сп. Критика и хуманизъм | кн. 61, бр. 2/2024 | Памет, история, жанр

сп. Критика и хуманизъм | кн. 61, бр. 2/2024 | Памет, история, жанр

водещи броя:Богдана Паскалева, Даниела Колева, кн. 61, бр. 2/2024, с. 284, ISSN:0861-1718

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* Изданието е достъпно на английски език.

Introduction

Authors: Bogdana Paskaleva, Daniela Koleva

The Archives: Muffled Speech, Resounding Silence

Unremarkable Lives: The Enunciative Pragmatics of a Mode of Archival Research

Abstract: This article describes Michel Foucault’s unfinished project for publishing a collection of lettres du cachet and police reports selected from the archives of the Bastille and the General Hospital. The project foregrounds an affective mode of enunciation implicit in classical works such as Discipline and Punish, and characterized by a subjectivity incongruent to the voice of Foucault as an author and to the identifiable, determinate first-person voices resonating in his texts. The article argues that, under the influence of Foucault, that enunciative modality turned into a collective assemblage imaginable as the scion of a new historiographic genre which, however, withered away before it could fully develop. The collective enunciation of the affect caused by archival documents registering unremarkable lives is discussed on the basis of texts by Michel Foucault, Jacques Léonard, Carlo Ginzburg, and Arlette Farge.

Keywords: Michel Foucault, enunciation, pragmatics, affect, theory of history, counterhistory

Author: Todor Hristov

Todor Hristov teaches Literary and Critical Theory at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. His main research interests are in the fields of critical theory, pragmatics, biopolitics, and cultural studies. His latest books are The Sound and the Fury: An Archaeology of Marital Quarrels (Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 2021; in Bulgarian) and Impossible Knowledge: Conspiracy Theories, Power, and Truth (London and New York: Routledge, 2019).

Address:

Department of Theory of Literature

Faculty of Slavic Studies

Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

15 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd.

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How to Lie with Archival Documents: Publishing Primary Sources on the “Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews”

Abstract: The publication of archival documents is often intended to provide evidence for an already formulated (and usually controversial) historiographical interpretation. In practice, the publication of primary sources is always selective, especially in the field of recent history, due to the usually larger amount of surviving archival documents. The documents selected for publication are then categorized and “contextualized” by means of explanatory notes, introductions, etc. While these supplements certainly help readers understand the material presented, they also offer them ready-made interpretations and even conclusions.

This article illustrates this phenomenon through the numerous publications of primary sources on the fate of the Jews in Bulgaria during the Second World War. These works range from honest attempts to document the brutal policy of state anti-Semitism in the country to shameless propaganda portraying Bulgaria or the “Bulgarian people” as the saviours of the Jews. The main manipulative techniques used by some of these publications are highlighted.

Keywords: Bulgaria, Holocaust, Holocaust denial, historiography, primary sources

Author: Alexander Vezenkov

Alexander Vezenkov is an independent scholar based in Sofia. He studied history at Sofia University (MA, 1995; PhD, 2001), the Central European University in Budapest (MA, 1998), and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris (DEA, 2000). He has published a number of studies on the institutional history of communist regimes, the urban history of the Balkans in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and various aspects of the Tanzimat period in the Ottoman Empire. Vezenkov also participated in the collective project Entangled Histories of the Balkans, published by Brill, Leiden (vol. 1–4, 2013–2017). He is currently part of the Balkan Historiographical Wars project (https://bhw.cas.bg/en/) and the MACAUTH project (https://www.ims.forth.gr/en/project/view?id=265).

E-mail: alexander.vezenkov@gmail.com

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True to Form: Creative Nonfiction as Mediator of Historical Silence

Abstract: This article explores the potential of creative nonfiction as a methodological tool to address silences and gaps in historical archives, particularly in relation to traumatic memory. Focusing on oral history interviews with survivors of Bulgaria’s state-socialist forced-labour camps, the article demonstrates how creative nonfiction can convey fragmented narratives of trauma, revealing emotional truths that traditional historical narratives often overlook. Through the interview of Mato Koritzki, the text highlights how creative nonfiction preserves the form and rhythm of first-person testimonies, capturing the associative rhythm of speech and the affective dimension of memory. The article contends that by embracing subjective engagement and literary techniques, scholars can offer a more faithful representation of lived experiences and fill the silences left by archival evidence. The author argues that creative nonfiction, by allowing for narrative experimentation, plays an indispensable role in understanding and reconstructing the histories of political violence.

Keywords: creative nonfiction, historical silence, oral history, traumatic memory, archival gaps, political violence, Bulgaria, narrative methodology, memory studies, subjectivity in history

Author: Lilia Topouzova

Lilia Topouzova is an Assistant Professor of History and Creative Nonfiction at the University of Toronto where she is also Director of the Professional Writing and Communication Program. She holds a PhD in History. Her interdisciplinary work explores history, memory, political violence, trauma, and public remembrance through film and art. She is the author of Unsilencing: The History & Legacy of the Bulgarian Gulag (Cornell University Press, 2025). Topouzova co-created with Julian Chehirian and Krasimira Butseva The Neighbours, a multi-media installation selected to represent Bulgaria at the 2024 Venice Biennale. She is also the scriptwriter of the award-winning documentaries The Mosquito Problem & Other Stories and Saturnia. Her articles have appeared in the American Historical Review, Gender & History, The Routledge Handbook of Memory and Place, Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice, Journal of Visual Literacy, and The European Review of Books.

