Vanda Smohovska-Petrova

In the creative circles of Poland, two completely contradictory phenomena emerged after the 20th Congress of the CPSU and the 8th Plenum of the Polish United Workers' Party. One was expressed in a criticism of dogmatism and in the revelation to writers of new creative socialist perspectives. On the other hand, however, under the influence of sometimes unprincipled criticism, a process of ideological regression took place in some circles. In the midst of the criticism, revisionist voices spoke out, placing political issues at the center of their attacks: the attitude of the authorities towards the masses, the role of the party in society, the importance of socialist ideology in practical state and public life. Even individual authors came to the conclusion that in order to avoid mistakes, one must act without relying on any ideology, on the basis of a technologically practical attitude towards social issues. These revisionist views found their most vivid expression in Leszek Kolakowski's essay "The Priest and the Fool", in which the author tries to prove that man is faced with only one basic alternative: to adopt the attitude towards life of a priest or a fool. And Kolakowski proved all the advantages of the fool's attitude. All kinds of systems and ideologies limited freedom and conscience with dogmas, stiffened the mind - the only expressor of human dignity. The main mistake in the past was to put history in the role of the former god, to replace facts with assessments, while only the mind, unconstrained by any systems and dogmas, ready to mock the accepted order, could judge the facts. For Kolakowski, the "fool's attitude" meant a technological attitude towards problems, it was a revisionist transition to the positions of bourgeois neopositivism. I will dwell in detail on this "revelation" of revisionism, to understand the essence of the revisionist manifestations in Poland during the years 1956-57 and so that we can also grasp those positive phenomena that have been observed in Polish cultural life for the past three years.

The first impetus for the discussion dedicated to literary criticism was given by the young critic Andrzej Kiyowski, who, in his conversation with three of the most prominent Polish writers - Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Kazimierz Brandys and Wilhelm Mach, accused contemporary Polish literature of a number of mortal sins: it has failed to find a new interpretation of the social commitment of writers that would replace the previous, already rejected formulation, it has failed to achieve harmony with contemporary world literature, the image of man that it creates is outdated compared to modern knowledge about man, and finally, it has severed its ties with tradition. The three prominent writers who took part in the conversation not only triumphantly rejected the accusations, but also launched a counterattack, stating in turn that literary criticism suffers from acute micromania and lack of perspective, delving into books by individual authors without seeing what they create as a whole, and lacking a broader view and ability to synthesize. Another of its shortcomings is the complete lack of trust in the native soil and its fertility. Critics often, as if hypnotized, see only their own interpretation of the social commitment of writers or elevate some foreign writer to a cult, and all the works offered to them by Polish artists are perceived as values ​​of secondary value in comparison with foreign models.

