WE, THE ENLIGHTENED
(От „О, неразумни и юроде“ до „Знаеш ли ти кои сме?“)
This article examines one of the main research projects of Nedka Kapralova, namely, the practice of sponsorship during the Bulgarian National Revival and its importance for understanding the processes that accompanied the transition to modernity in the Bulgarian lands. The new historical era gave rise to new social actors. Literature would begin to “produce” those actors and circulate them as cultural models. The Enlightened European, the National Awakener, and the Teacher became symbolic images charged with the notions of a new and desired cultural space. These figures had their antipodes: the Phanariot and the Pseudo-Civilizer, both rooted in the enemy aggressor stereotype. The collective self-envisioned images of “We, the Bulgarians” and “We, the Enlightened Bulgarians” were gradually affirmed by being juxtaposed with, and contrasted against, the above-mentioned antipodes. The phenomenon of sponsorship, as analyzed by Kapralova, reveals the mechanisms through which new normative frameworks were established. It highlights notable cases in the legitimization of an emergent modern culture, with its guilds and its respective new social networks and circles. The study further attests to the mentoring ethos of the men of letters and offers intriguing insights into the self-determination of the Enlightened. Another line that is traced is represented by the shifts in attitudes and moral orientations of successive generations of intellectuals of the Revival period.
WE, THE ENLIGHTENED
-
-
Lidiya Mihova
- [email protected]
- Institute for Literature – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- Bulgaria
Associate Professor Lidia Mihova, PhD, is a longtime researcher at the Institute for Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). She is one of the founders of the Bulgarian School in Strasbourg, where she served for many years as both director and lecturer. She was a Lecturer in Bulgarian Language, Literature, and Civilization, as well as Introduction to Slavic Cultures and Balkan Studies, at the University of Strasbourg (2006–2012). Her primary research interests focus on Bulgarian National Revival literature and culture, chapbooks and popular books (calendars, songbooks, popular hagiographies), narrative types and storytelling techniques, the interplay between text and image, folklore and literature, as well as orality and literacy, and representations of the "Other." She is the author of two monographs: Bulgarian Calendars 1818–1944 (Plovdiv, 1995) and The Modern Needs of the National Revival (Sofia, 2001). She is also the editor and co-editor of several scholarly volumes, including: Écrire ailleurs au féminin dans le monde slave au XXe siècle (Paris, 2013); Cultures et arts: Roumanie, Bulgarie (Université de Strasbourg, 2011); Voisins, frontières, ouvertures (Université de Strasbourg, 2009); The Revival Text: Readings on the Culture and Literature of the Bulgarian National Revival – In Honor of the 70th Anniversary of Prof. Docho Lekov (Sofia, 1998); and Print and Literature: 150 Years of Bulgarian Journalism (Sofia, 1994).
-
-
Abstract:This article examines one of the main research projects of Nedka Kapralova, namely, the practice of sponsorship during the Bulgarian National Revival and its importance for understanding the processes that accompanied the transition to modernity in the Bulgarian lands. The new historical era gave rise to new social actors. Literature would begin to “produce” those actors and circulate them as cultural models. The Enlightened European, the National Awakener, and the Teacher became symbolic images charged with the notions of a new and desired cultural space. These figures had their antipodes: the Phanariot and the Pseudo-Civilizer, both rooted in the enemy aggressor stereotype. The collective self-envisioned images of “We, the Bulgarians” and “We, the Enlightened Bulgarians” were gradually affirmed by being juxtaposed with, and contrasted against, the above-mentioned antipodes. The phenomenon of sponsorship, as analyzed by Kapralova, reveals the mechanisms through which new normative frameworks were established. It highlights notable cases in the legitimization of an emergent modern culture, with its guilds and its respective new social networks and circles. The study further attests to the mentoring ethos of the men of letters and offers intriguing insights into the self-determination of the Enlightened. Another line that is traced is represented by the shifts in attitudes and moral orientations of successive generations of intellectuals of the Revival period.
Subject: We for Others and for OurselvesKeywords: Bulgarian Revival period Enlightenment sponsorship intelligentsia Nedka Kapralova -
References
BOTEV, Hr. Knizhevni izvestiya. – Zname, № 28, 12 mart, 1875.
