Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov

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 Buy this book with our affiliate links on ⁠Bookshop⁠ or ⁠Amazon⁠! Our links: ⁠All links⁠ | ⁠PATREON⁠ | ⁠Merch⁠ | ⁠Watch on YouTube⁠ | ⁠Discord⁠ Socials: ⁠TikTok⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Facebook⁠ The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

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The Slavic Literature Pod is your guide to the literary traditions in and around the Slavic world. On each episode, Cameron Lallana sits down with scholars, translators and other experts to dive deep into big books, short stories, film, and everything in between. You’ll get an approachable introduction to the scholarship and big ideas surrounding these canons roughly two Fridays per month.