In connection with my work on the topic "Michael Tchaikovsky - Sadak Pasha and Bulgaria", which began several years ago, I studied a significant part of the archives of Prince Adam Czartoryski, which are located in the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow. These archives contain rich data and a number of important documents about the Bulgarian Revival and in particular about the church issue, as well as about the life and activities of such prominent Revival figures as Neofit Bozveli, Hilarion Makariopolski, Konstantin Ognyanovich and Alexander Exarch, as well as about Teohar Piccolo, Prince Bogoridi and others. Among the newly discovered documents are: 1. The previously unknown text of a detailed Memorandum by Bozveli to the Turkish authorities of September 1 (September 12, old style) 1844. This is the first memorandum submitted by Neofit after his return from the first exile. It has been preserved in a French translation. 2. The letter of Neophyte Bozveli to Prince A. Czartoryski of March 17, 1845; the Bulgarian original and the Polish translation have been preserved. The letter is an interesting literary work. 3. The letter-response of Prince A. Czartoryski to Neophyte Bozveli of July 7 (June 25, old style) 1845 in the Polish original. 4. The notes of Mikhail Tchaikovsky to the Sublime Porte on the Bulgarian question of May 11 and 18, 1845. 5. The note of Mikhail Tchaikovsky to Riza Pasha and Shakib Efendi of July 31, 1845 on the occasion of the abduction and exile of Neophyte Hilarion by the Greek Patriarch and the notes on the same occasion to the Sublime Porte of August 3, 1845 and to the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs of August 9, 1845. All three notes have been preserved in French translation. 6. Mikhail Tchaikovsky's note to Reshid Pasha on the occasion of the Sultan's upcoming trip to the European lands of the Turkish Empire, dated February 10, 1846, in French translation. 7. Neophyte Bozveli's letter from his second exile to Lazar Teodorovich, the Serbian diplomatic representative in Constantinople, dated August 23 (September 5, old style), 1845, translated into Polish. This letter contains detailed information about Neophyte's abduction and exile. 8. Hilarion Makariopolsky's letter to Foad Effendi, first dragoman of the Sublime Porte, sent from exile, dated August 28, 1845, preserved in French translation. 9. The letter of Konstantin Ognyanovich: to the Polish agent (Tchaikovsky's assistant) Mikhail Dombrova Budzinski dated October 27, 1846 from Belokrinitsa and to Tchaikovsky from Vienna, dated June 13, 1848, and the second also from Vienna dated June 20, 1848. The first of these letters has been preserved in a Polish translation, and the other two have been preserved in their Russian original, with a translation in Polish. 10. The richest factual material on the course of the Bulgarian church struggle during these years, on the activities of a number of prominent Bulgarian writers and revivalists, and on Bulgarian-Polish relations during the mid-19th century is contained in Tchaikovsky's reports to A. Czartoryski, written from 1841 to 1850, regularly twice a month. From June 26, 1843, a special column entitled "Bulgaria" was introduced in them. A separate place among the materials found is occupied by the French translations of documents already known in Bulgaria: the petition to the Sultan from the residents of Svishtov dated November 15, 1844, a thank-you address from the Bulgarians from Constantinople to Mehmed Ali Pasha dated 1845, the appeal to the Sublime Porte on behalf of the entire Bulgarian people dated March 1845, and the preface to the translation of the Hatshepsut from January 1845, written by Hilarion in Bulgarian, but in the Latin alphabet. A significant part of these documents will be published in my work "New Data on Neophyte Bozveli and the Bulgarian Church Question", which is already prepared for publication. The materials found are clear evidence that the Polish archives not only in Krakow, but also in Wrocław, Poznań and Kurnik should be studied and that further research will provide an opportunity to discover a number of new documents and data on the Bulgarian Revival and Bulgarian-Polish relations.

The outbreak of the Crimean War (November 1, 1853) aroused new hopes among Polish patriots. Feverish excitement also gripped the Polish emigration in Paris and London, as it believed that the war that had broken out would turn into a general war for the liberation of the peoples. All eyes were turned to the East. All political groups believed that the fateful hour had struck and were coming up with their own programs for action. The Polish democrats in London, the so-called Centralization, wanted to provoke an uprising in Poland itself. The "Young Democracy" ("Kolo") in Paris, headed by Mieroslavsky, Wysocki and Elzhanowski, intended to create a Polish legion in Turkey in agreement with Napoleon III. The aristocratic camp of Polish emigrants "Hotel Lambert", whose leader, Prince A. Czartoryski, was recognized by the French and English cabinets, after the declaration of war, as the sole representative of Poland in emigration, was striving for the same goal. French public opinion was favorable to Polish aspirations, and it was said in Paris that Napoleon III had a sincere intention of restoring Poland. Prince Czartoryski conducted lengthy negotiations with the French and English governments to secure certain guarantees in favor of Poland against the proposed participation of Polish troops on the side of the Allies. His first associate and nephew Władysław Zamoyski went to Constantinople in January 1854 to negotiate personally with the Porte about the formation of a Polish legion in the Turkish army. With the same purpose, Vysotsky had already arrived in the Turkish capital (November 2, 1853) as an envoy of the Parisian "Kolo".

The interest that our literary studies show in our relations with our neighbors in the past is a proven fact. It testifies to the attention with which literary scholars in our country turn to the most beautiful and fruitful manifestations of friendship and amity between the Balkan peoples. In addition, this fact testifies to the expansion of the thematic perimeter of our literary studies; it is an expression of the aspiration of our literature to find its place in a broader literary context. Therefore, the first question that arises when we become acquainted with the recently published book on Bulgarian-Serbian literary relations in the 19th century is whether it meets the requirements of such an important and complex task. Konev's work consists of two parts. The first - "The Great Beginning" contains four chapters: 1. Literary exchange between Bulgarians and Serbs. 2. Translated and Bulgarianized works. Character and significance. 3. The creative path of P. R. Slaveykov and Serbian literature. 4. Serbian teachers in Bulgaria. Literary and cultural and educational activity. The second part, which is called "In support of realism in literature", includes the following chapters: 1. Encounters with drama. 2. Lyuben Karavelov in the development of the Serbian realistic short story. 3. Before the dawn of freedom.

