Diaboliad (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Дьяволиада) is a short story by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

. It was the only story of his to be published as a book in his lifetime.

History

In 1923

met Nikolai Semyonovich Angarsky (pen name of

Nikolai Klestov Nikolai Semenovich Klestov (Russian: Николай Семёнович Клестов; December 1873, Smolensk – 27 July 1941, Kommunarka shooting ground, Moscow Oblast) who worked with the pen name Angarsky, was a Russian people, Russian Bolshe ...

), who was the senior editor and manager of the ''Nedra'' publishing house. After making acquaintance, Angarsky subsequently began publishing Bulgakov's stories in the Nedra almanac, including " The Fatal Eggs". Bulgakov read the story to

Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer whose works span across many genres, but mainly belonged to science fiction and historical fiction. Despite having opposed the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, he was abl ...

, who liked it very much, however Bulgakov himself noted in his diary twice that he himself was not pleased with the story. ''Diaboliad'' was first published in 1924. In 1925, the story was published separately as Bulgakov's own book. Two months after publication, the

Joint State Political Directorate The Joint State Political Directorate ( rus, Объединённое государственное политическое управление, p=ɐbjɪdʲɪˈnʲɵn(ː)əjə ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əjə pəlʲɪˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ʊprɐˈv ...

of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

confiscated the edition, although Angarskiy secured approval from the

Glavlit Main Directorate for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press under the Council of Ministers of the USSR () was the official censorship and state secret protection organ in the Soviet Union. The censorship agency was established in 1922 ...

to publish a second edition of the book. In 1926, it was successfully published again, however Bulgakov then cut ties with the publishing house. Literary critic

Yevgeny Zamyatin Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin ( rus, Евге́ний Ива́нович Замя́тин, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ zɐˈmʲætʲɪn; – 10 March 1937), sometimes anglicized as Eugene Zamyatin, was a Russian author of science fictio ...

lauded the story for its cinematic structure and blend of the fantastic and everyday.

Plot

Varfolomey Korotkov, the main character, is a clerk in a match factory. The factory is marked by disorder - employees receive their wages with constant delays; they are paid not with money, but with matches; and the management changes inexplicably often for unknown reasons. One day, a new manager is appointed to the factory. He immediately fires Korotkov for a minor mistake, who in return tries to justify himself. Suddenly it turns out that there are two completely identical managers of the factory, a shaved one and a bearded one. Korotkov attempts to talk to a singular manager in regards to his position are in vain. Korotkov finally goes insane, and jumps from a high-rise building while being chased by criminal investigation.

Themes

The story's main character, Korotkov, is portrayed as the classical "little man" literary hero that appeared in

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...

during the realism epoch. Korotkov is portrayed as a victim of the Soviet bureaucratic machine. Bulgakov also uses references and literary techniques of both

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

and

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

References

{{Mikhail Bulgakov 1924 short stories Russian short stories Works by Mikhail Bulgakov