DRASOV, I. T. N 91, 1874 avgust 8, Pisek, Pechatno obyavlenie na Ivan Drasov za “Apostol na svobodata”. – V: Obyavleniya za balgarski vazrozhdenski izdania. Sast. N. Danova i dr. Sofia: UI “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, AI “Prof. Marin Drinov”, 1999.
KAPRALOVA, N. Dumi – pari, dumi – pamet ili venets bezsmertiya za knihzevnoto spomochtesvovanie. – V: Pari, dumi, pamet. Sofia: Kralitsa Mab, 2004, s. 84–95.
KAPRALOVA, N. Istini i zagadki: iz vazrojdenskoto knihzovno spomochtesvovatelstvo. – V: Vreme i priemstvenost. Yubileen sbornik v chest na dots. d-r Yulia Nikolova. Plovdiv: UI “Paysiy Hilendarski”, 2021, s. 135–146.
KAPRALOVA, N. Lubovta – naslada i vreda, ili zashto edin mazh tryabva da bade zhenen. – Dzyalo, e-spisanie v oblastta na humanitaristikata X–XXI v. X, 2022, br. 23: https://www.abcdar.com/magazine/XXIII/Dzl_2022_br23_04_Nedka_Kapralova_lubovta-naslada_i_vreda.pdf.
KAPRALOVA, N. Pametta za minaloto prez spomoshtestvovatelstvoto za istoricheski sachineniъa (1836–1856). – V: Balgarsko obshtestvo za prouchvane na 18 vek, 1.07.2017: http://bulgc18.com/?p=213.
KAPRALOVA, N. Spomoshtestvovatelstvoto i daritelstvoto prez Vazrazhdaneto: neprekasnostta na tradiciyata. – V: Sred tekstovete i emotsiite na Balgarskoto vazrazhdane. Sbornik v chest na Rumyana Damyanova. Sast. i red. N. Kapralova, D. Gospodinov. Sofia: Iztok-Zapad, 2009, s. 490–502.
KARAVELOV, L. Neuteshitelen otgovor na “Znaesh li ti koi sme?”. – V: L. KARAVELOV. Sabrani sachineniya. T. 5. Feyletoni. Sofia: Balgarski pisatel, 1966, s. 158.
MIHOVA, L. “Chuzhdenecat“, ili za “svoya drug“. – V: L. MIHOVA. Modernite potrebi na Vazrazhdaneto. Sofia: Polis, 2001, s. 125–133.
MIHOVA, L. Realni lichnosti i fabrikuvani geroi. – V: Slovesnost i literatura. Yubileen sbornik v chest na 60-godishninata na Encho Mutafov. Sast. Tzv. Rakyovski. Blagoevgrad: UI “Neofit Rilski“, 2003, s. 98–104.
MLADENOV, I. Neyasniyat chovek. – Ezik i literatura, LIII, 1998, № 2, s. 25–27.
NIKOLOVA, U. “Razmesteniyat” chovek ili za metachuzhdostta prez Balgarskoto vazrazhdane. – Ezik i literatura, XLIX, 1994, № 4, с. 62–72.
SLAVEYKOV, P. R. Dve molitvi. – V: P. R. SLAVEYKOV. Sachineniya. Palno sabranie. Т. IV. Humor i satira. Sofia: Izdatelstvo na BAN, 1973, s. 253.
SLAVEYKOV, P. R. Predposleden marsh na Gaydata. – V: Vazrozhdenski stranitsi. Antologiya. Т. I. Pod. red. na P. Dinekov. Sofia: Balgarski pisatel, 1969, s. 170.
SOFRONII VRACHANSKI. Iz “Filosofskiya mudrosti”. – V: Vazrozhdenski stranitsi. Antologiya. Pod. red. na P. Dinekov. Sofia: Balgarski pisatel, 1969, s. 87.
KAPRALOVA, N., VRINAT-NIKOLOV, M., DIMITROVA-MARINOVA, D. A la recherche de la texture mythique. Sofia: Académie bulgares des sciences, ed. Boyan Penev. // КАПРАЛОВА, Н., ВРИНА-НИКОЛОВ, М., ДИМИТРОВА-МАРИНОВА, Д. В търсене на митичната тъкан. София: Българска академия на науките, ИЦ „Боян Пенев“, 2002.
KAPRALOVA, N. L’Univers immortel. Textes Réunis à l’Occasion du 90e Anniversaire de Claude Lévi-Strauss. Sofia: Карина М, 1998.