Address:

Department of History, University of Toronto

Room 2074, Sidney Smith Hall

100 St. George Street

Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G3 CANADA

Email: lilia.topouzova@utoronto.ca

Bibliography

Oral History Interviews

Topouzova, L. (2011) Interview with Mato Koritzki, Plovdiv, April.

Topouzova, L. (2011) Interview with Rafael Rashidov, Pernik, April.

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Genres and Sites of Memory

Völkerpsychologie and Historiography: The Bulgarian Case

Abstract: This article outlines the topology, argumentative patterns, and modes of generalization of Bulgarian Völkerpsychologie, a singular discursive genre formed by the combination of popular essays on the different national characters and the German academic discipline. In the first half of the twentieth century, Völkerpsychologie wielded significant influence on the interpretations of social facts or historical events which could be conceived of as specifically “Bulgarian”. The article focuses on the uses of generalizations about national psychology in Bulgarian historiography. The final section discusses the relationships between Bulgarian Völkerpsychologie, Orientalism, and Balkanism, and poses the problem of its resurgence after the 1980s (the original genre disappeared after 1949, along with the German academic version).

Keywords: Völkerpsychologie, Orientalism, Balkanism, discourse, psychology

Author: Ivelina Ivanova

Ivelina Ivanova is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She holds a PhD in Philosophy. Her research interests are in the field of social philosophy and theory of history, with a particular focus on historiographical representations of communities, and community building and empowerment. She is the author of History and Interpretation (Sofia: Izvor, 2010, in Bulgarian) and From Philosophy of History to Studies of Historical Knowledge (Sofia: Faber, 2012, in Bulgarian).

Address:

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

13A Moskovska St.

1113 Sofia, Bulgaria

Email: i.ivanova@gbg.bg

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Partisan Memoir Writing in Bulgaria: Establishing a (Meta)Genre, 1940s‒1950s

Abstract: This article explores the genesis of partisan memoir writing in Bulgaria during the first decade after the coup of 9 September 1944. It examines the role of these memoirs in reinforcing the official narratives of the post-war communist regime, as well as their function in providing historical validity to its propaganda messages. Almost immediately after the coup, memoirs reflecting on the “anti-fascist struggle” began to be published, quickly becoming a major form of historiographical reflection. Partisan memoirs not only filled the literary field but also became a key resource for a prescribed post-1944 historiographical discourse. The article presents the mechanisms behind the construction of the “partisan memoir” as a meta-genre positioned between historiography and literature within the context of the complex ideological politics of the period.

Keywords: communist regime, Bulgaria, partisans, memoirs, propaganda, meta-genre, historiography, literature

Author: Milena Angelova

Milena Angelova is a lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at New Bulgarian University, Sofia. Her research interests lie in historical-anthropological studies of memory policies in communist Bulgaria, the history of public health and social work, rural policies following World War I, and ethno-confessional communities in the Caucasus region (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), among other areas. She is the author of several books (in Bulgarian), including “Model Village”: The Modernization Project of the Bulgarian Village, 1937–1944 (2008), The (Un)Shared Memory of Late Socialism: The People’s Memory Narrates Movement (2010), and The Social Disease: Tuberculosis in Bulgaria in the First Half of the 20th Century (2021). She is also co-editor of Heroes, Places, Memories: Bulgarian Memory Cultures and Politics of the Russian-Ottoman War of 1877–1878 (2016).

Address:

Department of Anthropology

New Bulgarian University

21 Montevideo str., g.k. Ovcha kupel 2

1618 Sofia, Bulgaria

Email: mangelova@nbu.bg

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Memory for Sale: Visual Narratives of Bulgarian Revival Towns

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between visual representation, collective memory, and consumerism in the construction of national identity. Focusing on the Revival towns of Plovdiv, Tryavna, and Teteven, the study explores how visual elements associated with the Bulgarian National Revival are commodified for tourism, and how they sustain a national narrative by using ethno-cultural imagery and blurring the lines between local and national. It highlights the role of visual clichés that merge culture and politics within the narrative of the Revival.

Keywords: Bulgarian National Revival, collective memory, national identity, ethnicity, tourism, cultural heritage

Author: Iliyana Vasileva

Iliyana Vasileva holds a BA in Sociology and is currently pursuing an MA in Cultural Anthropology and Cultural Heritage at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. Her research interests are in the fields of popular culture, memory, urban studies, and gender studies.

Email: iliyanavasileva@protonmail.com

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Genres and Politics of History

Chernobyl Remarks on the Banality of Evil

Abstract: According to data from the IAEA and UNSCEAR, Bulgaria ranked eighth in Europe in terms of radioactive contamination of its territory following the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Although Bulgaria was not the most severely affected, Bulgarian citizens were the most heavily exposed to radiation (measured by the so-called equivalent dose). This disparity was due to the lack of adequate protective measures. Measures that the communist authorities at the time demonstrably took for themselves, but not for the Bulgarian population.

Based on the analysis of numerous and various archival documents, I attempt to describe the behaviour of the Bulgarian authorities at that time through the concept of “banality of evil”. However, applying this concept, as well as other important concepts – for example, Foucault’s “state racism” – in a different context also necessitates significant revisions of the concepts themselves. For, although the Bulgarian population was massively exposed to the risk of disease and death, it was not treated by the authorities as an enemy destined for extermination. Moreover, the behaviour of the authorities cannot be explained as “following orders”, since what they failed to do was to follow the imperative to protect the health of the population – and this is the official biopolitical imperative, including for the then socialist state. Ultimately, what happened in Bulgaria after Chernobyl is presented in this article as an implosion of biopolitics. And to explain this implosion, two new concepts are experimentally developed as additions to Arendt’s and Foucault’s concepts: “moral debilism” and “class racism”.

