Erotic Utopia: The Decadent Imagination in Russia's Fin de Siecle (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780299208844)

The first generation of Russian modernists experienced a profound sense of anxiety resulting from the belief that they were living in an age of decline. What made them unique was their utopian prescription for overcoming the inevitability of decline and death both by metaphysical and physical means. They intertwined their mystical erotic discourse with European degeneration theory and its obsession with the destabilization of gender. In Erotic Utopia, Olga Matich suggests that same-sex desire underlay their most radical utopian proposal of abolishing the traditional procreative family in favor of erotically induced abstinence.

2006 Winner, CHOICE Award for Outstanding Academic Titles, Current Reviews for Academic Libraries Honorable Mention, Aldo and Jean Scaglione Prize for Studies in Slavic Languages and Literatures, Modern Language Association
"Offers a fresh perspective and a wealth of new information on early Russian modernism. . . . It is required reading for anyone interested in fin-de-si鐵le Russia and in the history of sexuality in general."-Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal, Slavic and East European Journal

"Thoroughly entertaining."-Avril Pyman, Slavic Review

Author: Olga Matich
ISBN-10: 0299208842
ISBN-13: 9780299208844
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Language: English
Published: 07/02/2007
Pages: 354
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.26lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.08w x 0.87d