person's history and the category of the Other. The aim of this paper is a case study of the novel focused on the category of the Other from the perspective of three interconnected dimensions –space, the body, and memory – which shape the protagonist's self-perception and his interaction with the world. Methods. The study was carried out using a combined approach that integrates elements of historical-cultural method, genre and postmodernist criticism. The research strategy also draws on methods of semantic, stylistic, and narratological analysis. Results. The central character of the novel is a real historical figure, the fifth Duke of Portland, an eccentric recluse who became famous for constructing a network of tunnels around his estate. According to Foucault's concept of heterotopia, the underground world created by the Duke functions as a microcosm of Otherness – a space where everything repressed is gathered: illness, aging, fear, loneliness, and social marginality. The protagonist's isolation is not only social but also ontological, marked by a split self, a loss of wholeness, and attempts to restore it. The lost part of his identity is sought through the intricate temporal tunnels of his memory. The confinement of the external space intensifies the sense of entrapment within his ailing body. Conclusions. The protagonist appears as the Other both in society, where his otherness is marginalized, and within his own isolated world. The category of the Other in the novel manifests as a complex existential structure shaped at the intersection of space, the body, and memory. Space functions as a heterotopia while simultaneously serving a protective role and acting as a form of escape from society. The body reflects the same logic of confinement as space: it is perceived as a trap and a boundary separating the character from the world. At the same time, it is through bodily experience that the protagonist becomes aware of his difference and develops the need for liberation. Memory is organized according to the principle of a dark labyrinth, akin to the underground tunnels. It is within memory that the answers to questions concerning the search for identity, the origins of inner disjunction, and the causes of alienation reside.</jats:p>