Keywords: Chernobyl, communist Bulgaria, Hannah Arendt, Michel Foucault, banality of evil, state racism, moral debilism, class racism

Author: Dimitar Vatsov

Dimitar Vatsov, PhD, is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Doctoral School of New Bulgarian University, Sofia. He is also Chair of the Board of the Human and Social Studies Foundation – Sofia (HSSF). Dimitar Vatsov is the author of the following books (in Bulgarian): What Is Ontology? Intersecting Definitions (co-authored with Boyan Manchev; Sofia: Metheor, 2023); The Forces of Speech. A Radical Pragmatics (Sofia: Iztok-Zapad, 2021); This is True! (Sofia: NBU, 2016); Essays on Power and Truth (Sofia: NBU, 2009); Freedom and Recognition: The Interactive Sources of Identity (Sofia: NBU, 2006); Ontology of Affirmation: Nietzsche as a Task (Sofia: Iztok-Zapad, 2003). He has also published numerous papers in English, Italian, Russian, French, Polish, and Spanish. His research interests are in the fields of political philosophy and post-analytic philosophy of language. He is team leader and senior researcher in a series of HSSF studies on national populism and (pro)Russian propaganda in Bulgaria.

Address:

Department of Philosophy and Sociology

New Bulgarian University

21 Montevideo Blvd.

1618 Sofia, Bulgaria

Email: dvatsov@gmail.com

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ARCHIVAL SOURCES

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Arhiv na VKS (1991b) Intervyu na 07.05.1986 g. po Balgarskata televiziya na prof. L. Shindarov (MZ) i Iv. Pandev (KIAEMTS) – “NYAMA OSNOVANIYA ZA BEZPOKOYSTVO”. Delo 2/1991, t. 27, l. 4–9 [Архив на ВКС (1991b) Интервю на 07.05.1986 г. по Българската телевизия на проф. Л. Шиндаров (МЗ) и Ив. Пандев (КИАЕМЦ) – „НЯМА ОСНОВАНИЯ ЗА БЕЗПОКОЙСТВО“. Дело 2/1991, т. 27, л. 4–9].

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Arhiv na VKS (1991d) Otchet na KIAEMTS pred MAGATE ot noemvri 1986 g.: Rezultati ot izsledvaniyata na radiatsionnata obstanovka v NR Balgariya sled avariyata na Chernobilskata AETs. Delo 2/1991, t. 24, l. 36–58 [Архив на ВКС (1991d) Отчет на КИАЕМЦ пред МАГАТЕ от ноември 1986 г.: Резултати от изследванията на радиационната обстановка в НР България след аварията на Чернобилската АЕЦ. Дело 2/1991, т. 24, л. 36–58].

Arhiv na VKS (1991e) Protokol ot razpit na Tsv. Bonchev ot 02.04.1990 g. Delo 2/1991, t. 3, l. 49–50 [Архив на ВКС (1991e) Протокол от разпит на Цв. Бончев от 02.04.1990 г. Дело 2/1991, т. 3, л. 49–50].

Arhiv na VKS (1991f) Instruktsiya za higienni meropriyatiya pri radiatsionna obstanovka ot 14.05.1986. Delo 2/1991, t. 6, l. 10 [Архив на ВКС (1991f) Инструкция за хигиенни мероприятия при радиационна обстановка от 14.05.1986. Дело 2/1991, т. 6, л. 10].

Arhiv na VKS (1991g) Instruktsiya za hranene na lichniya sastav ot BNA pri povisheno sadarzhanie na radioaktivni veshtestva v okolnata sreda ot 14.05.1986. Delo 2/1991, t. 6, l. 13–14 [Архив на ВКС (1991g) Инструкция за хранене на личния състав от БНА при повишено съдържание на радиоактивни вещества в околната среда от 14.05.1986. Дело 2/1991, т. 6, л. 13–14].

Arhiv na VKS (1991h) Dokladna zapiska na prof. Tsv. Bonchev do Nachalnika na Grazhdanska otbrana ot 6.05.1986. Delo 2/1991, t. 22, l. 13–14 [Архив на ВКС (1991h) Докладна записка на проф. Цв. Бончев до Началника на Гражданска отбрана от 6.05.1986. Дело 2/1991, т. 22, л. 13–14].

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Arhiv na VKS (1991j) Protokol ot razpit na gen. B. Bonchev, zam.-nachalnik na UBO, ot 05.04.1990. Delo 2/1991, t. 4, l. 135 [Архив на ВКС (1991j) Протокол от разпит на ген, Б. Бончев, зам.-началник на УБО, от 05.04.1990. Дело 2/1991, т. 4, л. 135].

Arhiv na VKS (1991k) Protokol ot razpit na Hristo Petrov ot 26.04.1990. Delo 2/1991, t. 4, l. 148 [Архив на ВКС (1991k) Протокол от разпит на Христо Петров от 26.04.1990. Дело 2/1991, т. 4, л. 148].

Arhiv na VKS (1991l) Dokladna zapiska do zam.-predsedatelya na MS GRIGOR STOICHKOV ot chl. kor. prof. d-r TSENO HINKOVSKI ot 09.05.1996. Delo 2/1991, t. 19, l. 11 [Архив на ВКС (1991l) Докладна записка до зам.-председателя на МС ГРИГОР СТОИЧКОВ от чл. кор. проф. д-р ЦЕНО ХИНКОВСКИ от 09.05.1996. Дело 2/1991, т. 19, л. 11].

