An Analysis of Epidemic Narratives in Russian Author Mikhail Bulgakov’s “A Young Doctor’s Notebook”

Abstract

Epidemics are significant events that deeply affect societies in every period of human history. With this feature, epidemics have been the subject of the literary work –which is always sensitive to the world realities and utilizes them in their fictions– and have taken their place in many authors’ subject spectrum. In the works of doctor writer Mikhail Bulgakov (1891- 1940), who was one of these writers, you can witness the reflections of medical studies on creativity. A Young Doctor’s Notebook (1925) is one of the author’s most interesting medical stories. A doctor in this story by M. Bulgakov -who was also a medical doctor- struggles with various diseases and epidemics. The current study conducted in the light of qualitative research methods in the example of M. Bulgakov’s work, A Young Doctor’s Notebook, seeks to communicate both a doctor’s reaction and impressions and the public’s attitude towards the epidemic through the analysis of written documents. The current paper, an example of how a literary work might act as a guide in combating the epidemic and minimizing the disease effects through the medical explanations of the story A Young Doctor’s Notebook on fictitious issues, draws attention to the fact that literary works (medical stories) might contribute to the discussions on the epidemic, especially on the axis of the doctor-patient relationship.