feminism

This article presents Dimitar Shishmanov’s views regarding the new role of the woman and the change in the way she is treated in the existing conservative society during the years 60s to 70s of the 19th century. He shares his opinion in his dramas, in a published brochure and in some lectures, and defends it in practice by his attitude towards his family, as well as in his forty-one letters to his wife, kept in his son’s (Prof. Ivan Shishmanov) archives.

The present article places the modernity of women writers in its research focus and begins its observations with the rethinking question, what do we recognize as modernism in the late XIX – the first two decades of the XX century? The modernity of women writers remains unrecognizable to their contemporaries and even historically – the opportunity to create is aggravated by prejudices, restrictions and even prohibitions, this is a modernity beyond modernism, examined in the work of two unrecognized authors – Vela Blagoeva and Ana Karima, and both unrecognized as female presences in Bulgarian literary life, with problematic critical and collegial reception. The study highlights a number of modern ideas and concepts in each of the authors: in Vela Blagoeva – an original, non-model interpretation of historical figures, anti-racism, feminism, adventurous twists, in Karima – the first travelogue of a woman, enriched with the themes of social justice and female destiny, anti-stereotypical thinking and behavior.

The article dedicated to “In Paris. Sketches“ by Ana Karima, analyzed the poetics of the work. It transcends the boundaries of the traditional travelogue. Karima examines not only the historical sights of Paris, but introduces the readers to the social problems of the country, the position of women in society and the prostitution as an evil. Somewhat aside, but also related to the general issue, is what was written about Yavorov. Irony is leading. The comparison is with Aleko’s Bai Ganiu with a perspective on the behavior of Bulgarians abroad. The occasion is their deteriorating relationships.