Tolstoy's Search for the Kingdom of God

This book uncovers queer-anarchist dimensions of the second half of Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy's life (1828-1910), and the Russian writer's later art-works. It features queer-friendly readings of classics like Anna Karenina (1875-1877), "The Death of Ivan Ilych" (1886), and Resurrection (1899).

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.

Autorentext

Javier Sethness Castro is a primary-care provider, libertarian socialist, and author or editor of five other books, including Queer Tolstoy: A Psychobiography and Eros and Revolution: The Critical Philosophy of Herbert Marcuse.

Inhalt

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: The Kingdom of God and the Russo-Ukrainian War

2. The Tragedy of Heterosexuality: Tolstoy's Aversion to Women

3. Sexism vs. Feminism and Landlordism vs. Anarchism in Anna Karenina

4. Count Tolstoy's Femicidal Misogyny, and Countess Tolstaya's Humanizing Artistic Response

5. Kingdom of God vs. Kingdom of Tsar, and Resurrection from Living Death

6. Theological Writings: "Confession" and The Gospels in Brief

7. Mortality, Queer Anarchism, and the Animal Question in Tolstoy's Short Fiction

8. Non-Resistance or Non-Cooperation: Which Way Forward?

9. Tolstoy's Contributions to World Literature and Global Revolution

10. Conclusion: Social Revolution and Systematic Rescue

Works Cited

Index