„The Text Was Considered Miraculous”. Magic Words in Pasternak’s „Doctor Zhivago”
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Date
2013
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Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM
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Abstract
In Doctor Zhivago, Pasternak brings scientific and political discourses into dialogue with
magical ones. In an emblematic episode, two soldiers from opposing sides each wear a protective
amulet containing the „miraculous” text of the 90th Psalm. One dies; one survives.
While this discrepancy is easily traced to scientific and socioeconomic causes, the episode is
designed to foreground the least rational explanation: that done right, magic actually works.
Embodying Pasternak’s interest in the interrelationships among science, politics, poetry, and
magic, the textual amulet is especially significant because it represents a magical power that
is reserved for words. This article finds that Pasternak’s novel contains numerous examples
of such efficacious „magical” texts – from the Gospels to peasant songs, from political
slogans to Zhivago’s poems – and argues that reading Doctor Zhivago by the light of these
„magic words” yields insights into the aesthetics and design of the novel.
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Keywords
Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago, magic, politics, poetics, fairy tale, socialist realism
Citation
Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne, 2013, nr 4, s.165–176
ISBN
978-83-232-2525-6