Андриана Спасова

The focus of the study is the place of the ancient writers in textbooks from the 70s of XIX century - "History of the Bulgarian People" (1873) by T. Shishkov and "History Bulgarian: T.1" (1871) by Gabriel Krastevich. Some of the most recognizable historians and geographers of antiquity (Herodotus, Tacitus, Polybius, Ptolemy, Eratosthenes, Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, etc.) are important authorities who contribute to the formation of a foreign historical narrative of national history. In Shishkov very rarely ancient names come with bibliographical references and are often indexed by the phrase "and antique X said ...". The case of Krastevichis the opposite, he has given the detailed notes and quotes. The paper analyses the problem of ethnogenesis and the ancient roots of the national identity in Bulgarian history textbooks of the XIX century. Establishment of national stereotypes passes through a historiographical mythical poetic narrative combining the scientific pretensions and national romanticism. The role of ancient cultural heritage can be read in its role of a common European cultural code beyond projects of national ideology.

Plamen Antov’s “Love and Fatherland. Studies on Bulgarian Revival Literature and Culture” innovatively interprets Bulgarian Revival literature as a national-ideological metanarrative that shapes collective memory. The monograph is an ambitious endeavor to reconceptualize the Bulgarian Revival through contemporary comparative literary, cultural-anthropological, and philosophical-historical methodologies. The book advances new readings of both canonical and marginal texts, investigating the tensions between popular and elite discourses, national and universal paradigms. The text also explores the interweaving of intimate motifs – love and eroticism – with the national ideal of duty to the fatherland within Revival culture. By situating more and lesser-known Bulgarian texts in dialogue with European and American literary contexts, the author makes a significant contribution to the field of Revival studies.