Writers (Classic)

For the purposes of this site, we have defined “classic” authors as those that spent most of their careers before 1953. We have chosen this date as, first, a generational marker. Many late-tsarist authors continued working after the revolution, while many late-Soviet authors are still working today. Those whose careers date before 1953 are more likely to be known abroad (the anti-communist movement in the US happed about this time which made all things from the USSR essentially toxic) and less likely to be working today (due simply to the process of aging). In preparing material for this section, we have tried to concentrate mostly on specific aspects of their works that may not be as well covered in English.

Mikhail Bulgakov, Master and Margarita, and Truth in the USSR.

Mikhail Bulgakov wrote Master and Margarita between 1928 and 1940, during some of the most severe years of Soviet censorship. During this period authors and poets—the individuals most well equipped to transcend propaganda and recognize societal flaws—were prohibited from doing so at threat of death or imprisonment. However, while direct criticism was impossible, indirect was […]

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