New Bulgakov book to be published

[J.W.]

Ottawa, Saturday 23/8/2014 12h15 EDT

Dear SEELANGers,

A new and unique publication is about to be released by the Slavic Research
Group at the University of Ottawa, in conjunction with the Russian State
Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI) and the State L. N. Tolstoy Museum in
Moscow: Valentin Fëdorovich Bulgakov, *V spore s Tolstym: Na vesakh zhizni
i drugie materialy* [Arguments with Tolstoy: On the scales of life, and
other materials].



This volume (all in Russian) is under the editorship of Andrew Donskov,
F.R.S.C., Distinguished University Professor and founding director of the
Slavic Research Group at the University of Ottawa (who also wrote the
introductory essay).  It was compiled by Dr Donskov together with Liudmila
Gladkova and Arkadi Klioutchanski.  The materials for this book were
provided exclusively to the Slavic Research Group at the University of
Ottawa by RGALI and its director, Tat’jana Mikhajlovna Gorjaeva, as well as
by Bulgakov’s granddaughter N. N. Artëmova in Moscow.  The vast majority of
these unique materials have never been published before.  Extensive
annotations are provided by the compilers.



The publication includes the following materials:

(1) Bulgakov’s treatise *V spore s Tolstym. Na vesakh zhizni* (on which he
worked from 1932 to 1964);

(2) the complete correspondence between (a) Bulgakov and Lev Nikolaevich
Tolstoy and (b) Bulgakov and Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya;

(3) letters to Bulgakov from Doukhobors in Canada.



*V spore s Tolstym* comprises eight chapters, whose titles are as follows:
1) Nerushimoe [What is indestructible]; 2) Dukh i materija [Spirit and
matter]; 3) Normy sovershenstvovanija [A guide to self-improvement]; 4)
Muzhchina i zhenshchina [Man and woman]; 5) Smysl kul’tury [The meaning of
culture]; 6) Gosudarstvo [The State]; 7) Summum bonum; 8) Smena pokolenij
[New generations].  It sets forth in detail Bulgakov’s evolving polemic
with Tolstoy’s legacy, which escalated twice — first, following his exile
from Russia to Prague in 1923 and, again, after his return to the Soviet
Union in 1948.  He spent his remaining days (until his death in 1966) at
Yasnaya Polyana.  In *V spore s Tolstym* Bulgakov takes issue with
Tolstoy’s renunciation of the material aspects of life; he questions the
writer’s views on the purpose of his constant quest for self-perfection and
the value of striving for an unattainable ideal (which Bulgakov considered
a distraction from getting one’s self established on a solid foundation).  He
takes issue with Tolstoy’s rejection of science and art, with his
philosophical and religious views, and with Tolstoy’s insistence that
humanity had no use for an organised state.



Bulgakov’s correspondence with both Tolstoy and Tolstaya is no less
intriguing.  His letters to Tolstoy (published here for the first time)
will be of particular benefit to those studying the formative years in the
life of Tolstoy’s devoted last secretary.  As for Tolstaya’s letters to
Bulgakov — some of which have already been published in Bulgakov’s book *O
Tolstom. Vospominanija i rasskazy* — each document was compared afresh with
its original: discrepancies were corrected, deleted passages were restored,
newly discovered letters were included and all were integrated with
Bulgakov’s heretofore unpublished letters to her. Tolstoy’s letters to
Bulgakov, printed earlier in the Jubilee Edition of Tolstoy’s works, were
also re-examined in comparison with their original.  This new collection of
all the letters together offers a unique opportunity to track the
relationships of these kindred spirits as they evolved over the decades, to
follow their conversations on the major issues of the day (especially those
important to Sofia Andreevna), and to gain new insights into the more
delicate nuances of their characters.



The publication furthermore includes a series of letters written to
Bulgakov by various Doukhobors in Canada, from the 1930s to the 1960s.  These
are indicative of the considerable authority Bulgakov enjoyed among this
emigrant group, not only as a close confidant of *Dedushka Tolstoj*
(“Grandfather Tolstoy”, as the Doukhobors were wont to call their beloved
mentor), but as someone who all his life had great respect for their
world-view and their way of life — one who knew, as they did, what it was
like to be exiled from their common homeland.



This new offering may be seen as a continuation of Bulgakov’s legacy
introduced earlier (2012) in his memoir: *Kak prozhita zhizn’.
Vospominanija poslednego sekretarja L. N. Tolstogo* [How a life was lived.
Reminiscences of Leo Tolstoy’s last secretary], also edited by Andrew
Donskov and compiled by Liudmila Gladkova, John Woodsworth and Arkadi
Klioutchanski.  Both publications are printed and distributed by Kuchkovo
Pole in Moscow.



For further information, please contact Dr Andrew Donskov at the University
of Ottawa, at adonskov at uottawa.ca, or Mr John Woodsworth, member of the
Literary Translators’ Association of Canada, at jw at kanadacha.ca.


(Mr) John Woodsworth

Certified Translator (Russian-English), ATIO

Member, Literary Translators' Association of Canada

  http://attlc-ltac.org/bak/Woodsworth2.htm

Member, Russian Interregional Union of Writers

Member, Derzhavin Academy of Russian Literature & Fine Arts

Website: http://kanadacha.ca/

RCS webpage: http://www.ringingcedars.com/more/woodsworth/

Academia page: https://uottawa.academia.edu/JohnWoodsworth

YouTube page (piano):  http://www.youtube.com/user/Ottaworth/videos

E-mail: jw at kanadacha.ca

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