![Berkovitsa-HMIV-Petko-Slaveykov-Smesena-kitka-1852](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Berkovitsa-HMIV-Petko-Slaveykov-Smesena-kitka-1852.jpg)
Bulgarian literature is literature written by Bulgarians or residents of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, or written in the
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians.
Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...
; usually the latter is the defining feature. Bulgarian literature can be said to be one of the oldest among the
Slavic peoples
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic language, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout ...
, having its roots during the late 9th century and the times of
Simeon I of the
First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire ( cu, блъгарьско цѣсарьствиѥ, blagarysko tsesarystviye; bg, Първо българско царство) was a medieval Bulgar- Slavic and later Bulgarian state that existed in Southeastern Europ ...
.
Notable modern Bulgarian works of literature are ''
The Peach Thief'' by
Emiliyan Stanev, ''September'' by
Geo Milev
Geo Milev (born Georgi Milev Kasabov; , in Radne mahle – 15 May 1925, in Sofia) was a Bulgarian communist poet, translator and journalist. Geo Milev is perhaps best known for his epic communist poem ''Septemvri'', written during the Bulgar ...
, ''
Under The Yoke
''Under the Yoke'' ( bg, Под игото - ''Pod Igoto''), with subtitle ''A Romance of Bulgarian Liberty'' is a historical novel by Bulgarian author Ivan Vazov written in 1887-1888 and published in parts between 1889–1890 in a magazine ...
'' by
Ivan Vazov
Ivan Minchov Vazov ( bg, Иван Минчов Вазов; – 22 September 1921) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature". He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley ...
, ''The Windmill'' by
Elin Pelin
Elin Pelin ( bg, Елин Пелин ) (8 July 1877 – 3 December 1949), born Dimitar Ivanov Stoyanov ( bg, Димитър Иванов Стоянов) is considered Bulgaria’s best narrator of the Bulgarian (Balkan) countryside and village.
...
, and ''Depths'' by
Dora Gabe. The book ''Wild Stories'' (Divi Razkazi/Диви разкази) by
Nikolay Haytov
Nikolay Haytov ( bg, Николай Хайтов), or Nikolai Haitov (15 September 1919 – 30 June 2002) was a Bulgarian fiction writer, playwright, patriot and publicist known for his publications and research regarding the life of Bulgaria ...
is included in the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Historical Collection.
Middle Ages
With the Bulgarian Empire welcoming the disciples of
Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited wit ...
after they were expelled from
Great Moravia
Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavs, Wes ...
, the country became a centre of rich literary activity during what is known as the
Golden Age of medieval Bulgarian culture
The Golden Age of Bulgaria is the period of the Bulgarian cultural prosperity during the reign of emperor Simeon I the Great (889—927).Kiril Petkiv, The Voices of Medieval Bulgaria, Seventh-Fifteenth Century: The Records of a Bygone Culture' ...
. In the late 9th, the 10th and early 11th century literature in Bulgaria prospered, with many books being translated from
Byzantine Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...
, but also new works being created. Many scholars worked in the
Preslav
The modern Veliki Preslav or Great Preslav ( bg, Велики Преслав, ), former Preslav ( bg, link=no, Преслав; until 1993), is a city and the seat of government of the Veliki Preslav Municipality (Great Preslav Municipality, new B ...
and
Ohrid Literary School
The Ohrid Literary School or Ohrid- ''Devol'' Literary school was one of the two major cultural centres of the First Bulgarian Empire, along with the Preslav Literary School ( Pliska Literary School). The school was established in Ohrid (in what i ...
s, creating the
Cyrillic script
The Cyrillic script ( ), Slavonic script or the Slavic script, is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, ...
for their needs.
