Agnostycyzm, apokryficzność, apokalipsa. Henryk Sienkiewicz i Michaił Bułhakow – religijne oświetlenia wzajemne

Abstract

The paper considers the range of possible impacts of the prose of Henryk Sienkiewicz on the works of Mikhail Bulgakov, mainly in terms of the religious themes in the novel The Master and Margarita. The apocryphal thread in Bulgakov’s novel seems to be inspired by the Sienkiewicz story Let Us Follow Him! and the whole novel shows the influence of the epic Quo Vadis. Thus the creation of Woland includes some form of reference to the character of Petronius, and the creation of Margarita to the female characters Lygia and Eunice. The novels are also linked, on the basis of the cultural equation, by the topic of the apocalypse. But there are clear differences occurring in the writers’ religious scenes: Sienkiewicz attempts to release himself from the pressure of positivist agnosticism and engage in the process of the Catholic rebirth in the late 19th century. Bulgakov, probably under pressure of the Soviet terror, submits to gnosis, which is permeated with the Orthodox Church and the Russian philosophical tradition and the Faustian myth, which means that his novel cannot be considered Christian.