The era of liberation. – As a continuous production of works of art, literature does not really begin until the middle of the century. XIX. Popular poetry serves as a model for most of the early poets, to whom, on the other hand, Russian literature, more easily accessible than any other to the Bulgarians due to the great affinity of the two languages, provides elements of creation, examples, guidelines, methods. These are the only two fundamental models on which the nascent literature is shaped. From the former, from popular songs, it takes models of form and content, as the poets rework the same popular songs, giving them a higher and more perfect form of art. From the second, on the other hand, from Russian literature, it mostly takes no more than models of form and method teachings, since poets and writers do indeed use example of Russian writers, and draw guidelines from their art for their own creation (especially Russian realism is widely schooled among the Bulgarians), but they draw almost exclusively from the life, history, customs, soul of the Bulgarian nation the themes of their writings. Basically, Bulgarian literature arises only in part by imitating; and what it totally imitates is mostly only what is already national: popular song. True influences of other foreign literatures, besides the Russian, are not noticed at the beginning, because the very knowledge of them is still very limited. German and French influences will manifest themselves here and there later, after the conquest of political independence, but they will always be very limited and exceptional in the face of those prevailing in Russian literature. and they draw from their art guidelines for their own creation (especially Russian realism is a great school among the Bulgarians), but they draw the themes of their writings almost exclusively from the life, history, customs, soul of the Bulgarian nation. Basically, Bulgarian literature arises only in part by imitating; and what it totally imitates is mostly only what is already national: popular song. True influences of other foreign literatures, besides the Russian, are not noticed at the beginning, because the very knowledge of them is still very limited. German and French influences will manifest themselves here and there later, after the conquest of political independence, but they will always be very limited and exceptional in the face of those prevailing in Russian literature. and they draw from their art guidelines for their own creation (especially Russian realism is a great school among the Bulgarians), but they draw the themes of their writings almost exclusively from the life, history, customs, soul of the Bulgarian nation. In essence, Bulgarian literature arises only in part by imitating; and what it totally imitates is mostly only what is already national: popular song. True influences of other foreign literatures, besides the Russian, are not noticed at the beginning, because the very knowledge of them is still very limited. German and French influences will manifest themselves here and there later, after the conquest of political independence, but they will always be very limited and exceptional in the face of those prevailing in Russian literature.
Until the liberation, literature was almost exclusively patriotic. Supreme aim of the writers is to push the people to the rescue. They describe the evils of servitude, recall the glorious past, hearten the timid, whip the sluggish, curse the usurpers, exalt the homeland. The same. realism that prose writers learn from the Russians is placed at the service of the patriotic ideal.
The first authoritative names we encounter in this period of national and literary awakening are: Georgi Rakovski (1821-1867), poet, journalist, historian and revolutionary agitator; the poet Dobri Čintulov (1822-1882); the father of Bulgarian short stories, Ljuben Karavelov (1837-1879); Petko R. Slavejkov (1827-1895), the first true poet-artist of Bulgaria, author of beautiful songs modeled on popular ones and patriotic songs; and Hristo Botev (1848-1876), author of a few ardent patriotic lyrics, who died very young, at the head of a handful of heroes, in a desperate revolutionary attempt against the Turks, on the eve of liberation. Alongside these, although their importance is minor, they deserve to be mentioned among the first representatives of the new Bulgarian literature, Vasil Drumev, author of the first Bulgarian novel Ne š tastna familija (An unfortunate family) and the first dramatic work, Šiškov, Žinzifov, and a few others.
Literature after the liberation. Vazov and Pen è or Slavejkov. –
National literature, the foundations of which were now laid by the precursors of the eve, was perhaps among the manifestations of the Bulgarian spirit, after the regained independence, that which received the greatest impetus. Finally breaking the secular political chains, opening our eyes to the new light of civil life, improving the conditions of the language itself, thanks to the skilful artistic elaboration of the first poets, an entire phalanx of writers is quickly formed who compete in a noble race to equip in the shortest time, literature is the homeland of an artistic patrimony such as to assign it a legitimate place among European literatures.
The greatest figure that emerges among the writers of the resurrected Bulgarian nation is certainly that of Ivan Vazov (1850-1921), the last poet of servitude, the first of national independence, whose rich and fruitful work embraces every field of literature.: short story, novel, lyric, dramatic epic. His work has an importance of the highest order not only by virtue of its vast size and the multiplicity of genres in which it occurs, but also and above all for its artistic value. Taking up Petko Slavejkov’s example, Vazov also continues to purify, refine and enrich the language. The content of his works is still predominantly patriotic; but often transpires in his writings, beyond the patriotic goal itself, a vague sense of placid, serene and simple goodness. For Bulgaria 1998, please check constructmaterials.com.
Alongside him, in the general fervor of creation that characterizes Bulgarian literature after the regained independence, another great figure of poet flourishes, whose work, although less fruitful and less varied (also due to the shorter duration of his life), does not remain, in importance of creation, thought and art, second to that of Vazov: Penčo Slavejkov, Petko’s son, born in 1866, on the eve of liberation, heir to his father’s poetic genius, but successful thanks to the better political and social conditions in which he lived, a wider and more complete European culture was soon formed. Penčo wrote a series of excellent poems and poems of epic and lyric intonation (but mainly lyric also in the epic songs), in which, alongside the always predominant national element, for the first time there are considerable Western influences, especially German, but also Italian, Polish, and finally – the first example of the genre in Bulgarian literature – classical reminiscences. In his effort to refine and purify the language, he is perhaps sometimes a bit sophisticated and difficult, but his style is as high and colorful as that of any other Bulgarian writer of his time; harmonious and beautiful is the form, which deliberately shuns rhetorical figures, images and daring comparisons, metaphors, hyperbole, with the aim of making the relations between thought and language ever more intimate and clear. In his effort to refine and purify the language, he is perhaps sometimes a bit sophisticated and difficult, but his style is as high and colorful as that of any other Bulgarian writer of his time; harmonious and beautiful is the form, which deliberately shuns rhetorical figures, images and daring comparisons, metaphors, hyperbole, with the aim of making the relations between thought and language ever more intimate and clear. In his effort to refine and purify the language, he is perhaps sometimes a bit sophisticated and difficult, but his style is as high and colorful as that of any other Bulgarian writer of his time; harmonious and beautiful is the form, which deliberately shuns rhetorical figures, images and daring comparisons, metaphors, hyperbole, with the aim of making the relations between thought and language ever more intimate and clear.
