DOCSLIB.ORG

The White Guard Pdf, Epub, Ebook

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The White Guard Pdf, Epub, Ebook THE WHITE GUARD PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov | 304 pages | 06 Jul 2006 | Vintage Publishing | 9780099490661 | English | London, United Kingdom The White Guard PDF Book Thanks for telling us about the problem. Previous George Daniel. Just Mercy. Bulgakov's letter is a testament to the emerging double-think of the Stalin era; at once superficially defiant, yet exhibiting an insidious desire to conform. Changes to the decree were made later, refining the organisation's structure. Perhaps the most credible of all the characters — in novel as well as play — is Bulgakov's own alter ego, Alexei Turbin. Although the founding of these "fire brigades" was often done in a non-partisan manner, they often split into two opposing factions during the autumn of This never took place, but for the rest of his life — he was to die, prematurely, worn out and demoralised in — Bulgakov expected the phone to ring again. Bulgakov was a heavily marked man, and by the time Stalin made his telephone call it seems all too likely that the writer was facing the same fate as other dissident voices, such as his brother-in-law Andrey Zemsky: a prison sentence or internal exile. From until the organisation's demise, this post was occupied by Gen. Literature Poetry Lit Terms Shakescleare. Having qualified in , Bulgakov had seen six months' service on the frontline as an army doctor; after this he transferred to the civil medical service and worked in a rural hospital. The Guard did not distinguish between any non-socialist political views and received the support of all non-socialist parties. Otets Aleksandr 8 episodes. BBC Play of the Month — Anna Turbina 8 episodes Andrey Urgant Retrieved January 22, Three weeks before Stalin's phone call to him, Bulgakov had taken the extreme measure of writing to the Soviet government — it wasn't the first time the writer had tried such a frontal assault on the monolith that was crushing him and his writing career. Back to School Picks. Details if other :. During the summer of paramilitary groups were formed for protection and to preserve order. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Use the HTML below. The white armband also bore the name of the municipality. Kapitan Pleshko 8 episodes. This lacks the dream flashback sections. First Russian edition. From Coraline to ParaNorman check out some of our favorite family-friendly movie picks to watch this Halloween. Sign Up. Leonid Shervinskiy 8 episodes Andrey Zibrov Themes All Themes. Show 25 25 50 All. Director: Don Taylor. October 16, am Updated October 16, am. Add the first question. Clear your history. The first ad hoc symbols were a white armband and a small, three-branched shoot from a spruce branch, placed into the hat. The White Guard Writer They were generally known as the White Guard in the West due to their opposition to the communist Red Guards. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. He was administered a cocktail of drugs during his week-long stay and released on Oct. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. The initially unarmed Red and White Guards strove to obtain weapons. Polkovnik Malyshev 8 episodes Ivan Krasko That wasn't necessarily such a big surprise — the Bulgakovs knew Stalin was a fan. Email required. Crazy Credits. Edit Details Language: English. The Civil War of Finland had begun. On one occasion Petlyura's men took him, and it seems likely that it was at this time he was traumatised by witnessing the torture and murder of a Jew — just one of the scenes subsequently excised by the censor from the play, but which remained in the prose-fiction version of events. Mikhail Shpolyanskiy 8 episodes Aleksey Serebryakov Teachers and parents! The White Guard first appeared in serial form in the Soviet-era literary journal Rossiya in , [1] but the magazine was closed down before the serial was completed. Mannerheim had a blue field, but in the provinces, the field was divided party per sinister , with two or three colors representing each province. User Ratings. Alternate Versions. By Lia Eustachewich. Topics Culture. Feliks Nay-Turs 8 episodes Mariya Lugovaya Although the Imperial Russian Army was slowly disintegrating and had already started to withdraw its units from Finland, the demoralized, poorly trained and undisciplined Russian military forces in the country posed a substantial challenge to Finnish authority. By then, having tried — although we don't know with what degree of determination — to leave across the Black Sea, Bulgakov had definitively thrown in his lot with the new Russia and moved to Moscow to join his wife. It is this shadow that lies across the whole of his later work, and especially heavily over his masterpiece The Master and Margarita , for while Bulgakov may have been a traditionalist, who looked backward to the spirit if not the substance of the