Art Under Oppression

1920s Russia experienced high levels of bureaucratic censorship, yet authors produced some of the most influential and political art under Stalin’s oppression. The Master and Margarita is one of these novels, written by Mikhail Bulgakov between 1928 and 1940. The novel was not published uncensored abroad until 1967, then not published fully uncensored in Russia until 1973. The Master and Margarita parallels Bulgakov’s life as a writer under Soviet censorship. His letters and diaries reflect the reality that he and others living under oppression experienced. This begs the question: Can Russian literature give us a glimpse into the reality of living under a totalitarian state while inspiring hope?

The Novel

The Master and Margarita is a satirical novel in which Woland, an incarnation of Satan, comes to Moscow, intervening in multiple characters’ lives. He meets the censored writer Master and his lover Margarita. Simultaneously, a second narrative retells the biblical version of Pontius Pilate’s choice to end Yeshua’s (Jesus Christ’s) life, which is the plot of the Master’s novel. The other narrative follows the Master and his lover, Margarita, through a fictional Soviet Moscow. The Master struggles with his mental health, mirroring Bulgakov’s own life under oppression.  Meanwhile,  Margarita and Woland have adventures leading them to be reunited with the Master by the end of the novel.

The Author’s Desperation

Bulgakov manipulates the world of The Master and Margarita to reflect the strictness of Soviet society on artists. Bulgakov’s desperation to write begins here, but soon spirals into mental and physical illness parallel to the Master. He even physically censors himself like the Master, throwing away his “draft of a novel about the Devil” into a stove. Bulgakov laments his situation saying, “all these things are hopeless.” The Master similarly struggles with being authentically creative, causing him to be anxious, spiraling into poor mental health. Like the Master, Bulgakov is faced with destitution, homelessness, and death, having no job or purpose in life without creative freedom. Under the U.S.S.R., creativity was severely restricted. Artists were only allowed to write socialist realism, representing the perfection of communism and soviet ideals in art, novels, plays, and music. This propaganda was meant to inspire Soviet citizens and convince them of Soviet strength. 

Censorship of Soviet Writers

In The Master and Margarita, all writers in Moscow are forced to be part of Massolit, a writers’ organization run by the government. Authors either write propaganda or get their work vigorously checked by the government before publishing. Throughout the novel, these Massolit authors continue to publish inauthentic, uncreative work just to earn a paycheck. Bulgakov and the Master use their creativity to resist oppression and create true art. In Bulgakov’s real life, he defends creativity, pleading with the U.S.S.R. in a letter that it is his “duty as a writer to fight against censorship.” The Master is authentically creative, committed to his characters and finishing their story even at the risk of being killed. This parallels Bulgakov’s life of working through bureaucratic red tape and being forced to join a union of writers restricted to writing socialist realism. He still made time for his true novel on the side, even though it was never published in his lifetime.

Soviet Readers’ Response

By writing so close to Bulgakov’s own reality, he is inviting Soviet era readers to challenge their beliefs. Ilona Urquhart, a literary scholar, opines that Bulgakov was writing for an imagined Soviet reader who might not be open to heterodox statements, entertaining them with an interesting novel. Bulgakov entertains anti-Soviet ideals through fiction and humor. Urquhart explains that Woland challenges the government by exposing Soviet insincerity while rewarding creativity by helping Master save his manuscript. Woland even says, “manuscripts don’t burn”, proving that true art can never be destroyed as long as the Master stays committed to creativity. 

Unreliable Narrator

The unknown narrator in The Master and Margarita simulates the confusion of living under a dictator. The narrator is never specifically named, but repeatedly tells the reader to trust them. Urquhart interprets that the unreliable narrator is a way of naming the novel’s textual strategies and tactics for evading the censor. She explains that this structure resists internal coherency and suggests that not everything in the novel can be believed. Readers cannot trust who is narrating the novel. They do not know what truth is, nor can they distinguish facts from lies, simulating what it’s like to live under a dictator like Stalin. The structure and narration of The Master and Margarita put the reader in a state of distrust.

Russian Creativity

The Soviet Union stifled creativity, so Bulgakov injected that into his novel. Living under an oppressive government, he decided to satirize his reality in his novel. Putting The Master and Margarita into historical context allows readers to realistically imagine what life was like in Russia under the Soviet government. Bulgakov’s novel is parallel to his own life under the Soviet regime, which other readers at the time also realized. The beauty of his novel is that he has created a world where the readers are confused as to what is real or imagined, manipulated by higher powers. Bulgakov gives the reader free will to ignore the challenge of truth vs fiction or fight it, simulating life under a dictatorship. Creativity builds empathy, allowing for resistance in times of fear. Only when the Master stayed true to his art and love, his empathy built hope.