The Devil has come to town. But don’t worry – all he wants to do is stage a magic show.
Iblis tiba di kota, tapi tak usah cemas. Dia hanya ingin membuka pentas sulap.
This absurd premise forms the central plot of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece, "The Master and Margarita." Written in Moscow during the 1930s, this surreal blend of political satire, historical fiction, and occult mysticism has earned a legacy as one of the 20th century’s greatest novels– and one of its strangest.
Premis absurd ini membentuk plot utama dari mahakarya Mikhail Bulgakov, “The Master and Margarita”. Novel ini ditulis di Moskow, tahun 1930-an. Kisah khayal ini memadukan satire politik, fiksi sejarah, dan mistisisme gaib yang dianggap sebagai salah satu novel abad ke-20 terbesar serta salah satu yang teraneh.
The story begins when a meeting between two members of Moscow’s literary elite is interrupted by a strange gentleman named Woland, who presents himself as a foreign scholar invited to give a presentation on black magic. As the stranger engages the two companions in a philosophical debate and makes ominous predictions about their fates, the reader is suddenly transported to 1st century Jerusalem. There a tormented Pontius Pilate reluctantly sentences Jesus of Nazareth to death. With the narrative shifting between the two settings, Woland and his entourage– Azazello, Koroviev, Hella, and a giant cat named Behemoth– are seen to have uncanny magical powers, which they use to stage their performance while leaving a trail of havoc and confusion in their wake.
Ceritanya diawali dengan pertemuan dua anggota elite sastra Moskow yang diganggu oleh seorang pria aneh bernama Woland. Dia mengaku sebagai cendekiawan asing yang diundang untuk mempresentasikan sihir hitam. Saat Woland tengah memperdebatkan filosofi dengan kedua rekan itu dan membuat ramalan buruk tentang nasib mereka, pembaca tiba-tiba dipindahkan ke Yerusalem pada abad pertama. Di sana, tampak Pontius Pilate yang tersiksa karena enggan menghukum mati Yesus dari Nazaret. Dengan narasi yang berpindah antara dua tempat ini, Woland dan rombongannya– Azazello, Koroviev, Hella, serta seekor kucing raksasa bernama Behemoth– terlihat memiliki kekuatan sihir ganjil, yang digunakan dalam pertunjukan seraya meninggalkan jejak malapetaka dan kebingungan. Kebanyakan humor hitam di novel ini tak hanya berasal dari kejahilan iblis,
Much of the novel’s dark humor comes not only from this demonic mischief, but also the backdrop against which it occurs. Bulgakov’s story takes place in the same setting where it was written– the USSR at the height of the Stalinist period. There, artists and authors worked under strict censorship, subject to imprisonment, exile, or execution if they were seen as undermining state ideology. Even when approved, their work– along with housing, travel, and everything else– was governed by a convoluted bureaucracy. In the novel, Woland manipulates this system along with the fabric of reality, to hilarious results. As heads are separated from bodies and money rains from the sky, the citizens of Moscow react with petty-self interest, illustrating how Soviet society bred greed and cynicism despite its ideals. And the matter-of-fact narration deliberately blends the strangeness of the supernatural events with the everyday absurdity of Soviet life.
tapi juga latar belakang ceritanya. Kisah Bulgakov berlokasi di latar yang sama dengan tempatnya menulis, Uni Soviet di puncak periode Stalinisme. Di sana, seniman dan penulis bekerja di bawah pengawasan ketat, ancaman penjara, pengasingan, atau eksekusi jika mereka ketahuan merusak ideologi negara. Sekalipun disetujui, karya mereka beserta rumah, perjalanan, dan lain sebagainya dikendalikan oleh birokrasi yang berbelit-belit. Di novel, Woland memanipulasi sistem ini bersama dengan struktur realitasnya menjadi hasil yang jenaka. Saat kepala terpisah dari badannya dan hujan uang turun dari langit, warga Moskow bereaksi dengan egoisme tidak terkendali, menggambarkan betapa tamak dan sinisnya masyarakat Soviet terlepas dari prinsipnya. Narasi sebenarnya sengaja membaurkan keanehan peristiwa supernatural dengan absurdnya kehidupan di Soviet. Bagaimana Bulgakov bisa menerbitkan novel subversif ini
So how did Bulgakov manage to publish such a subversive novel under an oppressive regime? Well… he didn’t. He worked on "The Master and Margarita" for over ten years. But while Stalin’s personal favor may have kept Bulgakov safe from severe persecution, many of his plays and writings were kept from production, leaving him safe but effectively silenced. Upon the author’s death in 1940, the manuscript remained unpublished. A censored version was eventually printed in the 1960s, while copies of the unabridged manuscript continued to circulate among underground literary circles. The full text was only published in 1973, over 30 years after its completion.
di bawah rezim yang menindas? Jawabannya ... bukunya tak diterbitkan. Dia menulis “The Master and Margarita” lebih dari sepuluh tahun. Walaupun bantuan pribadi Stalin telah menjauhkan Bulgakov dari persekusi berat, banyak pementasan dan tulisannya yang tidak diproduksi sehingga dia aman walaupun terbungkam. Setelah kematiannya pada 1940, naskahnya masih tidak diterbitkan. Versi yang disensor akhirnya dicetak pada 1960-an, sementara salinan naskah lengkapnya terus beredar di antara lingkaran sastra bawah tanah. Naskah lengkapnya baru diterbitkan pada 1973, 30 tahun setelah usai ditulis. Pengalaman Bulgakov dengan sensor dan frustrasi seninya
Bulgakov’s experiences with censorship and artistic frustration lend an autobiographical air to the second part of the novel, when we are finally introduced to its namesake. "The Master" is a nameless author who’s worked for years on a novel but burned the manuscript after it was rejected by publishers– just as Bulgakov had done with his own work. Yet the true protagonist is the Master’s mistress Margarita.
memberi nuansa autobiografi di bagian kedua novelnya, saat kita diperkenalkan tokoh dari judul novelnya. “Master” adalah penulis tak bernama yang bertahun-tahun menulis satu novel, tetapi membakar naskahnya setelah ditolak oleh penerbit, seperti yang dilakukan Bulgakov dengan karyanya sendiri. Namun, protagonis aslinya adalah Margarita, gundik si Master. Baktinya pada mimpi yang dicampakkan sang kekasih
Her devotion to her lover’s abandoned dream bears a strange connection to the diabolical company’s escapades– and carries the story to its surreal climax.
menyimpan koneksi aneh terhadap petualangan bisnis jahat itu dan membawa kisahnya ke klimaks yang janggal. Meskipun dihiasi humor hitam dan struktur yang kompleks,
Despite its dark humor and complex structure, "The Master and Margarita" is, at its heart, a meditation on art, love, and redemption, that never loses itself in cynicism. And the book’s long overdue publication and survival against the odds is a testament to what Woland tells the Master: “Manuscripts don’t burn.”
“The Master and Margarita” pada intinya adalah meditasi atas seni, cinta, dan penebusan, yang tak pernah kehilangan jati dirinya dalam sinisme. Publikasi yang telah lama tertunda dan keberhasilan bukunya melalui rintangan adalah pembenaran atas ucapan Woland kepada Master: "Naskah tidak terbakar."