“Под игото” – исторически роман

The present article is an effort to include the classical novel of the new Bulgarian literature in the tradition of historical narration. Placing Vazov’s text within the framework of the historical novel is not contradictory to all the other genre definitions the novel has had in its more than 100 year existence. The genre features of the historical novel can be found on different levels in Under the Yoke. One of the basic proofs that Vazov’s novel belongs to the genre of the classical historical novel is the presence of a historiosophical concept of the April Uprising. The comparison between Under the Yoke and Vazov’s two other novels – Svetoslav Terter and Ivan Alexander – is based on the recognition of History in the novel. The article concludes that the novel Under the Yoke can precisely be defined as historical.