Chernorizets Hrabar
Chernorizets Hrabar ( chu, Чрьнори́зьць Хра́бръ, ''Črĭnorizĭcĭ Hrabrŭ'', bg, Черноризец Храбър)Sometimes modernized as ''Chernorizetz Hrabar'', ''Chernorizets Hrabr'' or ''Crnorizec Hrabar'' was a Bulgarian ...
wrote his popular work ''An Account of Letters'',
Clement of Ohrid
Saint Clement of Ohrid (Bulgarian, Serbian and Macedonian: Свети Климент Охридски, ; el, Ἅγιος Κλήμης τῆς Ἀχρίδας; sk, svätý Kliment Ochridský; – 916) was one of the first medieval Bulgarian ...
worked on translations from Greek and is credited with several important religious books,
John Exarch
John the Exarch (also transcribed Joan Ekzarh; ) was a medieval Bulgarian scholar, writer and translator, one of the most important men of letters working at the Preslav Literary School at the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century ...
wrote his ''Shestodnev'' and translated ''On Orthodox Christianity'' by
John of Damascus
John of Damascus ( ar, يوحنا الدمشقي, Yūḥanna ad-Dimashqī; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós, ; la, Ioannes Damascenus) or John Damascene was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and a ...
,
Naum of Preslav
Saint Naum ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: Свети Наум, ''Sveti Naum''), also known as Naum of Ohrid or Naum of Preslav (c. 830 – December 23, 910) was a medieval Bulgarian writer, enlightener, one of the Seven Apostles of the First Bu ...
also had a significant contribution. Bulgarian scholars and works influenced most of the Slavic world, spreading
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
, the Cyrillic and the
Glagolithic
The Glagolitic script (, , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed to have been created in the 9th century by Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessalonica. He and his brother Saint Methodius were sent by the Byzan ...
alphabet to
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
,
medieval Serbia
Serbia in the Middle Ages refers to the medieval period in the history of Serbia. The period begins in the 6th century with the Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe, and lasts until the Ottoman conquest of Serbian lands in the second half ...
and
medieval Croatia Medieval Croatia included the following states and regions:
* Pannonian Slavs#Principality, Duchy of Pannonian Croatia - medieval duchy from 9th century
* Duchy of Croatia - medieval duchy, in existence between the 8th century and 925, in the cente ...
.
![Tetraevangelia of Tsar Ivan Alexander](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Tetraevangelia_of_Tsar_Ivan_Alexander.jpg)
As the Bulgarian Empire was subjugated by the
Byzantines in 1018, Bulgarian literary activity declined. However, after the establishment of the
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...
followed another period of upsurge during the time of
Patriarch Evtimiy
Saint Euthymius of Tarnovo (also ''Evtimiy''; , ''Sveti Evtimiy Tarnovski'') was Patriarch of Bulgaria between 1375 and 1393. Regarded as one of the most important figures of medieval Bulgaria, Euthymius was the last head of the Bulgarian Orth ...
in the 14th century. Evtimiy founded the
Tarnovo Literary School
The Tarnovo Literary School ( bg, Търновска книжовна школа) of the late 14th and 15th century was a major medieval Bulgarian cultural academy with important contribution to the Medieval Bulgarian literature established in the ...
that significantly affected the literature of
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and
Muscovite Russia
The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...
, as many writers fled abroad after the Ottoman conquest. Apart from Evtimiy, other established writers from the period were
Constantine of Kostenets Constantine of Kostenets ( bg, Константин Костенечки, Konstantin Kostenechki; born ca. 1380, died after 1431), also known as Constantine the Philosopher ( sr, Константин Филозоф), was a medieval Bulgarian scholar ...
(1380-first half of the 15th century) and
Gregory Tsamblak (1365–1420).
Medieval Bulgarian literature was dominated by religious themes, most works being
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...
s,
treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...
s, religious miscellanies,
apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
and
hagiographies
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
, most often heroic and instructive.
Early Ottoman rule
The fall of the Second Bulgarian Empire to the Ottomans in 1396 was a serious blow for Bulgarian literature and culture in general. Literary activity largely ceased, being concentrated in the monasteries that established themselves as centres of Bulgarian culture in the foreign empire. The religious theme continued to be dominant in the few works that were produced.
The main literary form of the 17th and 18th century were instructive sermons, at first translated from Greek and then compiled by Bulgarians.
![Abagar-facsimile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Abagar-facsimile.GIF)
A literary tradition continued to exist relatively uninterrupted during the early Ottoman rule in northwestern Bulgaria up until the
Chiprovtsi Uprising in end of the 17th century among the
Bulgarian Catholics who were supported by the Catholic states of
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
. Many of these works were written in a mixture of vernacular Bulgarian,
Church Slavonic
Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Herzeg ...
and
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...
and was called "Illyric". Among these was the first book printed in modern Bulgarian, the breviary ''
Abagar'' published in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1651 by
Filip Stanislavov Filip () is a masculine given name and a surname, cognate to Philip.
