Heart of a Dog - Mikhail Bulgakov
The Heart of a Dog
Mikhail Bulgakov
Andrew Wright
‘The Heart of a Dog’, written by Mikhail Bulgakov in 1925, is a satirical parable illustrating the provincial failures of the Russian regime, post-revolution. According to S. Fusso, Bulgakov’s allegory is not, unlike Orwell’s, “simple or naïve”,1 but one that offers an exploration of various different themes, from the ethical implications of eugenics “that so fascinated the scientific community during the 1920s”,2 to the farcical revolution of 1917 and its misguided attempt to create a new Soviet man. The novella chronicles the life of a stray Moscow dog, Sharik, who, upon being rescued by a seemingly benevolent surgeon, Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky, finds himself subjected to a gruesome operation in which both his pituitary gland and testes are replaced with those of a proletarian by the name of Klim Chugunkin. The new creature, insisting that he be addressed as Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov,13 gradually transforms into the repellent proletarian whose corpse was used in the operation, behaving outrageously, interfering in the professor’s affairs, and, finally, denouncing his former benefactor to CHEKA. The tale 's conclusion witnesses the Professor and his assistant, Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental, put an end to Sharikov’s machinations, performing a final operation that reverses the procedure, transforming Sharikov, the “man with the heart of a dog”14 into Sharik. Mikhail Bulgakov’s reputation as a major 20th century satirist is, however, posthumous, with this particular novella being his first to be banned outright after having being read to a small group of writers and critics, among them a secret police informer. The informer comments on Bulgakov’s thinly veiled criticisms of the Soviet regime, concluding that “this book will never see the light of day”3; a comment that was to ultimately foreshadow his total disappearance from print within a few years, with none of his prose being printed or
Mikhail Bulgakov
Andrew Wright
‘The Heart of a Dog’, written by Mikhail Bulgakov in 1925, is a satirical parable illustrating the provincial failures of the Russian regime, post-revolution. According to S. Fusso, Bulgakov’s allegory is not, unlike Orwell’s, “simple or naïve”,1 but one that offers an exploration of various different themes, from the ethical implications of eugenics “that so fascinated the scientific community during the 1920s”,2 to the farcical revolution of 1917 and its misguided attempt to create a new Soviet man. The novella chronicles the life of a stray Moscow dog, Sharik, who, upon being rescued by a seemingly benevolent surgeon, Philip Philipovich Preobrazhensky, finds himself subjected to a gruesome operation in which both his pituitary gland and testes are replaced with those of a proletarian by the name of Klim Chugunkin. The new creature, insisting that he be addressed as Polygraph Polygraphovich Sharikov,13 gradually transforms into the repellent proletarian whose corpse was used in the operation, behaving outrageously, interfering in the professor’s affairs, and, finally, denouncing his former benefactor to CHEKA. The tale 's conclusion witnesses the Professor and his assistant, Ivan Arnoldovich Bormental, put an end to Sharikov’s machinations, performing a final operation that reverses the procedure, transforming Sharikov, the “man with the heart of a dog”14 into Sharik. Mikhail Bulgakov’s reputation as a major 20th century satirist is, however, posthumous, with this particular novella being his first to be banned outright after having being read to a small group of writers and critics, among them a secret police informer. The informer comments on Bulgakov’s thinly veiled criticisms of the Soviet regime, concluding that “this book will never see the light of day”3; a comment that was to ultimately foreshadow his total disappearance from print within a few years, with none of his prose being printed or
Bibliography: Beilharz, P. Labour 's Utopias: Bolshevism, Fabianism, Social Democracy (New York 1992) Brovkin, V., Russia After Lenin: Politics, Culture and Society, 1921-1929 (New York 1998) Bulgakov, M., The Fatal Eggs (London 2011) Bulgakov, M., The Heart of a Dog (Moscow 1990) Bulgakov, M., The Master and Margarita (London 2008) Burgin, D., Bulgakov 's Early Tragedy of the Scientist-Creator: An Interpretation of The Heart of a Dog in The Slavic and East European Journal 22:4 (1978) Clements, B., 'The Birth of the New Soviet Woman ' in A. Gleason (ed.) Bolshevik Culture: Experiment and Order in the Russian Revolution (Indiana 1989) Cornwall, N., Reference Guide to Russian Literature (New York 1998) Desai, M., Marx 's Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism (New York 2002) Frankel, H., Socialism: Vision and Reality (London 2010) Fusso, S., ‘Failures of Transformation in ‘A Dog’s Heart’’ in Slavic and East European Journal 33:3 (1989) Haber, E. C., Mikhail Bulgakov: The Early Years (Harvard 1998) Howell, Y., ‘Eugenics, Rejuvenation, and Bulgakov’s Journey into the Heart of Dogness’ in Slavic Review 65:3 (2006) Huxley, A., Brave New World (2007 Canada) Laursen, E., 'Bad Words Are Not Allowed!: Language and Transformation in Mikhail Bulgakov 's "Heart of a Dog" in The Slavic and East European Journal 51:3 (2007) LeBlanc, R. D., ‘Feeding a Poor Dog a Bone: The Quest for Nourishment in A Dog’s Heart’ in Russian Review 52:1 (1993) Lenin, V. I., The State and Revolution (London 1992) Marx, K., The Communist Manifesto (New York 2002) Marx, K., The Poverty of Philosophy (New York 2008) Meek, J., 'The Hound of Hell’ (www.theguardian.com/books/2007/aug/18/featuresreviews.guardianreview19 (20/02/14) Milne, L., Mikhail Bulgakov: A Critical Biography (Cambridge 1990) Richman, S., ‘War Communism to NEP: The Road from Serfdom’ in The Journal of Libertarian Studies 5 No. 1 (1981) Shelley, M., Frankenstein (London 2002) Trotsky, L., Literature and Revolution (New York 2005) Utekhin, I., 'Communal Living in Russia: Stories and Thoughts ' in A. M. Barker (ed.) The Russian Reader: History, Culture, Politics (New York 2010) Endnotes 49 K. Marx, ‘The Poverty of Philosophy’ (New York 2008) p. 186 50 E