Febris Erotica: Lovesickness in the Russian Literary Imagination, Valeria Sobol

The destructive power of obsessive love was a defining subject of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Russian literature. In Febris Erotica, Sobol argues that Russian writers were deeply preoccupied with the nature of romantic relationships and were persistent in their use of lovesickness not simply as a traditional theme but as a way to address pressing philosophical, ethical, and ideological concerns through a recognizable literary trope. Sobol examines stereotypes about the damaging effects of romantic love and offers a short history of the topos of lovesickness in Western literature and medicine.

Read an interview with the author: http://www.rorotoko.com/index.php/article/valeria_sobol_interview_febris_erotica_lovesickness_russian_literary_imagin/

Preface
Acknowledgments
Note on Translation, Transliteration, and Abbreviations
Introduction: Cases in History

PART I / ANATOMY
1. The Anatomy of Feeling and the Mind-Body Problem in Russian Sentimentalism