In Croatia, the name Filip was among the most common masculine given names in the 2000s.
Notable people with the name include:
; Given name
* Filip Barović (born 1990), Monten ...
, bishop of
Nikopol.
The
Illyrian movement
The Illyrian movement ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ilirski pokret, Илирски покрет; sl, Ilirsko gibanje) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian inte ...
for
South Slavic unity affected the Bulgarian literature of the 18th and 19th century.
Hristofor Zhefarovich
Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...
's ''
Stemmatographia
Stemmatografia, known by its full name Stemmatografia sive Armorum Illiricorum delineatio, descriptio et restitutio (English: ''Stemmatography, or the sketch, description and revival of the Illyrian coats of arms'') is a heraldic essay written and ...
'' of 1741 is thought of as the earliest example of modern Bulgarian secular poetry for its
quatrain
A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines.
Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...
s, although it was essentially a collection of
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
s.
Bulgarian National Revival
The nearly five centuries of Ottoman government of Bulgaria played a decisive role in the developing of the Bulgarian culture. The country was separated from the European Renaissance movements and higher forms of artistic expression and developed mostly its folklore songs and fairy-tales.
A new
revival of Bulgarian literature began in the 18th century with the historiographical writings of
Paisius of Hilendar
Saint Paisius of Hilendar or Paìsiy Hilendàrski ( bg, Свети Паисий Хилендарски) (1722–1773) was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian clergyman and a key Bulgarian National Revival figure. He is most famous for being the author of ''Is ...
, ''
Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya
''Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya'' ( Original Cyrillic: Истори́ѧ славѣноболгарскаѧ corrected from Їстори́ѧ славѣноболгарскаѧ; ) is a book by Bulgarian scholar and clergyman Saint Paisius of Hilen ...
''. Another influential work was ''Life and Sufferings of Sinful Sophronius'' by
Sophronius of Vratsa
Saint Sophronius of Vratsa (or Sofroniy Vrachanski; bg, Софроний Врачански; 1739–1813), born Stoyko Vladislavov ( bg, Стойко Владиславов), was a Bulgarian cleric and one of the leading figures of the early Bul ...
.
In the period 1840–1875 the literature came alive with writings on mainly revolutionary, anti-Turkish themes. It was an earlier stage of the Bulgarian Renaissance and the most prominent poets at this time were:
Vasil Drumev
Kliment of Tarnovo (born Vasil Nikolov Drumev, bg, Васил Николов Друмев; c. 1841 – 10 July 1901, known by his title as Metropolitan Kliment of Turnovo), was a leading Bulgarian clergyman and politician. He was also a wr ...
,
Rayko Zhinzifov
Rayko Ivanov (Yoanov) Zhinzifov or Rajko Žinzifov, ( bg, Райко Иванов (Йоанов) Жинзифов, mk, Рајко Жинзифов; 15 February 1839 – 15 February 1877), born Ksenofont Dzindzifi (Ксенофонт Дзинд ...
and
Dobri Chintulov.
The noted poet and revolutionary
Hristo Botev
Hristo Botev ( bg, Христо Ботев, ), born Hristo Botyov Petkov (Христо Ботьов Петков; – ), was a Bulgarian revolutionary and poet. Botev is considered by Bulgarians to be a symbolic historical figure and nationa ...
(1848–1876) worked in the late 19th century and is nowadays regarded as arguably the foremost Bulgarian poet of the period. He managed to use the living language of the folklore songs to give an expression of modern ideas, doubts and questions. His works are small in number, most of them with intensive dialogue form and strong emotional message.
![Hristo Botev monument](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Hristo_Botev_monument.JPG)
Among the writers who engaged in revolutionary activity were also
Lyuben Karavelov
Lyuben Stoychev Karavelov ( bg, Любен Стойчев Каравелов) (c. 1834 – 21 January 1879) was a Bulgarian writer and an important figure of the Bulgarian National Revival.
Karavelov was born in Koprivshtitsa. He began his ed ...
and
Georgi Sava Rakovski
Georgi Stoykov Rakovski ( bg, Георги Стойков Раковски) (1821 – 9 October 1867), known also Georgi Sava Rakovski (), born Sabi Stoykov Popovich (), was a 19th-century Bulgarian revolutionary, freemason, writer and an impo ...
