Pure, Strong and Sexless

The Peasant Woman’s Body and Gleb Uspensky
Erscheinungsjahr 2006
ISBN: 978-90-420-1828-0
Verlag: Brill | Rodopi

Buch, Englisch, Band 43, 289 Seiten, Format (B × H): 150 mm x 220 mm, Gewicht: 454 g

Reihe: Studies in Slavic Literature and Poetics

Pure, Strong and Sexless explores the representation of gender and sexuality of peasant women in turn of the century Russian culture through the writings of populist writer Gleb Uspensky. Uspensky’s numerous works address a range of issues related to sexuality, including infanticide, abortion, prostitution, adultery and venereal disease. This is the first comprehensive study of populist’s fantasies in regard to the peasant woman’s body as a non-sexed utopian body within Russian fin-de-siecle sexual discourse. Included in this book is the first English translation of the diary of Uspensky’s psychiatrist, Dr Boris Sinani. This frank account portrays the tragic decline of a sensitive observer and writer into the psychotic and delusionary world of schizophrenia. This work is an invaluable source for students of Russian literature, gender studies, and history of psychiatry.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mondry, Henrietta

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Slawische Literaturen Ostslawische Literatur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Chapter 1: “Daydreams”: the quest for social gender changes or a new type of beauty?
Chapter 2: “In a Woman’s Position”: truncated sexuality in young women and teenage boys
Chapter 3: How ‘straight’ is the Venus de Milo? Shaping gender in stone sculpture
Chapter 4: “A Good Russian type”: in search of a new masculinity
Chapter 5: Peasant sexuality and demonic possession
Chapter 6: “She Stopped!”: moral rebirth through hard labor
Chapter 7: Children: necessary evil or product of divine will?
Chapter 8: The sacred egg: a symbol of human procreation
Chapter 9: The final testimony: “Peasant Women”
Conclusion
Appendix: The Diary of Doctor B. N. Sinani: a record of Gleb Uspensky’s illness
Translator’s introduction by Henrietta Mondry
Preface to the Diary by publisher Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich
The Diary of Doctor B. N. Sinani
Bibliography
Index