The extremely interesting work of G. D. Gachev "Accelerated Development of Literature" gives us the opportunity to look at it and evaluate it in a broader perspective, not directly related to the problems of Bulgarian Renaissance literature. The author's main concept of accelerated development poses contemporary questions that have the prospect of becoming increasingly contemporary. Every new generation and every individual who has appeared in this world must undergo accelerated development in order to be able to perceive in a concise, abbreviated form the experience of humanity gained in its centuries-old development. That is why the author's concept is very relevant, fruitful and of great importance for those who work on the work of individual writers. For my personal work, for example, on M. Tchaikovsky's Sadyk Pasha, Gachev's book with the problems posed and solved in it is extremely useful. Because I too am faced with a vivid case of accelerated development. The ideological formation of Polish emigration to France in the 19th century poses this question with all its acuteness. Polish emigrants arrived in Paris - the most elevated cultural center of Europe at that time, from a feudal country, some even, like Tchaikovsky, from distant Ukraine, where in both everyday life and in the worldview of the people there is still too much of the folklore-epic stage of human development. And they must catch up at an accelerated pace with the level of the most advanced human thought in the fields of politics, sociology and literature, each proceeding in the perception of the new from his own unique personal experience and personal knowledge and understanding of the world, brought from his homeland.

One of the most interesting events in the cultural life of Poland this autumn was the first international congress of translators of Polish fiction (the first event of its kind in the socialist countries), which took place from 4 to 12 November of this year. At the invitation of the Authors' Agency, over 60 people arrived in Warsaw (from the USSR and the socialist countries, from the Scandinavian countries, from England, France, Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany, South and North America, Mongolia, Japan and Israel), among them prominent poets and writers who translate Polish fiction into 32 languages. The aim of the congress was for the Polish side to express its gratitude and appreciation to those who, through their work, acquaint foreign readers with the achievements of Polish literature, and to give them the opportunity to get acquainted with life in Poland, to enter into close and direct contact with writers' circles and to get to know the problems of literary development in Poland more closely.

From December 3 to 5 of this year, the 15th Congress of Polish Writers met in Krakow. One of the central issues in the congress's discussions was the issue of creating new literary magazines. A number of speakers emphasized that the insufficient number of magazines was not conducive to the creation of serious literary criticism and journalism, but led to a superficial form of feuilleton criticism. Ideological and artistic initiative was largely stifled, and the literary assessments given by only one central literary organ were inevitably one-sided. The need to publish a magazine dedicated to foreign literature, like the Soviet "Foreign Literature", was emphasized. A group of young writers spoke in favor of publishing a magazine that would print only debut works. However, the first issue raised was the issue of publishing another central literary magazine in Warsaw, which would reflect the creative pursuits of writers from the capital.

The literary press of each country widely reflects those issues of a literary, literary-critical, socio-cultural and philosophical-ideological nature that most excite a given society at a given time. In order to grasp the more important of them, without stopping at the one-day issues, we must naturally take a broader view of time. This review traces some of the more important problems that have attracted the attention of Polish critics, writers and the Polish cultural community in recent months and have found their expression in the pages of the Polish literary press. Due to the great diversity and variety of the issues, we will limit ourselves here only to those issues that concern fiction and the novel in particular.

Mikhail Tchaikovsky - Sadyk Pasha, one of the most popular Polish writers of the last century and an active political figure, spent 30 years of his life in the Turkish Empire. He first arrived in Constantinople in 1841 as a political agent of Prince Adam Czartoryski. Brave, energetic, mobile, he undertook a number of journeys around the European part of the empire and soon began to orient himself very well on a number of issues related to the political situation and the way of life of the enslaved Balkan peoples. His close connections with Konstantin Ognyanovich (for some time - Tchaikovsky's assistant), Neofit Bozveli and Ilarion Makariopolsky, along with his close cooperation with some prominent Serbian politicians (Vučić, Petronović) and the Serbian diplomatic representative in Constantinople - Lazar Teodorović, deepened and consolidated his knowledge.