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Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova

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Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova
Елена Сергеевна Булгакова Edit this on Wikidata
Born21 October 1893 (in Julian calendar) Edit this on Wikidata
Riga Edit this on Wikidata
Died18 July 1970 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 76)
Moscow Edit this on Wikidata
WorksThe Master and Margarita Edit this on Wikidata
Spouse(s)Mikhail Bulgakov Edit this on Wikidata

Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova (in Russian: Елена Сергеевна Булгакова; 21 October 1893 - 18 July 1970) was a Soviet author and intellectual. In collaboration with her husband, Mikhail Bulgakov, she participated in the writing of The Master and Margarita, a central work of Russian literature. Additionally, she is depicted in the novel as the character Margarita.

Bulgakova continued the work of writing and editing the text after his death. She published the first edition, although censored by Soviet authorities, in 1941. She was one of the first dissenting authors in the USSR. She died in Moscow in 1970.

Biography

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She was born on 21 October 1893, in Riga.[1] Her family was connected to the Moscow theater world; for example, her sister Olga worked as a secretary for Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko.[2] Between 1933 and 1940,[3] she kept a diary, which is useful for reconstructing her life, that of Mikhail Bulgakov, and the Soviet artistic world.[4][5][6][7][8]

Bulgakova supported him against censorship and press campaigns orchestrated by Stalin against him.[4] When he was completely censored for a Soviet jubilee, she wrote:[4]

Well, just think of it. Among the jubilee productions, they did not include Days of the Turbins, which has run for thirteen years, more than eight hundred shows!! This is unique among plays by a Soviet author. Not only that, there is no mention in any article either of Bulgakov's name or the title of the play.

Writing and editing of The Master and Margarita

Bulgakova appears to be represented by the character Margarita in the novel.[9] While the bulk of the work was undertaken by her husband, it was a shared creative process, as she was his muse, and he resumed writing after marrying her.[5] Thus, not only did she inspire him, but after his death in 1940, Bulgakova took up his notes and had to make numerous editorial decisions.[5] She extensively revised her husband's notes, selected readings of the text,[10] and even added text in many places.[11] She completed and edited the work in less than a year.[5] About 12% of the novel was censored by Soviet authorities upon its release.[12]

Later life and death

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Bulgakova remained connected to the Soviet intellectual, and even dissident, circles, receiving visits from figures such as Anna Akhmatova between 1942 and 1944.[13] She died on 18 July 1970, in Moscow.[1]

Legacy

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Apart from her significance in The Master and Margarita, she is credited, along with Bulgakov, as being one of the founding artists of the clandestine and dissident artistic culture in the USSR.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "ДНЕВНИК ЕЛЕНЫ БУЛГАКОВОЙ". 2012-06-16. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2024-06-24.
  2. ^ Muza, Anna (May 2009). "'The Tragedy of a Russian Woman': Anna Karenina in the Moscow Art Theater, 1937". Russian Literature. 65 (4): 467–506. doi:10.1016/j.ruslit.2009.07.004.
  3. ^ Gillespie, David (1999). "First Person Singular: The Literary Diary in Twentieth-Century Russia". The Slavonic and East European Review. 77 (4): 620–645. JSTOR 4212957.
  4. ^ a b c Weeks, Laura D., ed. (1996). The Master & Margarita: a critical companion. Northwestern/AATSEEL critical companions to Russian literature. Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press : American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages. ISBN 978-0-8101-1212-4.
  5. ^ a b c d Kostoglodova, Elena Yurievna (2002). The split-frame disorder of contemporary fiction: narrative self-organization through complexification (Thesis). OCLC 53089862. Archived from the original on 2024-06-24. Retrieved 2024-06-24.[page needed]
  6. ^ Bogdanov, Nikolai (2011). "The 'Fifth Dimension' of a Bulgakov Text". Russian Studies in Literature. 47 (2): 88–100. doi:10.2753/RSL1061-1975470204.
  7. ^ Milne, Lesley (2005). Bulgakov: The Novelist-Playwright. doi:10.4324/9780203987414. ISBN 978-0-203-98741-4.[page needed]
  8. ^ Sriraman, Bharath (2024). Sriraman, Bharath (ed.). Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Mathematical Practice. Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-40846-5. ISBN 978-3-031-40846-5.[page needed]
  9. ^ Ianovskaia, Lidiia (April 2011). "Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Nozri: In the Mirror of Bulgakov Studies". Russian Studies in Literature. 47 (2): 7–60. doi:10.2753/RSL1061-1975470201.
  10. ^ Mason, Elliot (8 September 2010). Fallen and Changed: Tracing the Biblical-Mythological Origins of Mikhail Bulgakov's Azazello and Korov'ev (Thesis). University of Waterloo. hdl:10012/5480.[page needed]
  11. ^ Pope, Richard W. F. (1977). "Ambiguity and Meaning in The Master and Margarita: The Role of Afranius". Slavic Review. 36 (1): 1–24. doi:10.2307/2494668. JSTOR 2494668.
  12. ^ Vid, Natalia Kaloh (6 September 2016). "Os desafios na tradução de itens culturais específicos: o caso de The Master and Margarida de Mikhail Bulgarov". Cadernos de Tradução. 36 (3): 140. doi:10.5007/2175-7968.2016v36n3p140. hdl:20.500.12556/DKUM-67414.
  13. ^ Tomei, Christine D., ed. (1999). Russian women writers. Women writers of the world. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8153-1797-5.
  14. ^ The Oxford handbook of Soviet underground culture. Oxford University Press. 2024. ISBN 978-0-19-750821-3.
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