БЪЛГАРСКАТА ПРОБЛЕМАТИКА В РАМКИТЕ НА АКАДЕМИЧНОТО ИЗУЧАВАНЕ НА ИСТОРИЯТА НА БАЛКАНСКИТЕ ЛИТЕРАТУРИ: ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКИ И МЕТОДОЛОГИЧЕСКИ АСПЕКТИ
THE PROBLEMS OF BULGARIAN STUDIES WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF A UNIVERSITY COURSE ON THE HISTORY OF BALKAN LITERATURES: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the thematic scope of a university course on the history of Balkan literatures and is based on the author’s personal experience at Marie Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin during the years 2012–2018. The creation of such a course poses a number of theoretical and methodological problems that relate to the adequate existence of this academic field and of Balkan Studies in general: the chronological boundaries and periodization of Balkan literatures, the selection of main and secondary authors and phenomena during the course, the historical and the synchronous method in researching separate literary traditions. Special attention is drawn to potentially Bulgaria-related topics and their functionality in the context of a synoptic approach to Balkan literatures. The author’s general conclusion is that a national literary canon cannot be mechanically regarded as an integral part of the general history of the Peninsula’s traditions. In terms of the common processes and the comparative perspective of a literary history comprising of several different linguo-cultural traditions, the author suggests that a national canon should not only be reduced in order to be integrated into a foreseeable academic course, but the most important thing is to emphasize the phenomena that retain their unique features among other traditions. Although the national literary canons in the Balkans are heavily dependent on the periods of the National Revival in the 19th c. and modern writing in the 20th c., they include many significant aspects that are not strictly connected to the stereotyped ideas of patriotism, collective struggles or Europeization and thus deserve more attention.

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