Friday, May 04, 2007

The difference between "Sunday" and "resurrection" is one letter in Russian

From the Commentary on The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (359) for my Core 101 class with Professor Bruce Zuckerman.

Sunday morning-- i.e., Easter Sunday. ... The Yanovskaya text contains a serious error here, possibly one of proofreading. Throughout this work, and especially in the Pilate narrative, Bulgakov has carefully avoided words like "cross," "resurrection," etc., and here the Russian is easily mistaken. The Yanovskaya text says Pilate was absolved on the morning of the resurrection. The difference between "Sunday" and "resurrection" is one letter in Russian. The author has been meticulous about time markers throughout the novel's action, which makes a Sunday reference logical. There is no reason to think that Bulgakov would suddenly introduce religious categories he had so assiduously avoided up to this point.