past, his entire productive life as a writer was defined by the compass of a very modern dictatorial whim. Sign In Sign Up. Plot Keywords. The White Guard Quotes Showing of This lacks the dream flashback sections. Reuse this content. However, following the first dress rehearsal, the Chief Repertory Committee the Soviet theatre licensing body intervened, declaring that: " The White Guard is from beginning to end an apologia for the White Guard and. Choose an adventure below and discover your next favorite movie or TV show. Only able-bodied males between 17 and 40 years of age could be full members of the White Guard. Larion Surzhansky Rupert Frazer The novel contains many autobiographical elements. Add episode. Previous George Daniel. Viktor Myshlaevskiy 8 episodes Evgeniy Dyatlov In fact, the play completely overshadowed the book, which was in any event virtually unobtainable in any form. The White Guard Reviews They seek to defend Kiev from a huge socialist army of one hundred thousand or was it eight hundred thousand? Read Next Trump town hall 'nodding lady' is ex-beauty queen who ran Bulgakov personally witnessed ten political coups in his lifetime. Several others who attended the Sept. Bulgakov illustrates the confusion and tension far from revolutionary Petrograd and how Kievans sort through the chaos and interpret events they cannot even attempt to control. The intersection of politics and daily life, particularly when politics has brought war, is a fascinating topic and one that Bulgakov explores, but never in a heavy-handed manner. As the chaos worsens, so we see the atrocities that are never far from war — the criminals jumping on the lack of order to terrorise an already demoralised citizenry, the bodies left unidentified and unclaimed in the City's morgue, the wounded frightened to seek help for fear of capture. The middle class Turbin family live in Kiev but are ethnic Russians, monarchists and generally firm adherents to the old social order. Nikolka Turbin 8 episodes Kseniya Rappoport After interrogations, his personal diary and several unfinished works were confiscated by the secret service. The White Guard is a novel without a hero. They love the Ukraine but are Russians at heart. Any comrade found guilty of doing so will be shot and deprived of civil rights. I have the edition from Yale University Press which includes an introduction by the translator Marian Schwartz, as well as an introduction by Russian history professor Evgeny Dobrenko, who explains the historical and political context of the novel. Bulgakov brilliantly sketches even minor characters. Told through multiple points of view, the book centers upon two days in the Russian Civil war, December 13 and 14, , when the city of Kiev, up to then controlled by the Ukrainian Hetman Skoropadsky, a German puppet and ally of the Monarchist Russians, falls to the armies of Petlyura, a Ukranian peasant nationalist, a figure of mystery and rumor. October Streaming Picks. Bulgakov is best-known for his "Master and Margarita", but I actually prefer "The white guard", it's a masterpiece of Russian realistic prose. Everything has meaning and I know that no matter how much I studied it in this day and age, - California - there is no way I could possibly understand the nature of all the symbolism, the dream sequences, the characters and their ideas. For instance, the sudden appearance of the syphilis infected Ivan Rusakov by the middle of the novel, whose sexually transmitted disease made him remorseful, turning him away from his wicked past, as it turns him into a religious fanatic enclosed into the rigidity of an ascetic belief. There seem to be lots of ways of running away but the physical act is important here. The city comes alive with a personality that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Last year, I read The Master and Margarita , and I found it to be very enjoyable due to its autobiographical and satirical nature. Surprisingly for such a big novel - normally it would have taken me some good days — I felt in a rush to read it through. But the one by Evgeny Dobrenko is totally marvelous, thoughtful and informative, giving background information on Bulgakov as well as the Ukranaian War of Independence Russian Civil War. Art is the ultimate victory of resistance. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Not only does he maintain complete control over a narrative that segues constantly from the pano I wasn't sure if Bulgakov's first novel, described as a historical novel about the fortunes of the city of Kiev in the year , as the repercussions of the Russian revolution and the tail-end of the first world war play out, would be as good as his satirical masterpieces, The Master And Margarita and Black Snow.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The White Guard PDF Book
