An Archetypal Study Of Bulgakov’s Novels

Mikhail Afanasievich Bulgakov,a famous Russian writer from 1891 to 1940,was named as "the most beloved and respected classical writer in Russia at the end of the20 th century","in almost all the foreign literary criticism newspapers,his name ranked first in the Russian literary world in the 20 th Century",but due to political reasons,this literary master has been buried in the Russian literary history for a long time.Bulgakov spent the last years of his life between 1928 and 1940 writing The Master and Margarita,which he called "the last sunset novel".However,the afterglow of the sunset should not be regarded as the only light to illuminate his literary career.Each of his works was conceived first and foremost in the glory of creation.Religious Mythology,which originated from Christianity and ancient polytheism,is the basis for Bulgakov to construct an ideal world through his artistic imagination,the association of myth and folklore,the important dramatic fragments of the Old Testament and the New Testament form the archetypes of polytheism and Christianity,which,are connected into a transcultural unity in Bulgakov’s works.Bulgakov’s unique mythological creation is part of the mythological Renaissance of western literature in the 20 th century.As a unique phenomenon in Bulgakov’s novels,mythological archetype takes on a variety of forms.After a thorough investigation of the existing research achievements of Bulgakov around the world,this thesis tries to make a research on Bulgakov’s novels from the perspective of myth archetype.This thesis is mainly composed of five parts.The first part explains the origin of the topic first,then introduces Bulgakov’s experience and mainly works,and then makes a brief summary of the previous research results.The second part is the main body of the thesis,which consists of three chapters,analyzing the mythological archetypes in Bulgakov’s novels from three aspects:prototype image,figures prototype and prototype theme.The first chapter discusses two prototype images in Bulgakov’s novels,the demonic imagery and the apocalyptic imagery.The demonic imageries in Bulgakov’s novels are mainly manifested as the "two-faced man" who holds the secular power,the people marked by the Antichrist and the noisy living environment,presenting a kind of restlessness,chaos,madness and division,which is a warning for the coming dark future.The apocalyptic imageries are mainly manifested as the fleeting peace,the coming dawn and the home that provides shelter for people.These apocalyptic imageries convey Bulgakov’s vision of the quiet life after the disaster,and also reveal the dawn of hope.The second chapter focuses on the figures prototype in Bulgakov’s novels.In Bulgakov’s novels,there are figures prototype such as "Satan" and "Christ",through tracing the resurrection of Christ,the archetypal image of Satan,the figures prototype in Bulgakov’s novels are brought back to the historical context of Slav mythology and national literary traditions for further explanation.The third chapter focuses on the archetypal theme of Bulgakov’s novels.The theme of "the enchantress transforms" and "sin and salvation" in Bulgakov’s novels unifies history,illusion and mysticism,and Bulgakov’s classical and romantic writing style creates a new literary model,through the retelling of the myth,the history and the present nature merge together and he explored a way to save and change the people and the world in the historical disaster.The last chapter is the conclusion,which explores the origin of Bulgakov’s creative psychology.The writer’s choice makes him a victim of the authoritarian regime,but the Messiah of literary finds the spokesman from Bulgakov’s creation.His writing transcends personal tragedy and is not limited to the historical stage that has ended.