Arhiv na VKS (1991m) Telegrama 78 na PPK ot 9.05.1986, podpisana ot gen. Sultov, sekretar na PPK. Sofia: Delo 2/1991, t. 44, l. 57 [Архив на ВКС (1991m) Телеграма 78 на ППК от 9.05.1986, подписана от ген. Султов, секретар на ППК. Дело 2/1991, т. 44, с. 57].

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Arhiv na VKS (1991p) Teleks 680 ot 13.05.1986 do direktora na Direktsiya “Narodno zdrave i sotsialni grizhi” i do direktora na NIRR, podpisan ot chl. kor. prof. Shindarov. Delo 2/1991, t. 44, s. 67 [Архив на ВКС (1991p) Телекс 680 от 13.05.1986 до директора на Дирекция „Народно здраве и социални грижи“ и до директора на НИРР, подписан от чл. кор. проф. Шиндаров. Дело 2/1991, т. 44, с. 67].

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Arhiv na VKS (1991r) Protokol ot razpit na Georgi Atanasov ot 04.06.1990. Delo 2/1991, t. 2, l. 32 [Архив на ВКС (1991r) Протокол от разпит на Георги Атанасов от 04.06.1990. Дело 2/1991, т. 2, л. 32].

Arhiv na VKS (1991s) Protokol ot razpit na Grigor Stoichkov ot 19.07.1990. Delo 2/1991, t. 2, l. 22 [Архив на ВКС (1991s) Протокол от разпит на Григор Стоичков от 19.07.1990. Дело 2/1991, т. 2, л. 22].

Arhiv na VKS (1991t) Protokol ot razpit na Todor Petkov ot 24.04.1900. Delo 2/1991, t. 51, l. 95–96 [Архив на ВКС (1991t) Протокол от разпит на Тодор Петков от 24.04.1900. Дело 2/1991, т. 51, л. 95–96].

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Tsentralen darzhaven arhiv (1986b) Informatsiya otnosno proektnata gotovnost na uchenicheskite lagerni kompleksi na Chernomorskoto kraybrezhie ot 30.06.1986. TsDA, f. 142, op. 26, a.e. 257, l. 138 [Централен държавен архив (1986b) Информация относно проектната готовност на ученическите лагерни комплекси на Черноморското крайбрежие от 30.06.1986. ЦДА, ф. 142, оп. 26, а.е. 257, л. 138].

The Recent Past in Bulgarian Civic Education

Abstract: The first part of this article analyzes the content of civic education textbooks for the 11th and 12th grades of Bulgarian secondary schools, with a focus on the period referred to as the “recent past”. The second part presents a positive Bulgarian example of how historical narratives are visualized. This case study can be used to contextualize theoretical concepts such as freedom, democracy, and justice, which are central to civic education curricula.

Keywords: civic education, recent past, history as storytelling

Author: Teodora Karamelska

Teodora Karamelska is a lecturer at the Department of Philosophy and Sociology at New Bulgarian University in Sofia and a research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She is deputy editor-in-chief of the academic journal Sociological Problems. Her research interests include sociology of religion, history of sociology, and qualitative methods in the social sciences.

Address:

New Bulgarian University

Department of Philosophy and Sociology, Office 210/II

21 Montevideo Str.

1618 Sofia, Bulgaria

Email: teodora_karamelska@abv.bg

Bibliography

Dimitrov, G., Todorova, V., Stoychev, V. and Radev, G. (2021) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 12. klas. Sofia: Bulvest 2000 [Димитров, Г., Тодорова, В., Стойчев, В., Радев, Г. (2021) Гражданско образование за 12. клас. София: Булвест 2000].

Gercheva-Nestorova, G., Mineva, S., Dimova, M., Petkov, V. and Tultukova, R. (2020) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 11. klas. Sofia: Pedagog 6 [Герчева-Несторова, Г., Минева, С., Димова, М., Петков, В., Тултукова, Р. (2020) Гражданско образование за 11. клас. София: Педагог 6].

Gercheva-Nestorova, G., Mineva, S., Dimova, M., Sedlarski, T., Ivanov, L. and Tultukova, R. (2021) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 12. klas. Sofia: Pedagog 6 [Герчева-Несторова, Г., Минева, С., Димова, М., Седларски, Т., Иванов, Л., Тултукова, Р. (2021) Гражданско образование за 12. клас. София: Педагог 6].

Gerdzhikov, S. (2021) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 12. klas. Sofia: Ekstrem-Lokrat [Герджиков, С. (2021) Гражданско образование за 12. клас. София: Екстрем-Лократ].

Gerdzhikov, S. and Lozanov, V. (2020) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 11. klas. Sofia: Ekstrem-Lokrat [Герджиков, С., Лозанов, В. (2020) Гражданско образование за 11. клас. София: Екстрем-Лократ].

Kolev, I., Yalumov, T., and Gerdzhikov, G. (2021) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 12. klas. Sofia: Anubis [Колев, И., Ялъмов, Т., Герджиков, Г. (2021) Гражданско образование за 12. клас. София: Анубис].

Kolev, I., Makariev, P. and Naydenova, R. (2020) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 11. klas. Sofia: Anubis [Колев, И., Макариев, П., Найденова, Р. (2020) Гражданско образование за 11. клас. София: Анубис].

