Incest and the Limits of Family in the Nineteenth‐Century Russian Novel

Abstract

While nineteenth‐century European literature is full of sibling incest, amorous liaisons between biological sisters and brothers are virtually non‐existent in the Russian tradition. However, Russian novels are replete with characters who are in love with someone like a sibling, be it a cousin, an in‐law, or a figurative adoptee or member of the household. Scholars have shied away from discussing this love that exists on the murky boundary of family, but doing so gives us a clearer understanding of how the family and love are defined in the nineteenth‐century Russian novel. This essay explores three kinds of incest on the lateral axis: that between close kin, characters who are like siblings though not technically related, and desire that is modeled on a sibling bond. Exploring these relationships reveals two opposed tendencies: a centrifugal, expansive tendency for the family vs. a centripetal tendency for romantic love. While the family extends and Russian visions of unity strive for greater and greater inclusion, keeping love in the family circle proves the safer and more desirable choice. These two tendencies ultimately fuse, as the expansiveness of the family dictates who is familiar enough to love.