Queer Tolstoy

<p><em>Queer Tolstoy</em> is a multidimensional work combining psychoanalysis political history LGBTQ+ studies sexology ethics and theology to explore the life and art of Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. </p><p>Using a psychobiographical framework Sethness Castro uncovers profoundly queer dimensions in Tolstoy’s life experiences and art. Deftly contributing to the progressive and radical analysis of gender and sexuality this book examines how Tolstoy’s erotic dissidence informed his anarchist politics anti-militarist ideals and voluminous literary production. Sethness Castro analyzes the influence of Buddha Socrates Jesus Cervantes Rousseau Kant Herzen Proudhon Chernyshevsky and his mother Marya Volkonskaya on the artist's writings. Furthermore he details Tolstoy's emblematic linking of LGBTQ+ desire with moral and erotic self-determination and resistance to Tsarist despotism—especially in <em>War and Peace</em>.</p><p>This book is vital reading for those interested in the intersection of literature psychoanalysis queer studies and Russian history. </p><p>Chapter 2 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.taylorfrancis.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.</p>