. Rakovski's best-known work, ''Gorski Patnik'' (translated as ''A Traveller in the Woods'' or ''Forest Wanderer'') was penned during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
(1853–56) while hiding from Turkish authorities near the town of Kotel. Considered one of the first Bulgarian literary poems, it was not actually published until 1857.
A typical feature of the period was the increase of the interest in Bulgarian folklore, as figures like the
Miladinov brothers
The Miladinov brothers ( bg, Братя Миладинови, ''Bratya Miladinovi'', mk, Браќа Миладиновци, ''Brakja Miladinovci''), Dimitar Miladinov (1810–1862) and Konstantin Miladinov (1830–1862), were Bulgarian poets ...
and
Kuzman Shapkarev
Kuzman Anastasov Shapkarev, ( bg, Кузман Анастасов Шапкарев), (1 January 1834 in Ohrid – 18 March 1909 in Sofia) was a Bulgarian folklorist, ethnographer and scientist from the Ottoman region of Macedonia, author of te ...
made collections of folk songs and
ethnographic
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
studies.
Another writer with works of great importance is
Zahari Stoyanov
Zahariy Stoyanov ( bg, Захарий Стоянов; archaic: ) (1850 – 2 September 1889), born Dzhendo Stoyanov Dzhedev ( bg, Джендо Стоянов Джедев), was a Bulgarian revolutionary, writer, and historian.
A participant ...
(1850–1889) with his ''Memoirs of the Bulgarian Uprisings (1870–1876)''. His writings have historical, biographical and artistic value.
Bulgarian literature after 1878
Bulgaria received partial independence after the
Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878)
The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histor ...
. The recently established Bulgarian church, the developing national school system, the return of educated Bulgarians from abroad and the enthusiasm of a lately arrived
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
were among the factors which contributed to the forming of the new Bulgarian literature. It lost much of its revolutionary spirit, and writings of a pastoral and regional type became more common.
Ivan Vazov
Ivan Minchov Vazov ( bg, Иван Минчов Вазов; – 22 September 1921) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature". He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley ...
was the first professional Bulgarian man of letters and the founding father of the new Bulgarian literature. Vazov was very popular and productive and his works include both prose and poetry with equal virtuosity. His 1893 novel ''
Under the Yoke
''Under the Yoke'' ( bg, Под игото - ''Pod Igoto''), with subtitle ''A Romance of Bulgarian Liberty'' is a historical novel by Bulgarian author Ivan Vazov written in 1887-1888 and published in parts between 1889–1890 in a magazine ...
'', which depicts the Ottoman oppression of Bulgaria, is the most famous piece of classical Bulgarian literature and has been translated into over 30 languages. His most famous short novels include ''Nemili-nedragi'', ''Chichovtzi'' and others; he also wrote a large number of short stories, travel writings, memoirs, essays, pieces of criticism, dramas, comedies etc. Some of the more famous collections include: ''Draski i sharki'', ''Videno i chuto'' and others.
One of his most significant collections of poems is ''The Epopee of the Forgotten'' (1881–1884), consisting of 12 odes dedicated to the heroes of the Bulgarian history and the images and ideas which should be remembered. Other poetry collections include: ''Pryaporets i gusla'', ''Tagite na Bulgaria'', ''Gusla'', ''Slivnitza'', ''Luleka mi zamirisa'' and others.
A surprising example of early modern philosophical thought can be found in the poetic works of the renowned intellectual
Stoyan Mihaylovski.
Bulgarian modernist literature
The poet
Pencho Slaveykov
Pencho Petkov Slaveykov ( bg, Пенчо Петков Славейков) (27 April 1866 O.S. – 10 June 1912 ( O.S. 28 May 1912)) was a noted Bulgarian poet and one of the participants in the Misal ("Thought") circle. He was the youngest son o ...
, the son of the prominent Bulgarian Renaissance poet and teacher
Petko Slaveykov
Petko Rachov Slaveykov ( bg, Петко Рачов Славейков) (17 November 1827 OS – 1 July 1895 OS ) was a Bulgarian poet, publicist, politician and folklorist.
Biography Early years and educational activity
Slaveykov was born in ...
