The work of Cyril and Methodius and the development of old Bulgarian literature

The work of Cyril and Methodius is very diverse, can be viewed from different angles and raises many questions. One of the most interesting is the question of its connection with the development of Bulgarian literature. Some will say that this goes without saying - Cyril and Methodius are organically intertwined in the history of Bulgarian literature, without their work its emergence is unthinkable; everything is clear here, there is nothing to dispute and nothing to add. In fact, the questions are more complex than they seem at first glance. Let us take just two of them. On the one hand - were there not manifestations of Slavic writing in Bulgaria before the time of Cyril and Methodius and in that case can their work be considered the beginning of Bulgarian literature? On the other hand - is not a work included in the history of Bulgarian literature that developed up to the Moravian mission in the sphere of Byzantine culture, and then - among the Western Slavs? Is this not a stage of pan-Slavic literature that had a strong influence on the development of old Bulgarian literature, but did not enter into its history? That these questions have not been fully resolved, and at the very least - there is no agreement on them, is clearly visible when we turn our attention from the literary work of Cyril and Methodius to their language - it still bears different names in science: Old Church Slavonic, Old Church Slavonic, Old Bulgarian.