    THE WHITE GUARD PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov | 304 pages | 06 Jul 2006 | Vintage Publishing | 9780099490661 | English | London, United Kingdom The White Guard PDF Book Sure he had and s It was indeed a very amusing book. LitCharts Teacher Editions. When the shooting stars Use my words as bullets, Crimson with hate. I think that I was looking for something similar to Grossman's Life and Fate , but I just couldn't really find it here, and the introduction set up the book so well, too. This is a very interesting piece of text about the theatre and life within theatre. Nothing is ever perceived clear as to what is actually going on, in terms of leadership. Jul 26, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy rated it it was amazing. While The White Guard , Bulgakov's first novel, doesn't have the same surreal or supernatural elements as his later works, such as The Master and Margarita or Heart of a Dog , those qualities are presaged in the dream sequences and lyrical descriptions of the city of Kiev. More Details Born in Kiev in , the eldest of what was to become a family of seven children, Bulgakov belonged not only by blood — his father was a professor of theology at Kiev's theological seminary — but also by inclination to the ancient regime. While the main story revolves around the members of the Ukrainian Turbin family, the essence of the story is much more far reaching and captures the seemingly endless turbulence of both the City and the nation. During the strike Finnish police forces were effectively disbanded, as they had been closely associated with the occupying Russian authorities.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Stanislavsky and the Moscow Art Theatre's 1923 And
    CULTURAL EXCHANGE: THE ROLE OF STANISLAVSKY AND THE MOSCOW ART THEATRE’S 1923 AND1924 AMERICAN TOURS Cassandra M. Brooks, B.A. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2014 APPROVED: Olga Velikanova, Major Professor Richard Golden, Committee Member Guy Chet, Committee Member Richard B. McCaslin, Chair of the Department of History Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Brooks, Cassandra M. Cultural Exchange: The Role of Stanislavsky and the Moscow Art Theatre’s 1923 and 1924 American Tours. Master of Arts (History), August 2014, 105 pp., bibliography, 43 titles. The following is a historical analysis on the Moscow Art Theatre’s (MAT) tours to the United States in 1923 and 1924, and the developments and changes that occurred in Russian and American theatre cultures as a result of those visits. Konstantin Stanislavsky, the MAT’s co-founder and director, developed the System as a new tool used to help train actors—it provided techniques employed to develop their craft and get into character. This would drastically change modern acting in Russia, the United States and throughout the world. The MAT’s first (January 2, 1923 – June 7, 1923) and second (November 23, 1923 – May 24, 1924) tours provided a vehicle for the transmission of the System. In addition, the tour itself impacted the culture of the countries involved. Thus far, the implications of the 1923 and 1924 tours have been ignored by the historians, and have mostly been briefly discussed by the theatre professionals. This thesis fills the gap in historical knowledge.
    [Show full text]
  • Satiric Image of Soviet Reality in the Works of M.A. Bulgakov Pjaee, 17 (7) (2020)
    SATIRIC IMAGE OF SOVIET REALITY IN THE WORKS OF M.A. BULGAKOV PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020) SATIRIC IMAGE OF SOVIET REALITY IN THE WORKS OF M.A. BULGAKOV Guo Cong1*, Chistyakov Alexander Valerianovich2 1*PhD Student of the Department of Russian and Foreign Literature, Faculty of Philology, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. 2Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian and Foreign Literature, Faculty of Philology,Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. 1*Guo Cong Guo Cong, Chistyakov Alexander Valerianovich.Satiric Image of Soviet Reality in the Works of M.A. Bulgakov-- Palarch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology 17(7), 5670-5681. ISSN 1567-214x Keywords: M.A. Bulgakov, Satire, Grotesque, Parody, Infernal Elements. ABSTRACT The article is devoted to the originality of the satirical depiction of the Soviet system in the stories of M.A. Bulgakov's "Diaboliad", "Fatal Eggs", "Heart of a Dog" and the novel "The Master and Margarita". The main artistic techniques of Bulgakov's satire are considered - grotesque, fantastic assumption, irony and parody. A characteristic feature of Bulgakov's artistic method is highlighted - a combination of a realistic image of Soviet society with carnival and infernal motives.The present study examines specific features of satirical image of the Soviet system in M.A. Bulgakov's novels “Diaboliad”, “The Fatal Eggs”, “Heart of Dog” and “The Master and Margarita”. Basic art techniques of Bulgakov's satire, such as grotesque, fantastic assumption, irony, parody, are reviewed. In addition, the combination of realistic image with carnival and infernal motives is described as a typical feature of Bulgakov‟s art method.
