Mikhail Bulgakov: the author on the front line of Ukraine's new 'culture war'
Ukraine: The Latest
Louisa Wells / Francis Dearnley
4.8 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 1 April 2024
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Day 765.
Today, in a special episode over Easter Monday, Francis visits the Bulgakov Museum in Kyiv to discuss the life and times of one of the most controversial writers in Ukraine today.
Milkail Bulgakov (1891-1940), author of The Master and Margarita, was a witness to the Ukrainian War of Independence between 1917 and 1921 – resurrecting it in his novel The White Guard – and is therefore a pivotal figure in the literary history of Ukraine, especially given his vivid depiction of Kyiv at war, as it is now.
Francis talks to researcher Maryna Sychenko about the current battle over Bulgakov's legacy, and whether he should be seen as a Russian or Ukrainian writer. Plus, she shares her own memories of the full-scale invasion.
Website for the Bulgakov Museum:
https://www.facebook.com/bulgakovmuseuminkyiv/
English tours are available.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Frances Dernley and this is a special episode of Ukraine, the latest. |
| 0:09.0 | Bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory. |
| 0:18.5 | If we give President Zelensky the tools, the Ukrainians will finish the job. |
| 0:23.7 | Slava Ukrainian. |
| 0:25.4 | Nobody is going to break us. |
| 0:27.4 | We're strong. |
| 0:28.6 | We're Ukrainians. Shh. The tongue can conceal the truth, but the eyes never. A quote from the master and margarita, |
| 0:57.0 | perhaps one of the great novels of the 20th century, |
| 1:01.0 | blending fantasy, romance and satire in an irreverent critique of Soviet society. |
| 1:09.2 | But its author, Mikhail Bogakov, remains a figure of controversy even today long after his death in |
| 1:16.6 | Stalinist Russia, where his work faced censor and condemnation. |
| 1:22.1 | For Bogakov was born in Kyiv in 1891, when part of the Russian Empire, |
| 1:29.0 | making him an author claimed historically both by Russia and Ukraine. As such he is now at the very heart |
| 1:38.0 | of contemporary discussions about Ukrainian identity. For some, the fact he was born into a Russian intellectual family |
| 1:46.4 | and wrote in Russian means he should no longer be associated with the Ukrainian nation. |
| 1:51.4 | For others, the fact he witnessed the Ukrainian nation. For others, the fact he witnessed the Ukrainian War of Independence |
| 1:56.2 | between 1917 and 1921, resurrecting it in his novel The White Guard, |
| 2:02.2 | on its own makes him a pivotal figure in the story of the Ukrainian nation and its capital, |
| 2:08.8 | especially given the novel's vivid depiction of the city at war as it is today. |
| 2:15.0 | While in Kyiv I visited the Bolkakov Museum located in his old family home. |
| 2:21.0 | Now the focal point for debates about which writers to |
| 2:24.7 | condemn or condone in the context of the Russian invasion. There, after a tour of |
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