Examining Dostoyevsky's Influences and Influence: Dostoyevsky in the Face of Death

 Dostoyevsky in the Face of Death: or Language Haunted by Sex by Julia Kristeva (translated by Armine Kotin Mortimer)

Dostoyevsky in the Face of Death book cover

Author Julia Kristeva

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Thank you to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Jula Kristeva’s historical, biographical, and critical analysis of Dostoyevsky’s work Dostoyevsky in the Face of Death: or Language Haunted by Sex. I read this book over two separate times, and stepped away from it for a bit, only to finish it about a month or so later. I was initially attracted to this book for a few reasons—one was that I love Dostoyevsky’s books and stories. It’s been a while since I’ve read anything by him, but one of the best experiences with reading a book for a class was when I took a World Literature course and read Crime and Punishment. The course required us to not only read the text, but read other critical and biographical essays about the text, and write and discuss these texts regularly. I found that this enabled new and deeper insights into the book, the characters, and the tools and language Dostoyevsky used. In many ways, Kristeva’s book is a lot like taking a course on Dostoyevsky. She presents key insights into the language he used, emphasizing how particular word choices reflect important ideas or concepts that Dostoyevsky was conveying. She also provides important biographical details, framing them frequently in a Freudian perspective. Since taking that class in college, I’ve read some of the other books that Kristeva mentioned, but I feel like my experience with this book would have been enhanced with a more recent recall of the events, characters, and details from these texts. Nevertheless, this book provides some interesting interpretations and considerations for one of the most important writers from the 19^th century. I also liked how in the latter half of Kristeva’s book, she kind of frames Dostoyevsky as influencing more modern writers and texts. She frames his work by directly connecting other writers, artists, and movements in literature and science. In particular, she explores his connections to poets like Baudelaire and thinkers like Nietzsche and Freud. I remember reading an essay about Brothers Karamazov that references connections with Nietzsche (it may have also been Crime and Punishment), but it wasn’t a connection that I had thought about in more depth. And like Freud, I can see how a writer like Dostoyevsky pushed boundaries and questioned elements of society with his writing. The other element of the book that excited me was that it was by Kristeva. I had never read anything by her, even in college. In fact, it was only a few years ago that I came across her ideas and writing from reading Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Committed, in particular her ideas about abjection. I found those sections in Nguyen’s book to be some of the most challenging, yet engaging parts. The idea of abjection as a reaction to horror made a lot of sense, especially considering the horror and trauma that continues to exist in the world. Kristeva applies these ideas to Dostoyevsky’s writing as well, considering not only the murder, patricide, and suicide that occur, but also other horrors that were a part of many of Dostoyevsky’s texts. I really forgot about some of the violence that occurred, and often looked at these events as more like symbolism than with any kind of sense of abjection. There are sections in the book that deal with sexual assault and violence as well, so be warned that this book takes a dark look at his work. However, Kristeva goes beyond literary theory and takes an interdisciplinary approach at many of the texts, examining common themes found across many of Dostoyevsky’s works through lenses like psychoanalysis, language, history, art, and biography. For me, some of the most fascinating analyses were focused on religion and examining how the Orthodox church and its ideas about God, the father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were explored and examined in Dostoyevsky’s work. It was also interesting to learn how different this concept was from the trinity that is believed by many Catholics, and how some of Dostoyevsky’s work may have been critical of this belief in a kind of co-equal trilogy. Kristeva also examines her own personal connections to Dostoyevsky’s literature and oeuvre. This was another interesting section to read since I didn’t know much about her life. However, I think that those sections that explore language use and the kinds of similarities with other 19^th century thinkers like Nietzsche and Freud were probably my favorite parts of the book.

While this book has a lot to consider, it is a challenging read, and not necessarily a book that anyone could pick up and start reading. Readers should have some familiarity with Russian literature, especially the works of Dostoyevsky. Someone who has recently read some texts by him would probably enjoy this book even more. I read a few reviews that suggested that this book was like taking a class with a kind of free-associating professor, and at times, I found that to be true as well. There were some sections where I had to go back and re-read her connections to better understand how Kristeva was moving from one idea to the next. However, I also found this to be one of the strengths of her writing, and at times, her writing (or at least the translation by Mortimer) was elegant and poetic. Kristeva definitely has a unique and uncompromising voice, and her analyses and broad, interdisciplinary approach to unlocking ideas related to Dostoyevsky is confident and detailed. 

Anno Satanis! A Biography of Anton LaVey

 

Born with a Tail: The Devilish Life and Wicked Times of Anton Szandor LaVey, Found of the Church of Satan by Doug Brod

Born with a Tail book cover

An early picture of LaVey with a lion

LaVey conducting a mass

Anton LaVey

Big thanks to Hachette Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Doug Brod’s book Born with a Tail: TheDevilish Life and Wicked Times of Anton Szandor LaVey, Founder of the Church ofSatan. Born with a Tail could also be titled Born with a Tale, as Brod’s book about Anton LeVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, chronicles many of LaVey’s stories and myths that have been both part of his legend as well as typically debunked by his critics, his family, and his followers. The tail in question is one that LaVey claims he had up until his adolescence, when it became an irritation and needed to be removed. This was also the time he supposedly joined the circus and became an apprentice to a lion tamer, although there is no real record of his time in the circus or as a lion tamer. However, as Brod’s in depth and colorful biography presents, we learned that LaVey kept a lion at the Black House, the Church of Satan’s longtime headquarters in San Francisco, for a number of years after the church’s inception. Interestingly, LaVey’s lion, Togare, somehow ended up with Tipi Hedren. While LaVey’s stories and legends are entertaining and serve mainly to boost his black magic cred, it was also amazing to see how many different people and celebrities LaVey crossed paths with as the head of the Church of Satan.

