“Anna Karenina”: a Suicidological Study
https://doi.org/10.31550/1727-2378-2022-21-8-82-86
Abstract
Objective of the Review: to analyze one of the most popular L. Tolstoy’s works “Anna Karenina” by showing that it illustrates classic and contemporary theories of suicide, starting from the sociological study of suicide by E. Durkheim.
Key Points. The novel depicts four episodes of suicidal behavior: ego-dystonic thoughts (Lewin), suicide attempt (Vronsky), completed suicide (Anna) and volunteer fighters (Vronsky and other men going to war). The article draws parallels with four types of suicide according to E. Durkheim: anomic, egoistic, fatalistic and altruistic. Besides, the paper points out changes in worldviews of the main characters that happen after their mortality was made salient, which corresponds to Terror Management Theory in social psychology and works of cultural anthropologist E. Becker. In the end, we look at Anna’s presuicidal state from the point of view of Narrative Crisis Model of Suicide by I. Galynker.
Conclusion. Thus, the novel “Anna Karenina” can help specialists in studying various theories of suicidal behavior, as L. Tolstoy carefully depicted the phenomenology of suicidal feelings and mechanisms of psychological defense from the fears of death, even before suicidology was established as a science.
About the Authors
K. A. Chistopolskaya
Moscow Psychiatric Research Institute, a branch of the V.P. Serbsky National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Narcology (a Federal Government-funded Institution) Russian Federation Ministry of Health
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
3 Poteshnaya Str., Moscow, 107076
S. N. Enikolopov
Mental Health Research Center (a Federal Government-funded Academic Institution)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
34 Kashirskoye Shosse, Moscow, 115230
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Review
For citations:
Chistopolskaya K.A., Enikolopov S.N. “Anna Karenina”: a Suicidological Study. Title. 2022;21(8):82-88. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31550/1727-2378-2022-21-8-82-86
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