Contents
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
A Note on Transliteration and Abbreviations
Introduction.
Beyond the Flesh: Russian Symbolism and the Sublimation of Sex
Part I. Poetry Against Progeny: Blok and the Problem of Poetic Reproduction
1. Unbearable Burdens: Blok and the Modernist Resistance to Progeny
2. Recurring Nightmares: Blok, Freud, and the Specter of Die Ahnfrau
3. Reproductive Fantasies: Blok and the Creation of The Italian Verses
4. A Time of Troubles: Blok and the Disruption of Poetic Succession
Part II. Writing Against the Body: Gippius and the Problem of Lyric Embodiment
5. Style "Femme": Gippius and the Resistance to Feminine Writing
6. The Dandy's Gaze: Gippius and Disdainful Desire for the Feminine
7. Eternal Feminine Problems: Gippius, Blok, and the Incarnation of the Ideal
8. Body Trouble: Gippius and the Staging of an Anatomy of Criticism
Afterword.
The Return of the Repressed: Illegitimate Babies and an Unwieldy Body
Notes
Index