В търсене на новите български културни герои в чужбина
In Search of New Bulgarian Cultural Heroes Abroad

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses several major challenges for delivering messages, symbols and cultural heroes representing an attractive image of Bulgaria and Bulgarians abroad. It takes into consideration a divergence between current national promotion strategies and the opportunities in the foreign market. The author suggests that the role of new cultural heroes can be performed by former football players Hristo Stoichkov and Dimitar Berbatov, whose autobiographies have been released in 2018 with immediate plans for publication in Poland. Judging by their commercial success, “The Story” of Stoichkov and Berbatov’s “My Way” reveal an unexpected transformation of notable sportspersons into narrators. Questions, such as the nature of authorship and co-authorship, the linguistic, stylistic and narrative specifics in both books, lead to a typological comparison of the two athletes-turned-writers to previous manifestations of the Bulgarian cultural hero. According to the author, the most persuading argument for the acceptance of Stoichkov and Berbatov as contemporary cultural heroes is the model of the undisputed winner, revealed in their autobiographies. The two editions do not fit into the categories of high Bulgarian culture, however their translation abroad would open up new horizons in search of successful national symbols.

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