Andriana Spasova

The paper examines the use of niy/nie (we/we – on different stylis- tic levels of language) in Bulgarian National Revival literature as a means of constructing a journalistic voice and c­­­­onferring representativeness on expres- sion in the press. The study is grounded in the satirical text “Niy ili nie” (“We or We” – on different stylistic levels) by Petko R. Slaveykov, published in the newspaper Shutosh in 1874, in order to trace how National Revival intellec- tuals constructed the categories of we and the others within the framework of the Bulgarian cultural community. The analysis focuses on stereotypes and the rhetorical strategies employed by these intellectuals to legitimize their place in the public and political discourse. Particular attention is paid to the role of the collective we in the Bulgarian press, with the aim of addressing the following question: to what extent does the language of the Revival function as a means of self-affirmation in opposition to external cultural influences and internal social tensions? The rhetorical functioning of niy and nie extends beyond the level of linguistic choice and emerges as a means of constructing a journalistic stance and conferring representativeness on expression in the Revival press.

The article examines the satirical poetry of Petar Dimitrov Protich, which fits into the ideas of the Bulgarian Revival, affirming the Bulgarian identity and opposing “the own” to “the other”. The main themes in his poetry are knowledge, education and the role of the scholar and intellectual in social development. Through his work P. Protich criticizes the Hellenophilia among the Bulgarians and other Balkan peoples in the 19th century, ridicules the uncritical attitude towards Greek influences, and also the object of his satirical pen are folk superstitions and ignorance. Some of his most emblematic foreign- language works, which have not yet been translated into Bulgarian (except “Η Γραικομανία”, translated by Afr. Alexieva), are “La voix de la Bulgaria”, “Ο Εξελληνισμός”, “Le turcoman”, “Le passage du Danube”, “To the right hon. W. E. Gladstone, M. P.”, “Le repatrié”. The social and ideological line, the vivid portrayal of the Balkan syndrome in the poems of the Greek graduate to some extent at the expense of their literary merits. The notion of the “other” in the satirical poems of Petar Protich comes close to the massively embodied negative image in the artistic, historical and journalistic texts of the Bulgarian 19th century.

In this article research interest is focused on the large-scale manuscript heritage of Nayden Gerov (Fund 22 of the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library – Bulgarian Historical Archive). There is a brief historical overview of the current scientific activities with a small part of 2000 archive units in the personal archive fund of the Revival writer, linguist, teacher and politician Nayden Gerov. In the focus of the study are presented two unexplored until now educational handwritten stories – Bulgarian and universal (F. 22, archive unit 603 and a. u. 604). The facts surrounding the two historical textbooks are systematized, and separate hypotheses have been made about the year of writing, the presence of more than one author, the place and the function in the context of the other published historical textbooks.