Todorov, H., Grekova, M. Kabakchieva, P., Slavkova, L. and Slavchev, K. (2020) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 11. klas. Sofia: Prosveta [Тодоров, Х., Грекова, М., Кабакчиева, П., Славкова, Л., Славчев, К. (2020) Гражданско образование за 11. клас. София: Просвета].

Todorov, H., Grekova, M., Kabakchieva, P., Slavkova, L. and Slavchev, K. (2021) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 12. klas. Sofia: Prosveta [Тодоров, Х., Грекова, М., Кабакчиева, П., Славкова, Л., Славчев, К. (2021) Гражданско образование за 12. клас. София: Просвета].

Vatsov, D., Znepolski, B., Iakimova, M. and Todorova, T. (2020) Grazhdansko obrazovanie za 11. klas. Sofia: Bulvest 2000 [Вацов, Д., Знеполски, Б., Якимова, М., Тодорова, Т. (2020) Гражданско образование за 11. клас. София: Булвест 2000].

The Rise of Resentment and the Victimization of Identities: The Parrhesiastic Dramaturgy of Resentment

Abstract: This article presents a study of the social mechanism driving the rise of a tide of resentment. The study was triggered by the observation of this rising tide and by questions such as: How are we to speak with the resentful? Do they want to speak with us? Is a conversation possible?

The social mechanism behind this rising tide is delineated as follows: growing social anxiety within a pervasive state of precarity is transformed into resentment by quasi-prophetic voices that create the feeling that “we” are a repressed majority turned into a minority, humiliated and silenced by things like hate-speech regulations. These voices help turn impotent revengefulness (or revengeful impotence) into a source of moral judgements, carefully nurturing one’s laments and grievances so as to blame the world for them and thus claim the moral superiority of the victim. Thus, resentment is also the transformation of impotence into pleasure. But whose are those voices?

Drawing on the work of Ghassan Hage, the article calls those to whom those voices belong “alternative intellectuals”. They transform their own feeling of delocalization, their own precarious condition into parrhesiastic gestures that incite resentment (or rather turn fearful reactions and troubling anxieties into resentful pleasures).

This article represents the early phase of a project aimed at understanding the interplay between precarity and parrhesia, the relation between parrhesia as a resource and repertoire for seeking recognition, on the one hand, and precarity as a prolonged, often constant state of lacking control over one’s own condition, on the other.

Keywords: resentment/ressentiment, parrhesia (“fearless speech”), precarity, recognition, illusio

Author: Milena Iakimova

Milena Iakimova is Professor of Sociology at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and a member of the Human and Social Studies Foundation – Sofia. She is the author of the monographs (in Bulgarian) Sofia of the Common People (With a Tarikat Slang-Bulgarian Dictionary) (2010), How a Social Problem Arises (2016), and Fear and Propaganda (2022). Her research interests are in the fields of critical social theory, qualitative research methods, collective identities, political emotions and collective mobilizations, and propaganda studies.

Address:

Department of Sociology

Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

125 Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd.

1113 Sofia, Bulgaria

Email: milena.iakimova@gmail.com

Bibliography

Azmanova, A. (2020) Capitalism on Edge: How Fighting Precarity Can Achieve Radical Change Without Crisis or Utopia. New York: Columbia University Press.

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Berlant, L. (2019) Why Chasing the Good Life Is Holding Us Back. Big Brains, 04.11, Ep. 25. University of Chicago Podcast Network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppdd2R46Eh4 [Accessed: 03.09.2024].

Bernstein, M. A. (1983) When the Carnival Turns Bitter: Preliminary Reflections upon the Abject Hero. Critical Inquiry, 10 (2), pp. 283–305.

Bourdieu, P. (1997) Pascalian Meditations. Translated from French by R. Nice. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Brown, W. (1995) States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

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Delumeau, J. (1978) La Peur en Occident (XIV – XVIII^e siècles). Une cité assiégée. Paris: Fayard.

Fassin, D. (2013) On Resentment and Ressentiment: The Politics and Ethics of Moral Emotions. Current Anthropology, 54 (3), pp. 249–267.

Foucault, M. (2001) Fearless Speech. Edited by J. Pearson. Los Angeles: Semiotext(e).

Hage, G. (2000) White Nation: Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society. New York: Routledge.

Hage, G. and Gerrard, J. (2019) Toxic Whiteness, panel discussion at the Institute of Postcolonial Studies, 2 May. https://ipcs.org.au/event/toxic-whiteness/ [Accessed: 11.09.2024].

Iakimova, M. (2018) Propaganda Clichés, Fear-Mongering and Resentment in Bulgarian Society 2016–2017. CAS Working Paper Series, 10, pp. 1–33

Karbovski, M. (2024) Lyatoto na balgarina 2024. Lentata, 20.07 [Карбовски, М. (2024) Лятото на българина 2024. Лентата, 20.07]. https://www.lentata.com/lyatoto-na-blgarina-2024 [Accessed: 03.09.2024].

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Massumi, B. (2015) Politics of Affect. Cambridge: Polity Press.

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Nietzsche, F. (2006) On the Genealogy of Morality. Translated from German by C. Diethe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Popov, D. (2024) Putin zapochna da myata malnii po elita: “Balat na vampirite” priklyuchi. Pogled info, 15.03 [Попов, Д. (2024) Путин започна да мята мълнии по елита: „Балът на вампирите“ приключи. Поглед инфо, 15.03]. https://pogled.info/svetoven/russia/putin-zapochna-da-myata-malnii-po-elita-balat-na-vampirite-priklyuchi.166982 [Accessed: 03.09.2024].