, is one of the most erudite writers of his time. He made a conscious effort to set the beginnings of modern literature and
Modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
in the country introducing the European philosophical and metaphysical ideas, partly modified and rebuilt upon the traditional linguistic and imagery heritage.
Slaveykov is famous for his ''philosophical poems'', his ''Epic Songs'' and the symbolist poetry collection ''Dream of Happiness''. Among others, he wrote a mystifying anthology of poets titled ''On the Island of the Blissful'' where he gathered at one place all the traditional ideas of Bulgarian poetry at this time presenting them like belonging to an imaginary island. His epic unfinished ''Song of Blood'' (1911–13) dealt with the struggle against the Turks. In his quest, Slaveykov was supported by other prominent intellectuals – scientists, writers, poets and critics.
One of the most remarkable prose writers from the first years after the liberation is
Aleko Konstantinov
Aleko Konstantinov ( bg, Алеко Константинов) (1 January 1863 – 11 May 1897) ( NS: 13 January 1863 – 23 May 1897) was a Bulgarian writer, best known for his character Bay Ganyo, one of the most popular characters in Bulgarian ...
(1863–1897). His humorous and travel writings (''Bay Ganyo''; ''To Chicago and Back'') are both shrewd and vivid. He is best remembered for his character
Bay Ganyo Bay Ganyo ( bg, Бай Ганьо, ; also transliterated as ''Bai Ganio'' or ''Baj Ganjo'') is a fictional character created by the Bulgarian author Aleko Konstantinov (1863–1897). He is considered an exemplary image of an anti-hero: an uneducated ...
, one of the most controversial and curious characters in the Bulgarian literature, with diverse layers and rich nuances.
Similarly to
Švejk of the Czechs,
Tartarin of Tarascon of the French and
Ostap Bender
Ostap Bender (russian: Остап Бендер; in ''The Twelve Chairs'' he called himself Ostap-Suleyman-Berta-Maria-Bender-Bey, in ''The Little Golden Calf'' he called himself Bender-Zadunaysky, in later novels he was also called Ostap Ibragimo ...
for the Russian peoples, Bay Ganyo is a collective image of many typical Bulgarian features. Although ridiculed, they could never receive a one-sided (positive or negative) evaluation and interpretation. The writer was killed accidentally just when his career was about to surge.
Along with
Petko Todorov
Petko Iurdanov Todorov (Elena, September 26, 1879 – February 14, 1916, Château-d'Œx) was a Bulgarian writer, journalist, dramatist, poet and critic.
He is cited as the originator of the Romantic short story in Bulgaria although this is true on ...
,
Krastyo Krastev
Krastyo Kotev Krastev ( bg, Кръстьо Котев Кръстев ; also transliterated as ''Krǎstjo Krǎstev'', ''Krustyo Krustev'', etc.) (31 May 1866 – 15 April 1919), popularly known as Dr. Krastev (д-р Кръстев), was a Bulgarian ...
and
Peyo Yavorov
Peyo Yavorov ( bg, Пейо (Кр.) Яворов; born Peyo Totev Kracholov, Пейо Тотев Крачолов; 13 January 1878 – 29 October 1914) was a Bulgarian Symbolist poet. He was considered to be one of the finest poetic talents in th ...
, Pencho Slaveykov established the modernist circle ''Misal'' (''Thought''). Krastyo Krastev is a respected literary critic and erudite. Petko Todorov (1879–1916) is one of the greatest stylists of that time. A person of European education and manners, he manages to modernize the Bulgarian drama and also wrote a series of powerful impressionist stories based on folklore motives, titled ''Idylls''.
Peyo Yavorov (1878–1914) is considered a
Symbolist poet
Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realism ...
, one of the finest poetic talents in the ''
fin de siècle
() is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context ...
''
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Tsardom of Bulgaria ( bg, Царство България, translit=Tsarstvo Balgariya), also referred to as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom ( bg, Трето Българско Царство, translit=Treto Balgarsko Tsarstvo, links=no), someti ...
. The poems of Yavorov are diverse in topics but always with a strong impact – both emotional and intellectual. They have diverse and original forms, and rich and refined language; they are largely introspective, express the loneliness of the modern man, the impossibility to reach happiness and love in life, the constant threat and presentiment of death. They focus also on describing historical, mythological and visionary subjects with the same decadent emotional nuances.
