Ilona Svetlikova1; 1 Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany
Discussion
In Bely's philosophical prose and articles, we find guidelines for the development of personality, some of them rooted in traditional notions of mind, emotion, and will as distinct faculties that should harmonize with one another. Disruption of this harmony was perceived at the turn of the 20th century as leading to the so-called "neurasthenia," which was feared at the time as a symptom of degeneration. The cultivation of will and attention (sometimes regarded as nearly synonymous in texts of that era) was considered particularly important, as their weakness was noted by contemporary psychologists and psychiatrists in neurasthenics. We will explore the echoes of these ideas in Bely’s portrayals of the failed "personality."
