The Eros of the Impossible. The History of Psychoanalysis in Russia

Psychoanalysis developed rapidly and uniquely in the atmosphere of the Silver Age and the early Futurist experiments of the Bolsheviks. In its history in Russia, the intellectual influences of Freud and Nietzsche are unusually intertwined. The book consists of chapters dedicated to different periods in the development of Russian psychoanalysis, interspersed with stories of the lives of famous Russian analysts and patients. The romantic relationship of C. Jung with Russian psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein is explored in detail. In light of new materials about M. Bulgakov's friendship with the first U.S. ambassador to the USSR and Freud's patient William Bullitt, a new interpretation of "The Master and Margarita" is provided. The author has discovered new archival materials.
The book opens up a captivating, previously almost unknown line of development in Russian thought. Psychoanalysts and Symbolist poets, anthroposophists and Marxists, stars of modern European culture, and agents of the NKVD - all of them meet again on these pages. This is the first book by historian Alexander Etkind, a professor at Cambridge and several European universities. One of the most famous Russian humanists, Etkind explores various topics in intellectual and cultural history, having published more than a dozen books in different languages.