Geo Milev’s poem “September” can be read as a socio-political dystopia-utopia. It belongs to a tradition that stretches from Plato’s Republic, through Plutarch’s “Lycurgus” and Thomas More’s Utopia, to Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World. The study begins by identifying several key signifying discourses and cultural codes that frame the poem as a dystopia-utopia. It then sketches the theoretical parameters of the dystopian-utopian genre. Finally, the analysis demonstrates that “September” embodies the core features of this genre. The study concludes by identifying those utopian aspects that enabled communist literary criticism to interpret “September” as a prophetic vision of communism’s inevitable victory in Bulgaria. The approach is comparative, engaging both Bulgarian and Euro-American historical and theoretical contexts. The interpretation examines the poem on multiple levels—philosophical, aesthetic, poetic, and phonetic.
GEO MILEV’S POEM “SEPTEMBER” AS A DYSTOPIA-UTOPIA
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YEAR: КНИГА 9PUBLISHED ON :
PUBLISHER: INSTITUTE FOR LITERATUREISSN (Print): 2738-7631ISSN (Online): 2815-2999
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- NAME: Nikita Nankov
- INVERSION: Nankov, Nikita
- E-MAIL: [email protected]
- INSTITUTION: PhD, Independent scholar
- COUNTRY: Bulgaria
- ORCID: 0000-0003-0925-9126
Никита Нанков (1956, София) е българо-американски компаративист с докторати по американска и българска литература и сравнително литературознание (Институт за литература, БАН, 1989/1993) и руска литература и сравнително литературознание (двоен докторат, Indiana University, Bloomington, САЩ, 2006). Научните му интереси са интердисциплинарни: литература, философия и изобразителни изкуства. Негови статии и книги са публикувани в България, САЩ, Канада, Обединеното кралство, Италия, Холандия, Русия и Хърватия. Той е и писател, рисувач и дизайнер на художествените си книги. Публикува рисунки и карикатури, участва в карикатурни изложби в България и другаде. Научни книги: „В огледалната стая. Седем образа на българския литературен селоград“ (2001) и „Postmodernizam i kulturni izazovi [Постмодернизъм и културни предизвикателства]“ (Загреб, Хърватия, 2004). Художествени книги (проза, поезия, книги за деца): „Празни приказки“ (2000), „Триднев“ (2002), „Ето така“ (2004), „Обреченост на думите. Три и половина кратки поеми за любовта“ (2007), „Най-понякога. Малки приказки и за големи, големи приказки и за малки“ (2007), „Аметисти & Ахати“ (2018).
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ABSTRACTGeo Milev’s poem “September” can be read as a socio-political dystopia-utopia. It belongs to a tradition that stretches from Plato’s Republic, through Plutarch’s “Lycurgus” and Thomas More’s Utopia, to Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World. The study begins by identifying several key signifying discourses and cultural codes that frame the poem as a dystopia-utopia. It then sketches the theoretical parameters of the dystopian-utopian genre. Finally, the analysis demonstrates that “September” embodies the core features of this genre. The study concludes by identifying those utopian aspects that enabled communist literary criticism to interpret “September” as a prophetic vision of communism’s inevitable victory in Bulgaria. The approach is comparative, engaging both Bulgarian and Euro-American historical and theoretical contexts. The interpretation examines the poem on multiple levels—philosophical, aesthetic, poetic, and phonetic.
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