Andrej Belyj and Immanuel Kant: The Prehistory of Istorija stanovlenija samosoznajuščej duši

No other philosophy concerned Andrei Belyi as much as Kantʼs epistemology. No other philosophy evoked in him such diverse and indeed emotional reactions. This can be observed in Belyiʼs oeuvre. By following the traces of Kant in his writing, it is not only possible to portray the evolution of Belyiʼs thinking, but also to decode the construction of the novel Peterburg. This article aims to outline Belyiʼs complex preoccupation with Kant from its inception in 1902 until the 1920s, when the Istoriia stanovleniia samosoznaiushchei dushi (ISSD) was written.