The “Non-Euclidean Geometry” of the Manuscript: Mikhail Bulgakov’s Digital Archive
Authors:   Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russian Federation), Khachaturian Liubov’ V. ,   Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation)
Published: March 2021

The article examines the problem of access to archival sources, many of which are currently closed for research due to a number of reasons, including epidemiological ones. The author sees the solution to the problem in creating special unified electronic archives, in which all information about manuscripts is placed on the Internet site or portal, regardless of where they are located geographically. In the author’s opinion, electronic resources of the “second generation” meet the most complete tasks of scientific research: digital archives that allow not only quickly selecting sources, but also working with an electronic copy of the document identical to the original. Regardless of the scientific qualification of the researcher and the state of the original, any Internet user gets direct access to the electronic copy: they can study it, clarify it, quote it in their works and distribute links to the source. On the material of the “Autograph. The 20th-Century. Digital Archive of Russian Literature” portal, the author describes the process of creating a digital archive as a research work that is located at the junction of two Humanities disciplines: source studies and textual studies. In the course of the research, the author turns to the new materials of the portal – the digital archive of Mikhail Bulgakov. The author gives a detailed description of the history of the writer’s archival collections in various organizations (Institute of World Literature, RAS; Russian State Library; Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts), as well as a description of research works of the past decade on Bulgakov’s artistic heritage. During the writer’s lifetime, the archive was kept by Bulgakov himself, then by his widow, Elena Bulgakova, with a full understanding of the value that the collection as a whole represents. As a result, a huge, interconnected and actually commented complex of manuscripts, albums, correspondence, and visual materials was created. Then the archive was divided into two unequal parts (the Bulgakov-prose writer archive and the Bulgakov-playwright archive) and transferred to two different repositories: the Pushkin House (Fund 369) and the Lenin State library (Fund 562). The Bulgakov collection of the Pushkin House is “adjacent” to the Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts funds, which reflect the history of the text based on the materials of organizations (Glavrepertkom, archival funds of theaters, magazines and publishing houses). The author further describes the materials from the Mikhail Bulgakov Fund at the Institute of World Literature, RAS, presented on the “ Autograph. The 20th-Century” portal. The author cites unpublished (or published with notes) sources from the least studied part of the archive – the collection of theater albums. Comparing the theater album devoted to the stage history of the play The Days of the Turbins (The White Guard, The Brothers Turbins) and the text of Theatrical Novel (A Dead Man’s Memoir), the author infers that the album is a kind of a autodocumentary source of the novel, clarifying many controversial points in its interpretation. The genre nature of this type of album requires a separate study. In conclusion, the author emphasizes that the ideal material for such research can be the digital archive of Mikhail Bulgakov.