Mental Illnesses in Symbolism

Edited By: Rosina Neginsky

£63.99

This volume inquires into the mysteries of the psyche of the Symbolist Movement through essays on works of art, literature and music created as part or extension of the Symbolist Movement.

For the artists, writers and musicians of the Symbolist Movement of the turn of the century, true art, an extension of one’s “soul” or unconscious,…

For the artists, writers and musicians of the Symbolist Movement of the turn of the century, true art, an extension of one’s “soul” or unconscious, was often regarded as dark, mysterious and unreliable – the world of Dionysus. Such artists, writers and musicians searched for symbols to express or suggest psychological pathologies manifested in exaltation, madness, and other extreme mental states. Mental Illness in Symbolism inquires into the mysteries of the Symbolist psyche through essays on works of art, literature and music created as part or extension of the Symbolist Movement.

Rosina Neginsky teaches Art History and Comparative Literature at the University of Illinois, USA. She is the author of several books, including Salome: The Image of a Woman Who Never Was (2013), numerous articles on Russian and European artists, poets and writers, and books of poetry, the latest of which is In the Garden of Luxembourg (2015). She is the President and founder of the international interdisciplinary organization Art, Literature, Music in Symbolism and Decadence (ALMSD, http://www.uis.edu/hosted-orgs/ALMSD/index.html), and the editor of various books on Symbolism. Neginsky is a 2008 recipient of the University Scholar Award, the most prestigious award which the University of Illinois gives to members of its faculty.