Under the influence of the French and the Russian
symbolist
Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
movements, there were other popular Bulgarian poets, quite a large number, who contributed to the fast-paced literary development in the country in the first decades of the 20th century. Among them were:
Dimcho Debelyanov,
Teodor Trayanov,
Nikolay Liliev,
Emanuil Popdimitrov,
Dimitar Boyadjiev and many others. Symbolism turned into one of the most influential movements and it can be felt in all the poetry to come throughout the 20th century. In Bulgaria it remains close to the European one: it is again an effort to overcome reality, its burden, monotony and heaviness. The quest for meaning and foundation in a different dimension of reality: an outer, high, spiritual, mystic, unknown and unintelligible one; a new dreamlike reality which is closer to beauty and harmony. The answer is looked for not only in the images, but in the purity and beauty of language.
Bulgarian literature between the world wars
Dimcho Debelyanov (1887–1916) was a poet whose death in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
cut off his promising literary career. His body of work was collected by friends following his death and became very popular in post-war Bulgaria.
Hristo Smirnenski
Hristo Dimitrov Izmirliev ( bg, Христо Димитров Измирлиев), known as Hristo Smirnenski, (September 17, 1898, OS – June 18, 1923) was a Bulgarian poet and prose writer who joined the Bulgarian Communist Party and whose w ...
(1898–1923) is another talented symbolist poet with extremely melodious language whose early death could be mourned.
The interwar period in the Bulgarian literature will be remembered not only because of the dramatic social changes but also because of the reforms in the literary genres. A great part of them is associated with the figure and the activity of
Geo Milev
Geo Milev (born Georgi Milev Kasabov; , in Radne mahle – 15 May 1925, in Sofia) was a Bulgarian communist poet, translator and journalist. Geo Milev is perhaps best known for his epic communist poem ''Septemvri'', written during the Bulgar ...
(1895–1925) who published the
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
magazine ''Vezni'' (''Scale''), in Sofia, contributing as a poet, translator, theatre reviewer, director, editor of anthologies and even as a painter. He experienced the influence of avant-garde movements like the German
expressionism
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
and the French
surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
. His skillful poems (''The Cruel Ring'' (1920); ''The Icons Sleep'' (1922); ''September'' (1923)) and prose pieces (''A Little Expressionist Calendar for the Year'' (1921)) combine traditional motives, modern ideas and experimental language. He was killed at the age of 30 and although his career did not span more than 6 years, he is greatly respected and regarded by many as one of the most influential modernist poets and translators.
![Geo Milev (1895-1925)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Geo_Milev_%281895-1925%29.jpg)
Bulgarian poetry will reach a new peak with another prematurely killed poet –
Nikola Vaptsarov
Nikola Yonkov Vaptsarov ( bg, Никола Йонков Вапцаров; 7 December 1909 – 23 July 1942) was a Bulgarian poet, communist and revolutionary. Working most of his life as a machinist, he only wrote in his spare time. Despite the ...
(1909–1942). He managed to publish only 1 book of poems during his lifetime (''Motor Songs'' (1940)), in 1,500 copies. He was sentenced to death because of his underground communist activity against the Government.
Bulgarian prose flourished in the period between the world wars manly because of the stories and the short novels of
Elin Pelin
Elin Pelin ( bg, Елин Пелин ) (8 July 1877 – 3 December 1949), born Dimitar Ivanov Stoyanov ( bg, Димитър Иванов Стоянов) is considered Bulgaria’s best narrator of the Bulgarian (Balkan) countryside and village.
...
(1877–1949) and
Yordan Yovkov
Yordan Stefanov Yovkov ( bg, Йордан Стефанов Йовков) (November 9, 1880 – October 15, 1937) was a prominent Bulgarian writer from the interwar period.
Biography
Born in the village of Zheravna, Yovkov studied at First Sofia M ...
(1880–1937). Both of them were quite prolific and became popular not only in their home countries but also abroad. In their subjects, they stand close to the traditions of the
realism
Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to:
In the arts
*Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts
Arts movements related to realism include:
*Classical Realism
*Literary realism, a move ...
. Both of them focus on the rural life, but Yordan Yovkov is known for his fondness of traditions and myths, while Elin Pelin is more light-hearted and witty; the latter is also a famous writer of children literature. Both of them used vivid, elaborate language and images.
