Scientific contexts of the “Fear of Stars”: A commentary on Andrej Belyj

Fear of stars was frequently expressed at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. It was rooted both in apocalyptic fears and in the rejection of modern cosmology current at that time. Besides, morbid fears, of great interest to the contemporary psychiatry, included the so-called “astraphobia”, fear of lightning, gradually re-interpreted as fear of stars, which contributed to the attention to the topic. All of these contexts have to be taken into account when commenting on Andrej Belyj’s “Sphynx” (1905) and “Second Symphony (Dramatical)” (1902).

The article is written in Russian.