Author Archives: Michael Wehle

Volodymyr Ishchenko in the New Statesman: The four years of the Russia-Ukraine war have laid bare a profound crisis of knowledge regarding Ukraine, Russia, the post-Soviet region and the world at large. This epistemological failure is manifest in the way … Continue reading →

In THX 1138 or Logan’s Run we are shown a 1970s depiction of a nightmarish future dystopia, but one from which it is possible to escape, a dystopia with tunnels which lead to some surface. Alas there are no such … Continue reading →

“But don’t trouble yourself here, Margarita. Everything will turn out right, the world is built on that.” —Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita, (Penguin Books, Ltd., 1997), 382. This is certainly Bulgakov’s sensibility in The Master and Margarita. Was this … Continue reading →

Spiegel: Es sind Augenblicke, in denen deutlich wird: Hier stehen sich zwei Konzepte, zwei politische Ansätze gegenüber.

Then the one walking at the head openly took a black Mauser from under his coat, and another beside him took out the skeleton keys. Generally, those going to apartment no. 50 were properly equipped. Two of them had fine, … Continue reading →

‘Did he try to preach anything in the soldiers’ presence?’ ‘No, Hegemon, he was not loquacious this time. The only thing he said was that among human vices he considered cowardice one of the first.’ —Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and … Continue reading →

‘What is this novel about?’ ‘It is a novel about Pontius Pilate.’ Here again the tongues of the candles swayed and leaped, the dishes on the table clattered, Woland burst into thunderous laughter, but neither frightened nor surprised anyone. Behemoth … Continue reading →