Overview

What were the consequences of Tolstoy's unusual reliance on members of his family as source material for War and Peace? Did affection for close relatives influence depictions of these real prototypes in his fictional characters? Tolstoy used these models to consider his origins, to ponder alternative family histories, and to critique himself. Comparison of the novel and its fascinating drafts with the writer's family history reveals increasing preferential treatment of those with greater relatedness to him: kin altruism, i.e., nepotism. This pattern helps explain many of Tolstoy's choices amongst plot variants he considered, as well as some of the curious devices he utilizes to get readers to share his biases, such as coincidences, notions of ""fate,"" and aversion to incest.

Full Product Details

Author:   Brett Cooke
Publisher:   Academic Studies Press
Imprint:   Academic Studies Press
Weight:   0.333kg
ISBN:  

9781644694084

ISBN 10:   1644694085
Pages:   318
Publication Date:   10 December 2020
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction: Aesthetic Kin Altruism 1. Background and Overview 2. Family Structures 3. Kin Altruism 4. Names and Family Traditions 5. Writing the Novel with the Family 6. The Problem with Prototypes 7. Genetic Allies 8. Unrelated Family Associates 9. Distant Relatives 10. Tolstoy's Grandparents 11. Tolstoy's Parents 12. The Parents' Marriage 13. What about Sonya? 14. A Genetic Clash-and Inclusive Errors 15. Incest Avoidance A. Actual Brother-Sister/Parent-Child (50% Relatedness) B. Avuncular (25% Relatedness) C. Cousins (12.5% Relatedness) D. First Cousin Once Removed (6.25% Relatedness) E. Second Cousin (3.125% Relatedness) F. Affinity (0% Relatedness) G. The Westermarck Effect (0% Relatedness) 16. Self-Altruism 17. Kin Altruism Reconsidered Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Brett Cooke is Professor of Russian at Texas A&M University. He is the author of Pushkin and the Creative Process, and Human Nature in Utopia: Zamyatin's We and editor or co-editor of Sociobiology and the Arts, The Fantastic Other, Biopoetics: Evolutionary Explorations in the Arts, Critical Insights: War and Peace, and, recently, Evolution and Popular Narrative.

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