 I’ve always had an interest in the Church, but my awareness of it came at a time when the focus had really shifted, and I think I was more aware of the Satanic Temple, which Brod differentiates from the Church of Satan towards the end of the book. I actually had the Something Weird DVD for Satanis and had read a book about Satan in popular culture—I thought it was from Feral House, but I can’t find it. In any event, the book featured a lot of LaVey and some of the individuals he was involved with towards the latter 1/3 of the Church’s period—the 80s and 90s. I had some idea of about the original philosophy and some of the popular myths, but Brod’s book really helps to establish a strong timeline and interrogate many of the myths about the Church and LaVey’s life. For example, we find out that despite LaVey’s insistence, he was not involved in Rosemary’s Baby, and definitely did not play The Devil in the dream sequence. Additionally, we learn that LaVey was probably not a crime scene photographer for the San Francisco PD, in the same way that Weegee was. I did find it interesting that LaVey recognized the power of personal stories, media, and embellishment to further his cause and create a Church to pretty much do what he wanted and have other people give him money. Brod’s detailed interviews and stories show that LaVey didn’t live luxuriously off his followers, especially towards the end of the book and LaVey’s life. However, he seemed to maintain a public front as someone who advocated a “Satanic” life to receive funding. Brod presents a critical view of LaVey, showing us both LaVey’s carefully constructed life along with the reality and criticisms he faced; however, I did find it sad that LaVey devolved into a kind of fascist lover and nazi apologist. This is where I always was kind of confused about the Church and its affiliations with musicians like Boyd Rice. Brod’s book helps to provide more insight into this time period in the Church, and it helps to clarify, for me at least, that LaVey was basically accepting of nazis. I also learned about LaVey’s association with Marilyn Manson towards the end of LaVey’s life, and this also makes sense since Manson was someone who flirted with nazi and fascistic imagery. The strange part for me was learning that Greg Turkington shows up in this book as someone who ended up releasing some of LaVey’s organ music, and eventually compiling a posthumous collection of LaVey’s writing. Like I mentioned previously, it’s so strange to think about all of these disparate celebrities and artists who had some kind of connection with LaVey—from Sammy Davis Jr and Jayne Mansfield to Greg Turkington and Marilyn Manson. Turkington seems to really have bonded with LaVey over his older music and eccentric stories, whether they were real or not, and mentioned that LaVey didn’t really discuss fascism or anything. Through Brod’s presentation of these disparate individuals, we learn how effective LaVey was at reading people—like a carny—he’s able to size people up and see what would appeal to them. It also helped to see how this kind of American interpretation of religion and religious freedom allows for this kind of trickster or confidence man, who is ultimately looking to exploit people for his own ends. As I was reading this book (which I also couldn’t put down), I couldn’t help but think of how LaVey would thrive today on social media, and how similar he is to influencers and others looking to create a self, whether it is authentic or not, and to market themselves and their lifestyle to others. It’s interesting to think about how much of this social media economy is “satanic” in the sense that it is really based on the pleasure principle and not being concerned with integrity or reality even, and being more focused on style, creation of the self, and shaping one’s own reality. I really recommend this book since it spans an incredibly interesting period of popular American culture, and looks at a figure who may not be that well known, but has been influential in shaping many different fields of entertainment. The only thing that I would have liked to see more of in this book is pictures. I am not sure if published editions had pictures, but I think that a subject as interesting as LaVey that touched many different areas of popular culture would have benefited from more pictures. Nevertheless, this was a fun and interesting book. 

The History And Reconsideration of Freak Shows

Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit by Robert Bogdan

Barnum and Bailey Poster Public Domain

See page for author, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Freak Show at Ohio State Fair by Jianjian Liang CC BYNC-ND 2.0

As a huge fan of Todd Browning’s Freaks and Leslie Fiedler’s Freaks: Myths and Images of the Secret Self, I was excited to read Bogdan’s book about the history and controversy surrounding freak shows and side shows. Bogdan traces the history of human exhibitions from the early exploitation of indigenous and non-European people on display in the 17^th and 18^th century, as well as advancements in medicine that began to examine human differences in appearance as abnormalities. Bogdan explores the conflicts inherent in this medical model that seems to argue for a standard in appearance and development and using deviations from the norm to advance our understanding of human development. At the time of these developments in medicine, PT Barnum was gaining popularity and frequently exhibited humans as part of his shows. Bogdan explores how performers like General Tom Thumb were able to make a living and become rather well known as a result of their exploitation and exhibition. He not only explores the history of some of the initial performers, but also interviews and explores the lives of modern performers (this book was published in 1988, so the performers were living in the 70s and 80s), and how the movement away from human exhibition was both a blessing and a curse. While Bogdan acknowledges the morally dubious aspects of human exhibition, he also interviewed some performers who struggled to find work or make a living due to restrictions and a declining interest in human exhibition. I found this book fascinating and important in exploring the sociology of disability and difference, and the complications that arise from our attempts to understand differences and norms. I also appreciated Bogdan’s meticulous research and classifications, noting that some performers were exploited for their differences, while others sought to explore their exceptionality and share the talents they developed as a result of their differences and/or disabilities (often performers without arms or legs). This was a great book that explores a controversial, yet important aspect of American culture and entertainment.