Bulgarian polemics on American Generativism 1950s-1970s: a peek through the Iron curtain

Abstract

The paper discusses the attitude of Bulgarian linguistic circles towards American generative grammar at its birth and establishment in the period from the 1950s to the 1970s. Bulgarian treatment of generativism is analysed by following the two opposing lines in it: the hegemonic ideologically-biased rejection and its polemic support. An attempt is made to disregard the heat of discussions and rather focus on the underlying grounds of the criticism. The philosophical-ideological motivation of the polemics is considered, as well as the key topics of generative grammar, upheld by its proponents. In general, the analysis tends to the study of the processes of intellectual and cultural transfer in modern linguistics.

Keywords

• generativism
• bulgarian generativism
• marxist criticism of generative grammar
• linguistic historiography
• first bulgarian generativists