The Moscow housing problem of 1920s in the stories and feuilletons of Mikhail Bulgakov

Abstract

At the beginning of the 1920s Moscow was in the middle of a housing crisis: after the revolution the housing resources in Moscow have decreased, while the population has increased. The housing shortage has become the sign of decade and has been treated therefore in many satirical magazines by Sergei Garin, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Pantelejmon Romanov and other satirists. Mikhail Bulgakov, who went through this crisis himself, also belonged to these satirists. The present article deals with Bulgakovs feuilletons and stories which treat the housing question in Moscow. The analysis includes following stories and feuilletons: “Vospominanie”, “Stolitsa v bloknote”, “Ploshchad’ na kolesakh”, “Moskva 20-kh godov”, “Moskovskie stseny”, “Samogonnoe ozero”, “Nr. 13 — Dom Ėlpit-Rabkommuna”.

Keywords

• Mikhail Bulgakov
• Vospominanie
• “Stolitsa v bloknote”
• “Ploshchad’ na kolesakh”
• “Moskva 20-kh godov”
• “Moskovskie stseny”
• “Samogonnoe ozero”
• Moskauer Wohnungsfrage
• 20er Jahre in Moskau
• Wohnraummangel
• Wohnraumverkleinerung
• Kommunales Leben in Moskau