On some images of the communist in our contemporary novel

In recreating the image of the communist in our country there is a long and rich tradition from the past: in poetry - D. I. Polyanov, Hr. Smirnensky, N. Vaptsarov and the post-1930s; in prose - again Smirnensky, Kr. Velkov, G. Karaslavov and others. New people - new in their social consciousness, in their spiritual appearance - were formed during the years of great battles of our people against capitalism and fascism. And in order to understand the type of person - the type of revolutionary, an active historical figure - literature naturally turns to the image of the communist. Why is this so? Because the communist is not only a politically significant image, but also a bearer of the new in our time in general. What is more - right next to him walks the conscious citizen who does not yet have a party ticket, but to whom the cause of the communist party is close. Today, it is clear to readers and writers that every more substantial, more artistically convincing image of the communist always has a "cover" in socialist reality itself. And he always returns to it, reality, to serve it, but already aesthetically evaluated. This is one of the main advantages of contemporary socialist-realist literature. So far, in articles and speeches, an attempt has been made, sometimes more cursory, sometimes more in-depth, to clarify theoretically and mainly in connection with practice the problem of the communist in literature. For example, it was discussed during the national review of contemporary Bulgarian drama in 1959. And in 1960, the Writers' Union organized a three-day theoretical conference on the topic "The Image of the Communist in Literature". The purpose of this article is to dwell on some unexamined questions and, in particular, on individual literary works. Limiting the topic hides some inconveniences, and perhaps even dangers. But it also has some advantages: we will keep our focus on today, on contemporary problems.