Tolstoy's Search for the Kingdom of God: Gender and Queer Anarchism (1) (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature)

By: Javier Sethness Castro

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Building on its predecessor, Queer Tolstoy: A Psychobiography (2023), this book uncovers queer-anarchist dimensions of the second half of Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy's life (1828–1910) and of the Russian writer's later art-works. It features queer-friendly readings of Anna Karenina (1875–1877), The Gospels In Brief (1881), “The Death of Ivan Ilych” (1886), “The Kreutzer Sonata,” (1889), “Master and Man” (1895), and Resurrection (1899), among other classics. However, the argument does not overlook the gross misogyny expressed by Tolstoy in either his art or his marriage with Countess Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya. Rather, the author explores the fundamental contradictions between sexism and anti-authoritarianism while critiquing Tolstoy's self-defeating commitment to patriarchy. The text also praises the writer's late turn toward preaching Christian anarchism, as it traces aspects of Tolstoy's artistic and political resonance in the twentieth century, including pacifist plant-based communes, the Russian and Mexican Revolutions, the Bloomsbury Group, the Catholic Worker, and Soviet-era hippies.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 272 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9781040328705
Related ISBNs:: 9781032911106, 9781040328699, 9781003561415
Publisher:: Taylor & Francis
Date of Addition:: 03/11/25
Copyrighted By:: Javier Sethness Castro
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Literature and Fiction, Social Studies, Language Arts
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.