Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov

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Show Notes

This week, Matt and Cameron take up their surgical tools to dissect Mikhail Bulgakov’s Heart of a Dog, in which a dog is turned into a man, a creation is turned into a proletarian, and a doctor is - maybe - turned into a murderer. Written in 1925, the novella reflects Bulgakov’s reactions to the changing world around him in ways general and specific - we’ll tease apart what we find interesting and not about this approach. Take a seat and grab your favorite scalpel, it’s time to re-create Frankenstein’s work!

Major themes: The Balalaika is stored in the pituitary gland, Novels as forum, Criminal Testes.

02:30 - The sound you hear is me immediately googling “Kentucky’s Best.”

23:40 - Link to “Bad Words Are Not Allowed!” Language and Transformation in Mikhail Bulgakov’s Heart of a Dog” by Eric Laursen

31:01 - It’s The Russians by Hedgewick Smith

36:10 - “Reflections of Soviet Reality in “Heart of a Dog” As Bulgakov’s Way of Discussion with the Proletarian Writers” by Irina Shilova

42:03 - “Bulgakov's Early Tragedy of the Scientist-Creator: An Interpretation of The Heart of a Dog” by Diana Burgin

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and YouTube.