A remarkable writer of historical novels,
Fani Popova-Mutafova
Fani Popova–Mutafova ( bg, Фани Попова-Мутафова; October 16, 1902 – July 9, 1977) was a Bulgarian author who is considered by many to have been the best-selling Bulgarian historical fiction author ever.
Biography
The daughte ...
reaches the peak of her popularity before the Second World War but despite her talent, suffers repressions from the communist regime after it. Another figure which can hardly be forgotten from this period is the humorous writer and drawer
Chudomir (1890–1967) whose short stories (often no longer than 3–4 pages) are brilliant both in style and originality. The unique finesse of his writings is to remain widely admired.
Bulgarian literature after 1944
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Bulgarian literature fell under the control of the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
Party and, particularly in the early years, was required to conform to the style called "
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...
".
Dimitar Dimov
Dimitar Todorov Dimov ( bg, Димитър Тодоров Димов, 25 June 1909 – 1 April 1966) was a Bulgarian dramatist, novelist and veterinary surgeon.
Biography
Born in Lovech, Dimov is best known for his best-selling novel ''To ...
(1909–1966) was forced to revise his best-selling novel ''Tobacco'' (1952), adapted for cinema as the
1962 film ''Tobacco'', to make it acceptable from the viewpoint of socialist realism by adding Communists and working-class characters and storylines.
The writer
Dimitar Talev
Dimitar Talev ( bg, Димитър Талев) (1 September 1898 – 20 October 1966) was a Bulgarian writer, journalist, political prisoner, and member of the Bulgarian National Assembly.
Biography
Born in Prilep, in the Manastir Vilayet of t ...
(1898–1966) was also prevented for a time by the communist regime to publish his novels. Similarly to many other intellectuals, he was exiled to the province but continued to write. His best known work is ''The Iron Candlestick'' (1952).
Both Dimov and Talev were also renowned story-tellers with many story collections along with their novels. At the same time, even so early after the communists came to power, the development of their careers showed the ideological restrictions which writers had to face in the future.
Anton Donchev
Anton Nikolov Donchev ( bg, Антон Николов Дончев, 14 September 1930 – 20 October 2022) was a Bulgarian writer of historical novels and screenwriter of Bulgarian historical drama films. In 2003 he was elected an academic at th ...
,
Yordan Radichkov
Yordan Radichkov ( bg, Йордан Радичков; 24 October 1929 – 21 January 2004) was a Bulgarian writer and playwright.
Literary critics Adelina Angusheva and Galin Tihanov called him "arguably the most significant voice of Bulgarian ...
,
Emiliyan Stanev,
Stanislav Stratiev
Stanislav Stratiev (Bulgarian: Станислав Стратиев) (9 September 1941 – 20 September 2000) was a Bulgarian playwright, screenwriter, and author.
Biography
He began his career as a journalist while studying for an MA in literatu ...
,
Nikolay Haytov
Nikolay Haytov ( bg, Николай Хайтов), or Nikolai Haitov (15 September 1919 – 30 June 2002) was a Bulgarian fiction writer, playwright, patriot and publicist known for his publications and research regarding the life of Bulgaria ...
,
Ivailo Petrov and
Vera Mutafchieva Vera Mutafchieva ( bg, Вера Мутафчиева; March 28, 1929 – June 9, 2009) was a Bulgarian writer and historian.
Biography
Vera Mutafchieva was born in Sofia, March 28, 1929. Her parents were the historian prof. Petar Mutafchiev an ...
are among the most talented and respected writers who managed to publish their books during the communist regime in the decades to come. Their works form the main novelesque body in the modern Bulgarian literature.
![Writer Emiliyan Stanev with Directors Nikola Korabov and Rumen Surdzhiyski on the set of Ivan Kondarev](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Writer_Emiliyan_Stanev_with_Directors_Nikola_Korabov_and_Rumen_Surdzhiyski_on_the_set_of_Ivan_Kondarev.jpg)
Some genres were almost sentenced to death like the
crime fiction
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...
and the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
as very few writers cultivated them (
Svetoslav Minkov
Svetoslav Konstantinov Minkov ( bg, Светослав Константинов Минков) (12 February 1902 – 22 November 1966) was a Bulgarian absurdist fiction writer.
Biography
Minkov was born in Radomir in 1902 in a military family. ...
