Visible and Invisible Body: The Body in L. Andreev’s “When the King Loses His Head”

http://dx.doi.org/10.20339/PhS.4-16.079

Chiang Chieh-han,

Post-graduate student of History of Modern Russian Literature

and Contemporary Literary Process Department,

Faculty of Philology

Lomonosov Moscow State University

E-mail: sashachiang@gmail.com

This article analyzes the problem of the body in Leonid Andreev’s story “When the King Loses His Head,” focusing on the representation of the king’s body, the issue of sacredness, the “anatomy” of power, the textualization of the collective body, and so on. Special attention is paid to the motif of vision, including the problem of the gaze, and the antithesis of the visible and the invisible, which have great importance in Andreev’s story about political and social revolution. The study of the underlying theme of the body not only provides a more comprehensive understanding of the artistic aspects of the work, but also reveals the story’s main idea, that is, the author’s attitude towards revolution in general.

Keywords: L. Andreev, “When the King Loses His Head”, the body, vision, the gaze, power, revolution.

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