An alphabet that shapes an identity
Every 24th of May the Bulgarians take advantage of a holiday to celebrate the memory of Cyril and Methodius. The legacy of the two holy brothers is invaluable. To measure its scope, one must go back to the 9th century, to the time of their birth and to their geographical journey - they tirelessly surveyed Central Europe to preach their faith - as well as their intellectual journey, since they worked on composing an alphabet that is called Cyrillic for short, but which is - according to one of the current hypotheses - the ancestor of this one, the glagolitic, which developed and modified thereafter one of their disciples, Clement of Ohrid, in an alphabet to which, in homage to his professor, he gave its definitive name.
Cyrillic is used today to write non-Slavic languages, but the first to adopt it were the Bulgarians, who had previously written in Greek, even though it only allowed them to transcribe their language imperfectly, and who drew from this new tool the foundations of the identity that they were to preciously build for themselves and that they were to defend over the centuries.
Its adoption was primarily religious, as the country converted to Christianity around 865 and Boris I, who reigned from 852 to 889, saw in the possibilities offered by the new alphabet the prospect of transforming Old Slavic into a liturgical language - an honor hitherto reserved for Hebrew, Greek and Latin - and thus acquiring a certain political independence. He therefore encouraged the creation of schools, notably in Preslav where his third son, Simeon, joined the monastery after brilliant studies in Constantinople. Simeon was called to follow the clerical path and worked on translations of religious texts, but fate called him to power when his eldest son, Vladimir, who had taken the reins of the kingdom after the retirement of their father, was deposed.
Under his reign, during which he will be proclaimed tsar, the country's borders expand, the peace hitherto maintained with the Byzantine Empire wavers dangerously around trade taxes. At the same time, Glagolitic texts spread like wildfire; for example, the works of John the Exarch, rediscovered in the 19th century, are still remembered, as is the famous O pismenech(On Letters) by the "bellicose" Shabr the Monk. Finally, Constantine of Preslav, bishop of the city, contributed to the perfection of the alphabet by working on important translations, in particular that of the Four discourses against the Arians by Saint Athanasius, which was commissioned by Simeon himself.
It is said that this period marks the apogee of Bulgarian medieval literature because the prince, who had become a tsar, succeeded in making his kingdom a major spiritual center, using the culture that he had appropriated during his long stay in Constantinople without fear of assimilation, since Bulgarian had become the first written language of the Slavic world. However, the end of the 10th century saw the fall of this first Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantine Basil II allied himself with the Rus' of Kiev and seized Preslav which had become the capital. In 1180, the Bulgarians revolt and obtain the proclamation of a second empire which knows a new golden age under the reign of Ivan Asen II (1218-1241). But history is bound to repeat itself, 1396 sees the conquest of Bulgaria by the Ottoman Empire, a very long domination which will last five centuries during which literature will see itself paralyzed in the beautiful rise which had been until now his.
The rebirth
However, it is once again through letters that Bulgaria will be reborn. If during the Ottoman colonization minarets were erected everywhere on the conquered territory, in the mountains the monasteries resisted, even if it meant living inwardly. Within their walls, the cult of the nation is transmitted, and the pen of a monk will sign what is considered as the claim of the national identity and the trigger that will lead to the insurrection of 1876 and then the return to independence at the very beginning of the 20th century.
Païssii de Hilendar was born in 1722, certainly in Bansko, and joined the monastic life when he was about twenty years old. Perhaps it was the discovery of ancient royal charters that prompted him to begin writing, in Greek and in his native language, his Slavo-Bulgarian History in 1760, a text that would not be printed until 1844 under the title The Book of the Kings, but which would circulate long before, and widely, thanks to the dexterity of the copyist monks. Engaged, Païssii invites his fellow-citizens not only to remember where they come from but also to rebel against the Turks.
His writings will fall, among others, into the hands of Sophrone of Vrasta (1739-1813) who in turn will take the pen to write his autobiography, Life and sufferings of the sinner Sophrone, one of the first works that can be qualified as properly literary. Close to the Russians, he will also intervene at the risk of his life so that the desire for autonomy, which is becoming more and more prevalent among his people, can be realized.