,
Pavel Vezhinov,
Svetoslav Slavchev,
Lyuben Dilov
Lyuben Dilov Ivanov (Любен Дилов Иванов, 25 December 1927- 10 June 2008), occasionally spelled Luben Dilov, Ljuben Dilov or Liuben Dilov was a Bulgarian science fiction writer of the Communist era and the author of acclaimed chi ...
). Generally writers were tempted (or forced to) turn to realist or historical subjects. Allegorical theater comedies and dramas became a skillful way to evade censure which could cost the writers a ban to be published, repressions, exiles, a sentence to prison or even to concentration camp.
In fact, the Bulgarian national prose was quite, but not completely isolated from western literature and the ideas of
surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
,
expressionism
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
,
existentialism
Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
,
postmodernism
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...
,
structuralism
In sociology, anthropology, archaeology, history, philosophy, and linguistics, structuralism is a general theory of culture and methodology that implies that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader ...
and the other theoretical paradigms. The avant-garde literature movements were scarcely and unsystematically represented until the 80s. Experiments with language and form were widely regarded as non-conforming with the principals of the dominant ideology and aesthetics. The political belonging and convictions of a writer became a leading feature for the judgement of his works; separate books were banned and some writers were altogether not allowed to be published or even read.
Nevertheless, the postwar period was the most plenteous for the still feeble modern Bulgarian poetry. Both after the political changes in 1944 and 1989, thousands of poetry collections were published.
Some of the poets who have won a stable respect with time are
Atanas Dalchev
Atanas Hristov Dalchev (also written ''Dalčev''; bg, Атанас Далчев) (June 12, 1904 - January 17, 1978) was a Bulgarian poet, critic and translator. He was among the leading Bulgarian poets of the 1920s and 1930s. Dalchev was also a ...
(1904–1978) and
Valeri Petrov
Valeri Petrov ( bg, Валери Петров, pseudonym of Valeri Nisim Mevorah (Валери Нисим Меворах); 22 April 1920 – 27 August 2014), was a popular Bulgarian poet, screenplay writer, playwright and translator of paternal H ...
. Dalchev is also remembered as one of the finest translators from a wide range of languages.
The general tendencies can be noticed there and further on. The poetry becomes more intimate and confessional, and requires more invention in order to influence or provoke; nevertheless sometimes originality turns into an end in itself; the
free verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French ''vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech.
Definit ...
allowed higher intensity of language and diversity of forms; abstractness increased and started affecting the balance between philosophical depth and clearness; the search of lyricism is sometimes more evident than the meaning of the poems.
After change to capitalism
The gradual change from communism to capitalism in the
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
and the Fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 was followed by a considerable increase in the modern publishing both of state and private publications, as well as a complicated distribution at periods, and a consequent seemed as devaluation compared to communist status that was well established as part of the communist ideology and cultural praxis of the writer’s social status at midlle 90s altogether.
However at this time strongly is felt both the presence and influence of
Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva (; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, bg, Юлия Стоянова Кръстева; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has ...
and her novels, widely translated from French to Bulgarian. Kristeva assured the possibility of the modern written in capitalism Bulgarian novel together with many, mostly poets, Bulgarian writers who tried to define literature in her new modern ways.
Sometimes the lack state ideological dogmatism of national consensus and the emerging new ideas, novelist areas and writing styles were producing mainly experimental attitude without much need for literary criticism in Bulgaria or for overscope on literary topics, are yet other factors that make it difficult or near impossible to distinguish those more famous or influential experimenting authors, the genuine ones, or those who served the communist state ideology who only slightly chañged their paradigmatic ways together with younger voices in literature and writing. Generally it is considered that some better established poets from the previous generation maintained their popularity but it scarcely reaches outside of the national borders. Some of them include:
Konstantin Pavlov,
Boris Hristov,
Ekaterina Yosifova,
Dobromir Tonev,
Edvin Sugarev
Edvin Sugarev ( Bulgarian: Едвин Сугарев), (born 27 December 1953) in Sofia, is a Bulgarian poet and politician. He graduated from Sofia University in 1979. He was one of the founders of the first democratic movement in Bulgaria, " Eco ...
,
Ani Ilkov,
Georgi Gospodinov,
Iana Boukova and
Kristin Dimitrova.
References
External links
Virtual Library of Bulgarian Literature SlovotoEnglish translations of Bulgarian poetry
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