ON November 1, Bulgaria commemorated with gratitude the memory and tradition of the Enlighteners, the heroes who refused to accept for themselves or their compatriots the role of slaves.
The Bulgarian Enlightenment is the term commonly accepted for the country's process of transformation from feudalism to capitalism, a turbulent time characterised by a struggle for Bulgaria's spiritual, cultural and political independence.
It is seen as the time of the rise of a literature that is uniquely Bulgarian, of a coalescing national culture, and of the spawning of an intelligentsia.
The process was not only an internal one. Bulgaria began to develop lively economic, social and political relations with the rest of Europe and the world.
It was an evolution taking place at the end of a long epoch that had begun in 1396, when Ottoman occupation put into shadow Bulgaria's national political and cultural development.
As the shadow lifted, an intelligentsia emerged to create literature which drew wealth from Bulgaria's traditions, and which was to have great social and artistic impact.
The literature of the Bulgarian Enlightenment is representative of a transition from one system to another. It was a transition that was long, and filled inevitably with internal contradictions, but all historians and critics share a consensus that this period is a clearly identifiable one.
All of the figures called Enlighteners were doing their best to awaken people from Bulgaria's "winter sleep". Together with the revolutionaries who were prepared to give their lives for their country's freedom, the enlighteners inspired Bulgaria's people and insisted that those of this country could say, "we have given something to the world".
This sums up what the Enlighteners were, and meant; who were they?
Paisii the monk of Hilendar, who in his Slav Bulgarian History elevated the Bulgarian conscience to a moral category. The thirst for spiritual freedom is seen in every single line of this book. The lessons of Paisii of Hilendar are accepted to have been the opening gambit in the long process of enlightening the Bulgarians.
Very little is known about the monk who travelled around the country with the 26-year-old Stoiko Vladislavov, who 18 years later was to write his autobiography and by so doing, sound the overture for Bulgarian original literature. In the "Passional and Sufferings of the Sinful Sofronii" the writer dares to float the personality above the medieval tradition of "shyness". Paisii speaks to the whole Bulgarian kin, which needs to be a nation, Sofronii turns to each soul, which needs to feel equal to every other soul, and to be filled with self-esteem and self-respect. In the long period of subordination, the concepts of Bulgarian kin and spirit had faded. A long path lay ahead, and its route lay through the struggle for an independent Bulgarian church.
Two clergymen emerged to head this struggle, Neofit Bozveli and Ilarion Makariopolski, who became the historic champions of spiritual freedom and national identity through the achievement of an independent Bulgarian church.
Vassil Aprilov established in the town of Gabrovo the first modern Bulgarian school. The ambition of the Aprilov then was to make the school the axis of Bulgarian literature. The building of the school was followed by the emergence of the first Bulgarian textbook, meeting a keenly-felt need. The Riben Textbook by Petar Beron won recognition for its progressive view of the world, and from the world it bought respect for the talents and potential of Bulgaria's people.
Many other Bulgarians followed the example of Beron, advancing the literary development of the whole nation. Beron remains an example to today's poets and writers to emulate the high standards of his artistry.
The Bulgarian Enlightenment is the term commonly accepted for the country's process of transformation from feudalism to capitalism, a turbulent time characterised by a struggle for Bulgaria's spiritual, cultural and political independence.
It is seen as the time of the rise of a literature that is uniquely Bulgarian, of a coalescing national culture, and of the spawning of an intelligentsia.
The process was not only an internal one. Bulgaria began to develop lively economic, social and political relations with the rest of Europe and the world.
It was an evolution taking place at the end of a long epoch that had begun in 1396, when Ottoman occupation put into shadow Bulgaria's national political and cultural development.
As the shadow lifted, an intelligentsia emerged to create literature which drew wealth from Bulgaria's traditions, and which was to have great social and artistic impact.
The literature of the Bulgarian Enlightenment is representative of a transition from one system to another. It was a transition that was long, and filled inevitably with internal contradictions, but all historians and critics share a consensus that this period is a clearly identifiable one.
All of the figures called Enlighteners were doing their best to awaken people from Bulgaria's "winter sleep". Together with the revolutionaries who were prepared to give their lives for their country's freedom, the enlighteners inspired Bulgaria's people and insisted that those of this country could say, "we have given something to the world".
This sums up what the Enlighteners were, and meant; who were they?
Paisii the monk of Hilendar, who in his Slav Bulgarian History elevated the Bulgarian conscience to a moral category. The thirst for spiritual freedom is seen in every single line of this book. The lessons of Paisii of Hilendar are accepted to have been the opening gambit in the long process of enlightening the Bulgarians.
Very little is known about the monk who travelled around the country with the 26-year-old Stoiko Vladislavov, who 18 years later was to write his autobiography and by so doing, sound the overture for Bulgarian original literature. In the "Passional and Sufferings of the Sinful Sofronii" the writer dares to float the personality above the medieval tradition of "shyness". Paisii speaks to the whole Bulgarian kin, which needs to be a nation, Sofronii turns to each soul, which needs to feel equal to every other soul, and to be filled with self-esteem and self-respect. In the long period of subordination, the concepts of Bulgarian kin and spirit had faded. A long path lay ahead, and its route lay through the struggle for an independent Bulgarian church.
Two clergymen emerged to head this struggle, Neofit Bozveli and Ilarion Makariopolski, who became the historic champions of spiritual freedom and national identity through the achievement of an independent Bulgarian church.
Vassil Aprilov established in the town of Gabrovo the first modern Bulgarian school. The ambition of the Aprilov then was to make the school the axis of Bulgarian literature. The building of the school was followed by the emergence of the first Bulgarian textbook, meeting a keenly-felt need. The Riben Textbook by Petar Beron won recognition for its progressive view of the world, and from the world it bought respect for the talents and potential of Bulgaria's people.
Many other Bulgarians followed the example of Beron, advancing the literary development of the whole nation. Beron remains an example to today's poets and writers to emulate the high standards of his artistry.