Putin, V. (2024) Interview to Dmitry Kiselev. Kremlin.ru, 13.03. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73648 (Russian original available at: http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73648) [Accessed: 02.11.2024].

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Vatsov, D., Hranova, A., Dimitrova, B., Znepolski, B., Kiuranov, D., Kanoushev, M., Iakimova, M., Junes, T. and Tomov, Ts. (2017) Anti-Democratic Propaganda in Bulgaria. Part One: News Websites and Print Media, 2013–2016. Quantitative Research. Sofia: Human and Social Studies Foundation – Sofia. http://hssfoundation.org/wp content/uploads/2017/04/REPORT_PART1_EN.pdf. [Accessed 03.09.2024].

Genres in Literature

The Secret of Récit

Abstract: This article focuses on a specific aspect of the narrative form known as récit. Drawing on the ideas of Maurice Blanchot, it offers a non-traditional interpretation of récit. The theoretical reconstruction of Blanchot’s argument in his essay “The Song of the Sirens” is used as the foundation for further exploration of récit in relation to Franz Kafka’s parables and their proximity to Blanchot’s theory of narrative.

Keywords: Maurice Blanchot, récit, genre theory, Franz Kafka, parables

Author: Joanna Neykova

Joanna Neykova is a lecturer and a researcher in the Department of Theory of Literature at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She holds a PhD degree in Theory of Literature and a master’s degree in Literary Studies. More broadly, Neykova is interested in avant-garde movements, modernist literature and post-structuralism.

Address:

Department of Theory of Literature

Faculty of Slavic Studies

15 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd.

1504 Sofia, Bulgaria

Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

Email: joanna.neykova@gmail.com

Bibliography

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Blanchot, M. (1973) La folie du jour. Montpellier: Fata Morgana.

Blanchot, M. (1995) The Work of Fire. Translated from French by C. Mandell. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Blanchot, M. (1999) The Madness of the Day. Translated from French by L. Davis. In: The Station Hill Blanchot Reader: Fiction & Literary Essays. Edited by G. Quasha. Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press, pp. 189–199.

Blanchot, M. (2003) The Book to Come. Translated from French by C. Mandell. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Derrida, J. (1980) The Law of Genre. Translated by A. Ronell. Critical Inquiry, 7 (1), pp. 55–81.

Derrida, J. (1992) Before the Law. In: Acts of Literature. Edited by D. Attridge. London: Routledge, pp. 183–220.

Genette, G. (1988) Narrative Discourse Revisited. Translated from French by J. E. Lewin. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Just, D. (2008) The Politics of the Novel and Maurice Blanchot’s Theory of the Récit, 1954–1964. French Forum, 33 (1/2), pp. 121–139.

Kafka F. (1971) The Complete Stories. Translated from German by W. and E. Muir et al. New York: Schocken Books.

Shattuck, R. (1950) The Doubting of Fiction. Yale French Studies, 6, France and World Literature, pp. 101–108.

Smock, A. (2003) What Is There to Say? Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Tenev, D. (2024) Derrida and the Potentiality of Literature: Notes on Derrida’s “The Law of Genre”. World Literature Studies, 16 (1), pp. 54–70.

The Sonnet Collections of Stoyan Mihaylovski and Konstantin Velichkov, and the Petrarchist Model in the Western European Tradition

Abstract: This article examines the sonnet collections Philosophical and Satirical Sonnets (Filosoficheski i satiricheski soneti) by Stoyan Mihaylovski (1856–1927) and Constantinople Sonnets (Tsarigradski soneti) by Konstantin Velichkov (1855–1907), focusing on their relationship to the Petrarchist tradition – and more specifically, to the Petrarchist model of a poetry collection. Central to the discussion are the variations in sonnet form found in the works of these two Bulgarian authors, as compared to those seen in the sonnets of Petrarch, Lorenzo de’ Medici, Michelangelo, and Pierre de Ronsard, on one hand, and on the other – how motifs typical for Petrarchism function in new ways in the sonnet collections of Mihaylovski and Velichkov. Individual poems, “coupled” sonnets, and larger groups of works united by a significant motif are also analyzed. By juxtaposing Mihaylovski’s and Velichkov’s sonnet collections with key features of the Petrarchist literary tradition, the article reveals and outlines the similarities and differences not only between them and this tradition, but also between the two poets’ sonnet collections.

Keywords: Petrarchism, sonnet history, Bulgarian sonnet, Stoyan Mihaylovski, Konstantin Velichkov

Author: Kalin Mihaylov

Kalin Mihaylov is Professor of West European Literature at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in Bulgaria. He holds an MA in Bulgarian Language and Literature and in French Language and Literature (1991), and a PhD in West European Literature (2000). His main research interests focus on the relationship between fiction and Christianity, novel and quasi-literary (auto)biographical genres, as well as the interplay between French and Bulgarian literary and cultural traditions, and, more broadly, between West and East European models of thought and expression.

Address:

Department of Theory of Literature

Faculty of Slavic Studies

15 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd.

1504 Sofia, Bulgaria

Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

Email: Kalin_Mikhaylov@yahoo.fr

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Boyadzhiev, Ts. (2022) Kratka istoriya na antichnata filosofiya ot neynite nachala do epohata na elinizma. Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” [Бояджиев, Ц. (2022) Кратка история на античната философия от нейните начала до епохата на елинизма. София: Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“].

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Sivriev, S. (2017) Individualizmat v balgarskata lirika ot kraya na XIX i nachaloto na XX v. Sofia: Izdatelstvo “Karina – Mariana Angelova” [Сивриев, С. (2017) Индивидуализмът в българската лирика от края на XIX и началото на XX в. София: Издателство „Карина – Мариана Ангелова“].