The Bulgarian language once again followed the political evolution, the linguist Pierre Béron, who owes the French consonance of his name to a long stay in Paris, gave birth in 1824 to an encyclopedia, called Abécédaire du poisson (Fish Primer) because of the drawing that adorns its cover: this one lays the foundations of modern Bulgarian. The weapons sharpened, the revolution has only to be written and the literature to be invented. Vector of the bubbling ideas, it branches out in the press and, little by little, of strictly engaged authorizes to borrow other forms, poetic, theatrical, novels. Its authors often traveled and brought back with them a modernity that they hastened to explore, following the example of Georgi Sava Rakovski (1821-1867) who perfected his education in Istanbul before joining Brăila in Romania where he took part in the demonstrations. The use of a false passport forced him into exile in France, a break that did not slow down his revolutionary struggles. Rakovski was killed by tuberculosis before his country was liberated, but he remained a tutelary figure. He is also the author of the poem Gorski Putnik, perhaps the first Bulgarian literary work to evoke the liberation.
His contemporary, Dobri Chintoulov (1822-1886), also wrote famous verses. One can easily imagine his ardor when, in The wind makes the Balkan moan, he declaims: "He who has a man's heart and a Bulgarian name, has only to gird a fine sword and brandish the flag! Let's also mention Petko Slaveykov whose abundant revolutionary production earned him prison and who participated in the safeguarding of Bulgarian folklore by collecting traditional songs and proverbs, and Khristo Botev, journalist and poet, who lost his life in battle in 1876. The first insurrection of April of that same year was harshly repressed by the Ottomans, and it would take another two years of struggle before the fragile San Stefano agreement was signed, which granted Bulgaria a semblance of autonomy.
A pivotal period that Ivan Vazov, a politician who also enjoys the title of "father of Bulgarian literature", lived through from the inside, a reputation that French-speaking readers will be able to verify by obtaining the translation of his most famous novel, Sous le joug (Under the Yoke), a true epic which, although it features the love story of an imaginary hero, Boïtcho Ognianov, uses true historical episodes as a backdrop. This work marks an important turning point, the literature of combat gives way to realism imbued with romanticism, reality is arranged with fiction, as a harbinger of the times to come.
The 20th century... and more..
If the end of the previous century saw the disputes between those who wanted to maintain a nationalist literature and those who, on the contrary, wanted to turn resolutely to the great European literary currents, at the beginning of the 20th century the question seemed to be settled, the word - after having so often unified the nation - would henceforth be used to join a wider community of minds. This waltz was played out in three stages, the first of which could coincide with the creation of the Misal (Thought) Circle, which was frequented by the poet Pentcho Slaveykov (Petko's son) and by the playwright Peyo Yavorov, who met a tragic end in 1914.
The second period occurred on the eve of the proclamation of the country's independence by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, when the symbolists were inspired by foreign thinkers and philosophers; the magazine Le Chaînon, created in 1914, brought their talents together. Finally, aestheticism is really in the spotlight between the wars and is embodied in the work of the daring Guéo Milev who does not hesitate to sign a manifesto with a provocative title: Against realism. The latter resists however, carried for example by the novelist Yordan Yovkov or by Konstantin Konstantinov who has as much fun exploring the mysteries of the human psyche as adding a fantastic touch to his stories. Elin Peline, pseudonym of Dimitar Stoyanov Ivanov, from a modest caste and not having had the opportunity to extend his studies, excels in critical realism.
The Second World War and the yoke of the USSR once again slowed down intellectual flights of fancy. But once again, emancipation and revolt pass through literature. Thus Ivailo Petrov (1923-2005), despite the censorship that affects some of his works, continues to write and offers the world at least two texts that have made history, Hunting Wolves and Sentence of Death, in which he returns to the injustices of the communist regime. More intimate, Vesko Branev in The Man Under Surveillance, available from Albin Michel, delves into the autobiographical vein that will inspire many authors in the 1970s and 1980s. Since the fall of the Wall, Bulgarian literature has been given a second wind, and has even crossed the country's borders, with translation now giving it a new renaissance.
