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 survivesWhile this discrepancy is easily traced to scientific and socioeconomic causes, the episode isdesigned to foreground the least rational explanation: that done right, magic actually worksEmbodying Pasternak’s interest in the interrelationships among science, politics, poetry, andmagic, 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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