Erotic Utopia: The Decadent Imagination in Russia's Fin de Siecle

by Olga Matich

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-siècle Russia and in the history of sexuality in general.”—Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal, Slavic and East European Journal

“Thoroughly entertaining.”—Avril Pyman, Slavic Review

Genres: History, Utopia, Sexuality, Russian Literature

354 pages, Paperback

First published July 8, 2005

Reviews

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoroughly complex read. Finally picked it up again after 1.5 years of neglect.

The most valuable parts from this book were the different manifestations of the acceptance of decline in upper class Russia. The absurdity of some of the ideas can not be blamed on the writer of the book: she is simply laying out what the prominent thinkers of the time were producing.