Ecstasy and the beyond: The role of madness in Russian Symbolist art and theory.

Abstract

This dissertation explores the role of madness in the works of several Russian Symbolists, relating their treatment of madness to turn-of-the-century intellectual currents as well as previous traditions. A consideration of the cultural-historical context of Russian Symbolism shows that it was marked by a renewed interest in madness on the part of scientists and artists alike. Several prominent psychiatrists and critics declared that modernist works contributed to a rising incidence of mental illness. The Symbolists countered this view with their own, positive images of madness, asserting that it was a concomitant to genius, a component of a balanced psyche, and essential for the salvation of mankind. They drew upon previous notions of madness, some of which---such as the tradition of holy folly inherited from Byzantium---were unique to Russia. An analysis of short stories by Anton Chekhov and Leonid Andreev shows how modernists contemporaneous with the Symbolists challenged the views of the psychiatric school on the source and nature of madness. An examination of works by the Symbolists Konstantin Bal'mont, Andrei Belyi, Aleksandr Blok, and Valerii Briusov reveals how they drew upon the Romantic conception of madness and the role of the poet, at the same time attempting to unite Romantic notions of madness with reason. A discussion of Belyi's long essay <italic> The Tragedy of Creativity</italic> and his novel <italic>The Silver Dove</italic> demonstrates how he linked the Symbolist aim of a synthesis of reason and madness with Russia's destiny. Finally, this study considers Viacheslav Ivanov's work, <italic>The Hellenic Religion of the Suffering God</italic>, which prescribed a return to the spirit of Dionysian religion as a cure for modern society's ills. He also argued that Russia, by virtue of a culture distinct from that of the West, would lead the way in restoring the Hellenic synthesis of madness and reason. This dissertation demonstrates that the Russian Symbolists responded to positivism by reviving older notions of madness and reworking them to suit their own age. Their striving for a synthesis of reason and madness sets them apart from their cultural context, as well as from post-Enlightenment Western views of madness.