Próba czytania choroby księcia Myszkina w kluczu koncepcji duchowości ciała Alexandra Lowena
The attempt of reading the disease of prince Myshkin in the context of the concept of Alexander Lowen’s spirituality of the body

Author(s): Anna Przybysz
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is an attempt to re‑read the text of The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The disease, which in the meta‑work of the Russian novelist is an ever‑present element, is presented in this article from a new perspective, due to the Alexander Lowen’s Spirituality of the Body, theory which is based on a belief in inseparability of soul and body. The author tries to show that Myshkin’s epilepsy can also be interpreted as a value lackingnegative element by exposing its edifying strength, which causes cathartic shock in people around the prince. A deep analysis of the text of the novel in the proposed interpretative key shows that both the Lev Nikolayevich’s insanity and epilepsy contain in themselves an immanent part of the disease, which can be read as a positive creative element in the novel.

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