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| Bulgarian Literature, literature created
by the inhabitants of Bulgaria. Bulgarian literature began
in the second half of the 9th century AD with the translations
by St. Cyril and St. Methodius of religious works from
Greek into the vernacular, now known as Old Church Slavonic.
From this period until the Turkish conquest of Bulgaria
(1396), Bulgarian literature consisted mainly of similar
translations of the Gospels, lives of the saints, sermons,
and other religious material. Historical chronicles were
also written. During the Turkish and Greek ecclesiastical
domination (1396-1878), Bulgarian literature virtually
ceased to exist. |
| The 19th century marked a revival of
Bulgarian literature. It had its origin in historical
works such as Istoria Slaviano-Bolgarska (History of the
Slavic-Bulgarians), written in a form of ecclesiastical
Slavonic mixed with popular language by a monk, Paisij,
about 1762. After 1830, a movement in Bulgaria for freedom
from Turkish rule and Greek church domination, the establishment
of Bulgarian schools and printing establishments, and
the publication of Bulgarian grammars and other educational
works all played a part in producing a new Bulgarian literature.
Before 1878 writers were concerned with social and political
questions, above all with national independence, rather
than with literary style or the problems of the inner
life of the individual. The most important writer of this
pre-liberation period was the revolutionary poet Christo
Botev. The principal writer of the next period was Ivan
Vazov, one of the most prolific as well as one of the
most popular of Bulgarian writers and the one who scored
a success in English translation, with his novel Under
the Yoke (1893; trans. 1912). |
| Other important writers of this period
were Stoyan Mikhaylovski and Aleko Konstantinov. The former
was a pessimistic philosopher, disillusioned with politics;
the latter was a satirist who characterized the Bulgarian
peasant in Bai Ganyu (Uncle John, 1895). In the post-liberation
period, writers increasingly emphasized technique and
form, as well as harmony and rhythm of language. Important
writers of this third period are the short-story writers
Dimiter Ivanov, who wrote under the pen name of Elin Pelin,
and Yordan Yovkov; both are noted for their interest in
peasant life and the countryside. Bulgarian literature
after 1944 adhered closely to the requirements of Soviet
socialist realism. The work of some talented current writers,
including the poets Blaga Dimitrova, Lubomir Levchev,
and Pavel Matev, nevertheless reveals a fresher point
of view and may signal a movement toward greater artistic
freedom. |
| The prose of Jordan Radichkov is especially
interesting. He handles historical themes, always a Bulgarian
favorite, with unusual finesse, and his short novel Khradriatyat
chovek (A Brave Man, 1967) has earned wide popularity.
Elias Canetti won the 1981 Nobel Prize for literature
for his novels and plays about individuals at odds with
society. Born in Bulgaria, Canetti wrote in German and
kept homes in London, England and Zurich, Switzerland. |
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