    [Show full text]
  • The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov Presents a Satirical Drama About Satan's Visit to Moscow, Where He Learns That the Citizens No Longer Believe in God
    The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov Presents a satirical drama about Satan's visit to Moscow, where he learns that the citizens no longer believe in God. He decides to teach them a lesson by perpetrating a series of horrific tricks. Combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem. Why you'll like it: Literary, novel-within-novel, darkly humorous, witty. About the Author: Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) was a doctor, a novelist, a playwright, a short-story writer, and the assistant director of the Moscow Arts Theater. His body of work includes The White Guard , The Fatal Eggs , Heart of a Dog , and his masterpiece, The Master and Margarita , published more than twenty-five years after his death and cited as an inspiration for Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses . Questions for Discussion 1. Why does Woland come to Moscow? Why does he give a public performance at the Variety Theater? 2. Why is Woland the instrument of Margarita’s kindness toward Frieda and the master? 3. When Woland sees Margarita’s compassion for Pilate, why does he tell her, “Everything will turn out all right, the world is build on that”? (p. 382) 4. Why as the master earned peace, but not light? 5. Why does Pilate dream that he is involved in an “interesting and endless” argument with Yeshua, “this philosopher, who had thought up such an incredibly absurd thing as that all men are good,” and that Yeshua’s execution never took place? (p.319) 6. Why must Margarita become a witch and host Woland’s ball in order to rescue and be reunited with the master? 7.
    [Show full text]
  • The White Guard Free Download
    THE WHITE GUARD FREE DOWNLOAD Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov | 304 pages | 06 Jul 2006 | Vintage Publishing | 9780099490661 | English | London, United Kingdom Will Self on The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov Plot Summary. Insomma, assomiglia alla morte. Learn the History of: Zhitomir a. Nikolka Turbin 8 episodes. Born in Kiev inthe eldest of what was The White Guard become a family of seven children, Bulgakov belonged not only by blood — his father was a professor of theology at Kiev's theological seminary — but also by inclination to the ancient regime. Same goes with the other minor characters who flutter fleetingly within the novel, leaving their hidden implications to the imagination of the reader, like the inconsistent behavior of the depraved character of Mikhail Shpolyanskyor the bravery displayed by the tragic character of Colonel Nai-Turshis own The White Guard heroism leading him to his own demise. His widow had The White Guard published in large part in the literary journal Moskva inat the end of the Khrushchev era. User Reviews. I'm familiar with the history of the Russian revolution and it's aftermath from an American college course on the time and having heard a pro-monarchist The White Guard Guard version as well. Edit page. The Turbin family and surviving members of the White Guard hide like rats in their own homes, waiting for history to unfold, waiting to die, quaffing vodka during card games, screaming at one another over shitty whist-play. Add the first question. Read Next. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie PolicyPrivacy Policyand Terms of Service.
    [Show full text]
  • Soviet Diy: Samizdat & Hand-Made Books
    www.bookvica.com SOVIET DIY: SAMIZDAT & HAND-MADE BOOKS. RECENT ACQUSITIONS 2017 F O R E W O R D Dear friends, Please welcome our latest venture - the October catalogue of 2017. We are always in search for interesting cultural topics to shine the light on, and this time we decided to put together a collection of books made by amateurs and readers to spread the texts that they believed should have been distributed. Soviet State put a great pressure on its citizens, censoring the unwanted content and blocking the books that mattered to people. But in the meantime the process of alternative distribution of the texts was going on. We gathered some of samizdat books, manuscripts, hand-made books to show what was created by ordinary people. Sex manuals, rock’n’roll encyclopedias, cocktail guides, banned literature and unpublished stories by children - all that was hard to find in a Soviet bookshop and hence it makes an interesting reading. Along with this selection you can review our latest acquisitions: we continue to explore the world of pre-WWII architecture with a selection of books containing important theory, unfinished projects and analysis of classic buildings of its time like Lenin’s mausoleum. Two other categories are dedicated to art exhibitions catalogues and books on cinema in 1920s. We are adding one more experimental section this time: the books in the languages of national minorities of USSR. In 1930s the language reforms were going on across the union and as a result some books were created, sometimes in scripts that today no-one is able to read, because they existed only for a short period of time.
