Images of Sofia in Bulgarian Poetry in the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Centuries

Abstract

This article is devoted to the image of Sofia in Bulgarian poetry in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The study analyses and interprets poems of four well-known Bulgarian poets: Zlatomir Zlatanov (b. 1953), Ani Ilkov (b. 1957), Edvin Sugarev (b. 1953) and Vladimir Sabourin (b. 1967). The starting point is a synthetic presentation of the genesis and evolution of the Sofia motif in Bulgarian literary works from between the mid-eighteenth century and the 1970s. The motif of the capital city initially functions in opposition to the rural theme. Urban space is a sphere of foreign Western European influences and threatens traditional patriarchal culture. The evolution of the city motif takes place in the context of the developing new literary trends and tendencies in the interwar period (including expressionism and avant-garde). Images of the capital city as a place where the bourgeoisie lives and where poverty and social injustice reign, come from literature entangled in ideological and political contexts (the leftist poetry of the 1920s). Contemporary poets draw on traditional themes of the alienation of the city and the problematic situation of its inhabitants. Still, their thoughts are framed by postmodern philosophical reflection and native cultural and historical contexts. The subjective experience of the city of Sofia creates its various dimensions – physical, cultural, symbolic, social, mythical. A common experience for the poets is the signs of the communist ideological legacy. The periphery of the city undergoes a process of degradation and disintegration. In an existentialist perspective, Sofia’s lyrical conceptualisation points to the constant presence of irresolvable contrasts, paradoxes, and a sense of the scandalous absurdity of existence.

Keywords

• Sofia
• Bulgarian poetry of the 20th and 21st centuries
• city motif
• images of Sofia