Sivriev, S. (2023) Za sonetite prez Balgarskoto vazrazhdane. In: Horizonti na slovoto. Sbornik v chest na 80-godishninata na prof. Kiril Topalov. Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, pp. 338–347 [Сивриев, С. (2023) За сонетите през Българското възраждане. В: Хоризонти на словото. Сборник в чест на 80-годишнината на проф. Кирил Топалов. София: Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, с. 338–347].

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Velichkov, K. (1986) Sachineniya v pet toma. Tom parvi. Poeziya. Compiled and edited by I. Todorov [Величков, К. (1986) Съчинения в пет тома. Том първи. Поезия. Подб. и ред. И. Тодоров. София: Български писател].

Veliksin, D. (1999) Sachineniya. Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov” [Великсин, Д. (1999) Съчинения. София: Академично издателство „Проф. Марин Дринов“].

Genre and Transcendental Topography in György Lukács’s Early Genre Theory (The Theory of the Novel)

Abstract: This article examines the earliest stages in the development of György Lukács’s aesthetic thought, with a focus on his essay The Theory of the Novel. The interpretation aims at discerning, analyzing, and systematically expanding the essay’s central claims regarding the intersection of genre and history. Literary genre is defined as a form of representation of the world that enables a historical understanding of a particular situation in culture. Furthermore, there is a privileged genre that is the symptomatic genre of historicity: the novel. Several key concepts are highlighted as central to Lukács’s arguments: transcendental topography, nature and history, and life. The first section of the article analyzes the concept of transcendental topography as the main criterion for genre typology in the early Lukács, emphasizing its origins in the German idealist tradition. The second section focuses on the opposition and intersections between nature and history in their representation in genre. This relation is explored further with regard to the concept of totality in the third section. The fourth section offers a detailed interpretation of the concept of life that proves to be central in the constitution of genre specificity and of the transcendental topography underlying genre.

Keywords: genre theory, literary genres, György Lukács, the novel, historicity, transcendental topography

Author: Bogdana Paskaleva

Bogdana Paskaleva teaches Ancient and Medieval Literature and Western European Literature at the Faculty of Slavic Studies, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Bulgaria. Her primary scholarly interests are in literary theory and history, particularly the literature of Classical Antiquity and the Italian Renaissance, as well as the problems of visual and literary imagery. She is the author of a monograph on Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Address:

Department of Theory of Literature

Faculty of Slavic Studies

Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

15 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd.

1504 Sofia, Bulgaria

Email: b_paskaleva@slav.uni-sofia.bg

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Zashev, D. (2001/2002) Otvad zabravata (Po sluchay 40-godishninata ot smartta na Lukach). Demokratichen pregled, 48, pp. 303–308 [Зашев, Д. (2001/2002) Отвъд забравата (По случай 40-годишнината от смъртта на Лукач). Демократичен преглед, 48, с. 303–308].

Memory and Genre in Science Fiction

The Science Fiction Memory Film

Abstract: Science fiction cinema places paramount importance on questions of time and temporality, particularly those concerning the manipulation of memory. I propose the term “science fiction memory film” by examining several commercially successful science fiction films, mostly from the 2000s and 2010s. These films’ plots involve a fictional scenario about monitoring, commodifying, and digitally altering human memories. They foreground the prominence of technological advancements as well as relationships of contact or collision between human and digital memory. In these films, the specific mode of addressing memory and the lived past can be observed on the level of both subject matter and narration. By analyzing exemplary themes and approaches, I suggest that this type of science fiction films reflect cultural anxieties and desires in the present age of ubiquitous computing. Finally, I connect the films in question to the concept of societies of control, developed by Gilles Deleuze and further elaborated by a number of contemporary theorists.

Keywords: memory, film, science fiction, technology

Author: Vasil Markov

Vasil Markov (PhD) is a chief assistant at the Anthropological Studies Department, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His research interests are in the fields of anthropology, aesthetics and philosophy of the image, and media theory. Major publications: Vreme i videoobraz [Time and the video image] (2012, Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Publishing House of BAS); Neka izkustvoto razkazhe samo svoyata istoriya [Let art tell its own tale] (2012, Sofia: Askoni-izdat); Arhitekturnata forma [The architectural form] (2012, Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Publishing House of BAS).

Address:

Anthropological Studies Department

Institute of Philosophy and Sociology

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

4 Serdika St.

1000 Sofia, Bulgaria

Email: vasilmarkov@abv.bg

Bibliography

Clough, P. T. (2007) Introduction. In: Clough, P. T. and Halley, J. (eds.) The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. pp. 1–33.

Deleuze, G. (1992) Postscript on the Societies of Control. October, 59, pp. 3–7.

Dodge, M. and Kitchin, R. (2007) “Outlines of a World Coming into Existence”: Pervasive Computing and the Ethics of Forgetting. Environment and Planning B, 34 (3), pp. 431–445.

Elsaesser, T. (2009) Hollywood heute: Geschichte, Gender und Nation im postklassischen Kino. Berlin: Bertz + Fischer.

Elsaesser, T. (2021) The Mind-Game Film: Distributed Agency, Time Travel, and Productive Pathology. New York: Routledge.

Fuller, M. (2005) Media Ecologies: Materialist Energies in Art and Technoculture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Glass, F. (1990) Totally Recalling Arnold: Sex and Violence in the New Bad Future. Film Quarterly, 44 (1), pp. 2–13.