    [Show full text]
  • The Spectator and Dialogues of Power in Early Soviet Theater By
    Directed Culture: The Spectator and Dialogues of Power in Early Soviet Theater By Howard Douglas Allen A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Victoria E. Bonnell, Chair Professor Ann Swidler Professor Yuri Slezkine Fall 2013 Abstract Directed Culture: The Spectator and Dialogues of Power in Early Soviet Theater by Howard Douglas Allen Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology University of California, Berkeley Professor Victoria E. Bonnell, Chair The theater played an essential role in the making of the Soviet system. Its sociological interest not only lies in how it reflected contemporary society and politics: the theater was an integral part of society and politics. As a preeminent institution in the social and cultural life of Moscow, the theater was central to transforming public consciousness from the time of 1905 Revolution. The analysis of a selected set of theatrical premieres from the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 to the end of Cultural Revolution in 1932 examines the values, beliefs, and attitudes that defined Soviet culture and the revolutionary ethos. The stage contributed to creating, reproducing, and transforming the institutions of Soviet power by bearing on contemporary experience. The power of the dramatic theater issued from artistic conventions, the emotional impact of theatrical productions, and the extensive intertextuality between theatrical performances, the press, propaganda, politics, and social life. Reception studies of the theatrical premieres address the complex issue of the spectator’s experience of meaning—and his role in the construction of meaning.
    [Show full text]
  • Revolution and Propaganda
    REVOLUTION AND PROPAGANDA Bernard Quaritch Ltd List 2017/11 BERNARD QUARITCH LTD 40 SOUTH AUDLEY STREET, LONDON W1K 2PR Tel: +44 (0)20 7297 4888 Fax: +44 (0)20 7297 4866 e-mail: [email protected] web site: www.quaritch.com Bankers: Barclays Bank PLC, 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP Sort code: 20-65-82 Swift code: BARCGB22 Sterling account: IBAN: GB98 BARC 206582 10511722 Euro account: IBAN: GB30 BARC 206582 45447011 U.S. Dollar account: IBAN: GB46 BARC 206582 63992444 VAT number: GB 840 1358 54 Mastercard, Visa, and American Express accepted Recent Catalogues: 1435 Music 1434 Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts 1433 English Books & Manuscripts Recent Lists: 2017/10 Bertrand Russell 2017/9 English Books 1550-1850 2017/8 Medicine, Sexology, Gastronomy no. 6 Cover image taken from no. 37. N.B. Prices marked with an asterisk are subject to VAT within the EU. 1. ALBERTI, Rafael. 13 Bandas y 48 estrellas. Poema del Mar Caribe. Madrid, Manuel Altolaguirre, 1936. Large 8vo, pp. 39, [1]; a very good copy in recent light blue quarter morocco, spine gilt, the original illustrated wrappers bound in, blank leaves bound at end. £650 First edition. ‘The thirteen poems collected in 13 bandas y 48 estrellas, first published in 1936 and later recollected in part 3 of De un momento a otro, are songs of protest against, and critical evaluations of, the role of “el imperialismo yanki”, “la diplomacia del horror”, and “la intervención armada” in the Americas, their effects on the people, and the limitations they place on freedom’ (Judith Nantell, Rafael Alberti’s poetry of the Thirties, University of Georgia Press, 1986, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Text and Context of Mikhail Bulgakov's the White Guard
    Arms against a Sea of Troubles: Text and Context of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The White Guard Oleksandr ZABIRKO Research Assistant Institute of Slavic Studies Universität Regensburg, Regensburg (DE) [email protected] Abstract This article focuses on the representation of historical events in literary texts by pointing at the tension between their factual and fictional elements. The fable and the setting of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The White Guard and his novel-based play The Days of the Turbins serve as examples. Almost one hundred years after its first (incomplete) publication, Bulgakov’s novel remains an object of heated debates and is a pivot point for a broad range of current historical, ideological, and cultural clashes between Ukraine and Russia. Against this background, the sophisticated form of Bulgakov’s narratives and the author’s cult status encourage the reader to consider his works both as historical testimonies and poetic prophecies. More importantly, the historical contextualization of The White Guard and The Days of the Turbins goes far beyond their narrated time and the events of the year 1918: it also includes the ideology of smenovekhovstvo, the dramatic changes in Soviet politics of korenizatsiya and the self-identification of the intelligentsiya in the late Soviet era. Keywords: Mikhail Bulgakov, The White Guard, The Days of the Turbins, Russian Civil War, smenovekhovstvo, korenizatsiya Résumé Cet article est consacré à la représentation d’événements historiques dans des textes littéraires en soulignant la tension entre leurs éléments factuels et fictifs. La fable et le cadre du roman de Mikhaïl Boulgakov La garde blanche et de sa pièce de théâtre Les journées des Turbins servent ici d’exemples.
    [Show full text]
  • Is Apocalyptic Kiev Still Apocalyptic Kiev in English Translations of Mikhail Bulgakov's Novel the White Guard?
