The Master’s Shadow – rereading Bulgakov
The aim of this paper is to revisit the legacy of Bulgakov’ s writings, placing him within the context of the soviet and russian literature. As a writer who chose to confront the dominant ideology of his time, Bulgakov remained, up to the very end, a marginal, unable to fit into the landscape of officially endorsed literature. In the same time, his condition is the epitomy of whay some critics might be calling “ internal exile”. The stalinist regime effectively forbade him from publishing, and his playrights were barred from being staged. Hence, his attempt to frame a coherent vision on literature and freedom, recolving around his own determination to continue writing as if the outside world ceased to exist. “ Manuscripts don’t burn” – the famous phrase of Woland, in “Master and Margarita”, encompasses the tribulation of Bulgakov himself under the totalitarian yoke.
Keywords:literature, soviet union, internal exile, censorship.