Landsberg, A. (1995) Prosthetic Memory: Blade Runner and Total Recall. Body & Society, 1 (3–4), pp. 175–189.

Lazzarato, M. (2019) Videophilosophy: The Perception of Time in Post-Fordism. Edited and translated from Italian by J. Hetrick. New York: Columbia University Press.

Martin-Jones, D. (2009) Demystifying Deleuze: French Philosophy Meets Contemporary U.S. Cinema. In: Buckland, W. (ed.) Film Theory and Contemporary Hollywood Movies. New York: Routledge. pp. 214–233.

Pisters, P. (2003) The Matrix of Visual Culture: Working with Deleuze in Film Theory. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Pisters, P. (2012) The Neuro-Image: A Deleuzian Film-Philosophy of Digital Screen Culture. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Pisters, P. (2016a) Cutting and Folding the Borgesian Map: Film as Complex Temporal Object in the Industrialization of Memory. In: Ekman, U., Bolter, J. D., Díaz, L., Søndergaard, M. and Engberg, M. (eds.) Ubiquitous Computing, Complexity, and Culture. New York: Routledge. pp. 324–335.

Pisters, P. (2016b) Memory Is No Longer What It Used to Be. In: Groes, S. (ed.) Memory in the Twenty-First Century: New Critical Perspectives from the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 213–217.

Poulaki, M. (2011) Implanted Time: The Final Cut and the Reflexive Loops of Complex Narratives. New Review of Film and Television Studies, 9 (4), pp. 415–434.

Prince, S. (1992) Visions of Empire: Political Imagery in Contemporary American Film. New York: Praeger.

Redmond, S. (2009) Film Since 1980. In: Bould, M., Butler, A. M., Roberts, A., and Vint, S. (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction. London: Routledge, pp. 134–143.

Savat, D. (2010) Uncoding the Digital: Technology, Subjectivity and Action in the Control Society. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sobchack, V. (2005) American Science Fiction Film: An Overview. In: Seed, D. (ed.) A Companion to Science Fiction. Malden, MA: Blackwell, pp. 261–274.

Filmography

Déjà vu (2006) Directed by Tony Scott. Burbank, CA: Buena Vista Pictures.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Directed by Michel Gondry. Universal City, CA: Focus Features.

Inception (2010) Directed by Christopher Nolan. Burbank, CA: Warner Bros.

Je t’aimes, je t’aimes (1968) Directed by Alain Resnais. Paris: Les Productions Fox Europa, Parc Film.

Minority Report (2002) Directed by Steven Spielberg. Los Angeles, CA: 20th Century Fox.

Source Code (2011) Directed by Duncan Jones. Universal City, CA: Summit Entertainment.

The Final Cut (2004) Directed by Omar Naim. Santa Monica, CA: Lionsgate Films.

Total Recall (1990) Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Culver City, CA: TriStar Pictures.

The Personoid Genre: On the Relation of Anti-Utopia and Dystopia in the Light of Memory

Abstract: This article presents itself as a light-hearted experiment, drawing inspiration from two recently published monographs on the problems of utopia – by Alexander Popov and Chavdar Parushev. By equating the genre to Stanisław Lem’s concept of personoids, the article attempts to highlight the categorical difference between the dystopic and the anti-utopic, examining the thematization of memory as a symptom of structural dynamics.

Keywords: dystopia, anti-utopia, memory, genre

Author: Nikolay Genov

Nikolay Genov is Senior Assistant Professor at the Institute for Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He holds a PhD in Literary Theory, an MA in Literary Studies, and a BA in Bulgarian Philology from Sofia University. His research interests are focused on science fiction, genre theory, digital media, and video games. He is the author of the book The Virtual Human: An Essay on Phantomatics (2022; in Bulgarian). His texts have been published in various journals, collections, and academic platforms.

Address:

Department of Literary Theory

Institute for Literature – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Shipchenski Prohod Blvd., bl. 17

1111 Sofia, Bulgaria

E-mail: nk.genov@gmail.com

Bibliography

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Doina, M. D. (2014) The Political Role of Memory and Identity in Dystopian Societies. European Journal of Research and Reflection in Arts and Humanities, 2 (2), pp. 7–17.

Lem, S. (1979) Non Serviam. In: A Perfect Vacuum: Perfect Reviews of Nonexistent Books. Translated from Polish by M. Kandel. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, pp. 167–196.

Parushev, Ch. (2021) Sreshtuchoveshkoto: Antiutopichniyat zhanr v literaturata prez XX vek. Sofia: VS Publishing [Парушев, Ч. (2021) Срещучовешкото: Антиутопичният жанр в литературата през ХХ век. София: ВС Пъблишинг].

Popov, A. (2023) Zone Theory: Science Fiction and Utopia in the Space of Possible Worlds. Oxford: Peter Lang.

Popov, I. (2020) Kiberpank, evristika, futurologiya. Sofia: IKFEP “Ivan Efremov” [Попов, И. (2020) Киберпънк, евристика, футурология. София: ИКФЕП „Иван Ефремов“].

Rieder, J. (2017) Science Fiction and the Mass Cultural Genre System. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.

Tenev, D. (2012) Fiktsiya i obraz. Plovdiv: Zhanet-45 [Тенев, Д. (2012) Фикция и образ. Пловдив: Жанет-45].

Tenev, D. (2024) Labirintat na modalnostite. Sofia: VS Publishing [Тенев, Д. (2024) Лабиринтът на модалностите. София: ВС Пъблишинг].

сп. Критика и хуманизъм | кн. 61, бр. 2/2024 | Памет, история, жанр