Mikhail A. Bulgakov
Russian
1891-1940
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Considered one of the foremost satirists of post-revolutionary Russia, Bulgakov is best known for his novel Master i Margarita ( The Master and Margarita), which is recognized as one of the greatest Russian novels of the century. Many of Bulgakov's works concern the adjustment of the Russian intellectual class to life under communist rule. Heavily influenced by Nikolai Gogol, he combined fantasy, realism, and satire to ridicule modern progressive society in general and the Soviet system in particular. His works celebrate the nonconformist, and often portray an artist or scientist in conflict with society. Due to official censorship of his manuscripts during his lifetime, Bulgakov's best works remained unpublished until after his death.
Bulgakov is believed to have written thirty-six plays, eleven of which survive. Unlike his major prose works, Bulgakov's dramas tend toward the realistic, and are often based on historical events or figures. In direct opposition to Soviet conventions, Bulgakov refused to portray his characters as either wholly positive or negative; rather, they are drawn as individuals with human strengths and frailties. The theme of adjustment to the new Soviet way of life dominates his plays of the 1920s. His best-known drama, Days of the Turbins, has been viewed as Moscow's most important theatrical event of the decade and served as the focus for the debate then being waged over the place of art in post-revolutionary society. The play, which deals with the life of a family of Russian intellectuals in Kiev during the Civil War, was the first Soviet play to portray the White intelligentsia as sympathetic figures, rather than the malicious characters common to socialist realist productions. Critical opposition was violent; party critics immediately accused Bulgakov of glorifying the class enemy and denounced the play as counterrevolutionary. Nevertheless, playgoers who had lost relatives in the Civil War identified with the Turbin family and flocked to performances. According to one account, "The women were hysterical; there were tears in the eyes of the men." Bulgakov's next play, Zoikina kvartira ( Zoya's Apartment), concerns the goings-on at a brothel disguised as a sewing shop in Moscow of the 1920s. A comic melodrama, the play satirizes communist institutions and life under Stalin's New Economic Policy. Popular with audiences, it was condemned by Soviet critics for being "pornographic" as well as for failing to convey the proper ideological viewpoint. His next play, Bagrovyi ostrov ( The Crimson Island), a comic attack on censorship, prompted counterattacks on Bulgakov's reputation and was taken out of the Art Theater repertory after only four performances.
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For more information check out the display in Burling, or visit his page at Literary Resource Center online...
Related Authors:
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977)
Fyodor Dostoevsky(1821-1881)
Maxim Gorky(1868-1936)
