THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE BODY AND SENSORY PERCEPTION IN LEV TOLSTOY’S “ANNA KARENINA”.

Abstract

This article explores the primacy of corporeal experience over intellectual discourse in Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Utilizing a phenomenological framework, the study shifts focus from the novel’s moral didacticism to its sophisticated "language of the body." By analyzing the sensory "linkages" (stsepleniia)—specifically tactile sensations, olfactory cues, and the intrusive nature of light—the author demonstrates how Tolstoy maps psychological disintegration through somatic distress. The research argues that Anna’s tragic trajectory is signaled through a gradual estrangement from her own physical agency, contrasted against Levin’s spiritual grounding through manual labor and biological rhythm. Ultimately, the paper concludes that Tolstoy’s realism functions as a "phenomenology of the soul," where the body acts as the ultimate arbiter of moral and existential truth, prefiguring modern neuro-aesthetic approaches to literature.