    Borders and Crossings No. 2 - Year 10 04/2020 - LC.3 [sic] - a journal of literature, culture and literary translation Petra Žagar-Šoštarić, University of Rijeka, Croatia ([email protected]) - Natalia Kaloh Vid, University of Maribor, Slovenia ([email protected]) Is Apocalyptic Kiev Still Apocalyptic Kiev in English Translations of Mikhail Bulgakov's Novel The White Guard? Abstract The White Guard, an epic narrative on the Russian Civil War, is also an urban novel based on the author’s personal experiences in Kiev during the tumultuous years of the Revolution and Civil War. Following the traditions established by F. Dostojevsky and I. Bunin, Bulgakov introduces the City, Kiev, not only as the setting of the novel, but as one of the main protagonists – one that changes, develops and takes part in the lives of the other protagonists. The city is thus transformed into a psychological dimension where the violence of war and the mental world of the characters are reflected onto the city itself. As intertextuality is one of the main characteristics of Bulgakov’s style, he employs numerous allusions to the Book of Revelation when describing the events in the novel and when constructing the image of the city. Following his typical ambivalence, Bulgakov depicts Kiev as a place of beauty, light, and happiness, similar to the New Jerusalem from the Revelation, and as a place of chaos, promiscuity, and violence, like that of the apocalyptic Babylon. The city is also divided into two zones: the Civil war zone, dangerous and violent, and a domestic zone, which represents safety, family and old prerevolutionary values.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulgakov's Unique Relationship with Stalin
    Bulgakov’s Unique Relationship with Stalin Adam Chalmers History Honors Thesis Advisor: Stuart Finkel 4/20/2010 Chalmers 2 Introduction Often the general American public perceives Stalin as a purely unwavering dictator, the head of a massive political machine, who had very little interest in the arts beyond simply repressing work that went against his politics. The true picture of Stalin is much more complex; though often a ruthless dictator, he took a strong interest in famous artists. Such is the case with Mikhaíl Afanásyevich Bulgakov, who is worthy of study based on his literary and dramatic achievements alone. It is not surprising that Stalin took a personal interest in Bulgakov. He had a very hands on approach with many Soviet writers and, according to Katerina Clark, was "in fact the country’s principal censor and simultaneously its principal patron and writer’s friend"1.2 Despite this, Bulgakov was unique because he was openly anti-soviet, and yet Stalin still seemed to tolerate and, at times, even protect and encourage Bulgakov despite his political stance. There was a personal exchange between these two historical actors that was unexpected given their political positions. Bulgakov hated the system Stalin was the head of, and yet he hoped for his endorsement. He relied on Stalin for his survival. Bulgakov never backed down from his principals of opposition to the Soviet system, though some scholars contend that he did, and he was mostly open about his views in communications with Stalin. What led to Stalin’s protection of Bulgakov is multi-faceted and, to a degree, contentious.
    [Show full text]
  • SHOSTAKOVICH and BULGAKOV '20S Satire - Literary and Musical
    SHOSTAKOVICH and BULGAKOV '20s satire - literary and musical March 26, 2005 In his memoir Taming of the Arts, the emigré violinist Yuri Yelagin records that, at the height of Stalin's Terror, an NKVD ocer called Shatilov was appointed head of the Central Music Department in Moscow. So eager to please his superiors was this secret policeman that, during the 1937 National Piano Competition, he decided no 'undesirable elements' ought to be allowed to win any prizes and began arresting and interrogating the nalists. Of course, thousands of similar arrests and interrogations were then pro- ceeding daily in the USSR, but the conscientious Shatilov hadn't quite grasped the point: these happened out of sight of the foreign press. Hauling concert pianists o to be beaten with rubber hoses was clearly permissible in princi- ple, but not during the National Piano Competition. Shatilov, recalls Yelagin, was accordingly arrested and 'as usual' charged with Trotskyite sabotage. The competition, meanwhile, went smoothly ahead. This story illustrates several things vital to an understanding of Shostakovich's music, among the more obvious being the routine horrors of Stalinism and its equally routine success in concealing these from the West. The most signicant thing about Yelagin's tale, though, is that it is, in its ghastly way, funny. Typi- cal of the Russian political anecdote, its gallows humour is a touchstone for the country's long-standing satirical tradition and stories like it have formed the basis of subversive 'ights of fancy' from Gogol to Voynovich. An important point is secreted here for whereas in the West the arts are kept apart, only rarely being allowed to shed light upon each other, no such articial barriers apply in Russia.
    [Show full text]