The Republic of Bulgaria

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Bulgarian literature is the oldest Slavonic literature. It emerged in the 9th century when the brothers  Kiril and Metodiy created the Slavonic Alphabet. During the centuries the Old Bulgarian Literature underwent its development in various literary schools – in Ohrid, Pliska and Preslav, and later it spread across the rest of the Slavonic world. In the Tarnovo Literary School extensive linguistic, literary and translation activity took place. In the 15th century Priest Peyo and Matey Gramatik established the Sofia Literary School – an enlightenment and cultural centre of its time. During the five-century long Ottoman rule the development of the Bulgarian literature and educational activity was concentrated in the monasteries and churches. The centres of spiritual life were the Rila and Bachkovo Monastery. The first work of the Bulgarian Revival literature “Istoria Slavyanobolgarskaya” (“Slav-Bulgarian History”) (1762) by Paisiy Hilendarski reflects the striving for awakening the national consciousness and turned into the literary and political manifest of the time.

During the second half of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century the Bulgarian literature assumed mainly educational character. Sofroniy Vrachanski, Petar Beron (author of the first Bulgarian secular textbook with natural science knowledge “Riben Bukvar”), Neofit Rilski, Neofit Bozveli, Nayden Gerov, Vassil Aprilov and others left their names in history. The interest toward the folklore art grew – in 1861 the brothers Dimitar and Konstantin Miladinov created the collection “Bulgarian Folk Songs”. The development of the New Bulgarian Literature started. Created in the new Bulgarian literary language it followed the genre and artistic model of the European literatures.

In the Revival Literature one can outline Hristo Botev’s poetry, captivating with pathos and ardour; Lyuben Karavelov’s works; the genre variety of Ivan Vazov’s works and many others. Vazov is the author of 22 volumes of collected works among which there are novels, long short stories, stories, poems, dramas. The cultural and literary life after the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman rule in 1878 was concentrated in Plovdiv and Sofia. Among the persons who left their mark in the literary history of the country are Petko Rachov Slaveykov, Stoyan Mihaylovski, Marin Drinov. The memoir literature blossomed in Zahari Stoyanov’s and Simeon Radev’s works. Aleko Konstantinov – a pronounced critic of his time who created the most popular satire character – Bay Ganyo.

At the beginning of the 20th century a process of renewal took place in the Bulgarian literature which brought the modernist European spirit, represented by the circle around the “Misal” (“Thought”) Magazine – Dr. Krastyo Krastev, Pencho Slaveykov, Petko Todorov and Peyo Yavorov – some of the greatest masters of the Bulgarian verse. One of its brightest representatives is the classic Elin Pelin whom the literary scientists define as a “profound artist of the Bulgarian village”.

The middle of the century brought new modern trends in the Bulgarian literature – modernism and expressionism, grounding Geo Milev’s works and Atanas Dalchev’s object poetry. The writer Yordan Yovkov is the master of the Bulgarian short-story – he created a gallery of moral and idealised portraits. The social and proletarian-revolutionary poetry reached its blossoming via Nikola Vaptsarov’s innovatory lyrics. During the second half of the 20th century the Bulgarian literary treasury was enriched by Dimitar Talev’s, Dimitar Dimov’s, Emilian Stanev’s prose; Yordan Radichkov’s and Blaga Dimitrova’s works; Elisaveta Bagryana’s, Dora Gabe’s, Radoy Ralin’s, Damyan Damyanov’s poetry, etc.