Libertinage in Russian culture and literature : a bio-history of sexualities at the threshold of modernity / by Alexei Lalo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lalo, Alexei.

Contributor:

Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Russian history and culture ; v. 8.

Russian history and culture, 1877-7791 ; v. 8

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Russian literature--19th century--History and criticism.

Russian literature.

Russian literature--20th century--History and criticism.

Libertines in literature.

Modernism (Literature).

Sexuality--history.

Erotica--history.

Medical Subjects:

Sexuality--history.

Erotica--history.

Physical Description:

x, 291 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2011.

Summary:

In his introduction, Lalo (comparative literature, U. of Texas, Austin) explains that the term libertinage "...comes from Georges Nivat, who understands it as a combination of political and sexual freethinking that had been arguably omnipresent in French Tradition since Francois Rabelais but scanty or even missing in Russian literature until the Silver Age." He also explains bio-history "...refers to a period in a national (or even civilizational) history when historical processes become directly impacted by the processes of human life and death." The study examines Russian anxieties of the body from Gogol to Chekhov, pornography, Nabokov's Lolita and precursors, and sexual and erotic themes in Joseph Brodsky's poetry, among other topics. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Introduction: approaching Russian silences and burlesques

Carnality and eroticism in the history of Russian literature: toward a genealogy of a discourse of silence

Golden silences in the golden age: Russian anxieties of the body and sexuality from Gogol to Chekhov

Silence is golden, speech is silver: corporeality, sensuality, and "pornography" in Russian literature of the silver age

Exploring the impetus of the silver age: the evolution of discourses of carnality and eroticism in pre-revolutionary Russian literature and in emigre writing

Nabokov's Lolita and its precursors: silver age roots and sexuality in the novel

Joseph Brodsky's libertinage: sexual and erotic themes in his poetry

Conclusion: Russia's "threshold of modernity" and literary representations of sexuality in the era of bio-power.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Anne and Joseph Trachtman Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9004211195

9789004211193

OCLC:

743298779

Publisher Number:

99946266286