края

The problem of the originality of realism of the 20th century and its relationship to other creative methods attracts the keen attention of literary critics, since it is organically connected with the current and vital issues of our time. The experience of every national literature can serve to resolve this problem. Some generalizations, supporting or supplementing our ideas about the peculiarities of the world literary movement of the 20th century, can also be made on the basis of material taken from the literature of Bulgaria. In 1912, A. M. Gorky noted the characteristic feature in the development of Bulgarian literature - the exceptional intensity of the processes taking place in it. It was in this connection that he wrote: "After five centuries of oppression by foreign nationalities, Bulgaria returned to life, bright with individuality, full of creative forces and quickly took its rightful place in the family of cultural nations." Indeed, in Bulgarian literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such phenomena arose and sometimes manifested themselves with great force, which, when taken into account, are of interest of a fundamental nature - they contribute to a broader understanding of both the general regularities and the diversity of national forms in the world literary process. It is characteristic, for example, that the literature of critical realism in Bulgaria, as well as some other countries of Central and Southeastern Europe (unlike a number of Western European countries) at that time was not on the line of decline, but on the line of rise: in the 90s of the last century, Bulgarian critical realism entered the phase of its flowering, establishing itself as the strongest literary trend. At the same time, developing in conditions of heightened class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the revolutionary proletariat already entering the historical arena, Bulgarian literature acquired other features largely similar to those processes that took place in all European literatures in the era of imperialism.

Among all the arts, literature is distinguished by having both a very unlimited and a very limited character. Unlimited, because its intellectual content tends to spread, to go beyond the framework in which it was created, or, conversely, to come from outside - to be assimilated, transformed within the boundaries of a new environment. Limited, because its means of expression, language, is not perceived directly, but presupposes the introduction of a new expression in connection, undoubtedly, with the depicted object, but nevertheless different from it and on another plane of contact. "The shackles of idiom, said one critic (F. Baldensperger) prevent literature, so to speak, from crossing the threshold of its own home." These two opposing aspects, inherent in the literary work, are manifested especially clearly when the literary historian proceeds to make comparisons. Comparative literary studies is actually more a method than a branch. And perhaps that is precisely why it gives us the opportunity to grasp the nature of literary phenomena particularly well. Every work, no matter how comprehensive, no matter how radiant it is, remains the fruit of an era, a country, an environment, as well as of an author. With its content, reflecting the environment, the country, the era, it can represent a document, a testimony, useful both for compatriots and foreigners. It can also be an attempt by the author to break away from his environment and tradition, to become a messenger calling for innovative creativity. The literatures of Southeast Europe give us many examples in this regard, especially if we focus on their development from the end of the 18th century to the present day in relation to other European literatures and, first of all, to those of the West. Thus, to the historical aspect in the study of literatures, the comparative one is added - and here the problems of parallel development are intertwined with those of influence. The reports presented below, written by specialists in each of these literatures, primarily reveal the specific features of the works, as well as the conditions under which they arose, but they also allow us to establish some connection between literary phenomena in different countries.