Il superamento della vergogna negli "Appunti di un giovane medico" di Michail Bulgakov

Abstract

This paper focuses on Michail Bulgakov’s autobiographical short stories A Young Doctor’s Notebook (1925-1926), taking primarily into account the protagonist’s self-reflection about the feelings of shame and professional inadequacy he has to face during his first assign- ment in a hospital located in the deep and backward Russian province. In the first stories of the cycle we mostly witness the doctor’s lack of confidence and his fear of being discovered by his co-workers and patients (which results in a combination of two different Russian concepts: “styd” and “pozor”), whereas in the following texts, as he gradually gains new experiences and self-confidence, the young doctor acquires a new insight into his own mission, which in the end leads him to a new self-balance. Through a better understanding of his own limits and the concurrent refusal of unjustified hubris he learns how to take advantage of his weakness and uncertainty to overcome the negative aspects of shame and its hindering psychological burden.