Rancour-Laferriere D. The Slave Soul of Russia: Moral Masochism And the Cult of Suffering

New York; London: NYU Press, 1995. — 330 p.Russian history, religion, folklore, and literature are rife with suffering. The plight of Anna Karenina, the submissiveness of serfs in the 16th and
17th centuries, ancient religious tracts emphasizing humility as “the mother of virtues,” and the current economic upheavals wracking the
country are a few symptoms of what The Slave Soul of Russia identifies as a veritable cult of suffering, centuries in the making. Here, for the first
time, is a compelling portrait of the Russian people’s psychology.