Malraux and Russia Sparta or Byzantium?

After 1945 Malraux wondered about the place to be attributed to Russia between Europe and Asia. He apprehends it from a double point of view: Sparta under the sign of openness and energy, Byzantium marked by withdrawal into oneself. With his heroes determined to act, Malraux first exalts the Sparta pole. But Stalin’s actions reveal to him the characteristics of a power devoted to intrigue and lie, that he denounces. In 1976, going beyond this dichotomy, he highlighted fraternity.