JOURNAL ARTICLE

Aphasia in Andrei Bely's Petersburg.

  • Published In: Studies in the Novel, 2025, v. 57, n. 1. P. 40 1 of 3

  • Database: Sociology Source Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Zolotareva, Olga 3 of 3

Abstract

This essay is interested in how a novel behaves when it has been theorized out of existence by its own creator. I take as my case study the novel Petersburg , whose author, the prominent Russian modernist Andrei Bely, criticized the arts (including the art of literature) on ethical grounds. I argue that the tension between Bely's theory and his practice manifests in his text as a form of aphasia, or impaired speech. Reading Petersburg alongside Roman Jakobson's writings on aphasia and Emmanuel Levinas's conception of aesthetics, I argue that the novel yields insight into the behavior of the medium that is conscious of its own ethical limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Studies in the Novel. 2025/03, Vol. 57, Issue 1, p40
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2025
  • ISSN:0039-3827
  • DOI:10.1353/sdn.2025.a952390
  • Accession Number:183605032
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