LITERARY HISTORY AND THE LITERARY CANON: QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMATIZATIONS (BULGARIAN CASE)

This study examines the formation and durability of the Bulgarian literary canon. Bulgarian literature is primarily written in Bulgarian, and it includes texts in other languages, such as Latin, Greek, and Russian, as well as works by minorities and emigrants. Bulgarian culture simultaneously falls into two communities: one linguistic (Slavic) and the other territorial (Balkan). The tension between these communities is influenced by a sense of belonging to different cultural identities, such as the Slavic, Balkan, and European communities. The territorial answer to Bulgarian literature became satisfactory only after the establishment of the new Bulgarian state in 1878. Before that, Bulgarian literature developed within a multinational empire, and much of it was created and published outside the territories predominantly inhabited by Bulgarians. In the 20th and 21st centuries, Bulgarian culture has continued to attract texts from traditional migrant groups outside Bulgarian territories, though literary history has been more cautious about including them in the corpus of Bulgarian literature. In the early 20th century, the core of the Bulgarian literary canon was established—Hristo Botev, Ivan Vazov, Peyo Yavorov, Elin Pelin, and Yordan Yovkov. This canon remains largely unchanged to this day. Adjustments began during that period and even earlier, becoming particularly relevant after the fall of the Berlin Wall.