Balgarianovinite.com A discussion within the national campaign “Pencho Slaveykov Today”, with which the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) marks 160 years since the poet’s birth, was held in the northeastern Bulgarian town of Targovishte on Saturday. Such meetings are organized at all 33 press clubs of BTA across the country. They will be covered in a thematic issue of the news agency’s monthly magazine LIK, which will be dedicated to Pencho Slaveykov (1866-1912) and Bulgarian modernism.
The subject of the discussion at the local BTA press club was Pencho Slaveykov’s work and the role of his father, poet and politician Petko Slaveykov (1827-1895), in the development of education in Targovishte.
The discussion was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Yordan Eftimov, a poet, literary scholar and literary critic. According to him, when discussing the work of Pencho Slaveykov, the works of his brothers and the role of his father, Petko Slaveykov, should not be overlooked. “After all, Pencho Slaveykov wrote the poem ‘My Father in Me’. This is the earliest Bulgarian poem about one’s relationship with a parent,” Eftimov noted.
He said that discussion of Pencho Slaveykov naturally extends to the work of the other representatives of the “Misal” literary circle, as Bulgarian modernism was made possible by the efforts of several highly influential creative figures. “We also discuss those who have written important texts about Pencho Slaveykov, including novels,” Eftimov said. He recalled that some of the discussions held so far in other cities across the country had featured writers who had based fictional works on the life of Pencho Slaveykov. According to him, this shows that the range of possible topics is quite broad.
During the discussion, Eftimov also highlighted BTA Director General Kiril Valchev’s idea of once again involving the entire country, as well as intellectuals from different regions, in a common discussion about the past, its legacy and the way we perceive them today. “There are people throughout the country who are ready to express opposing and differing views, supported by arguments in different ways, about the past, our ancestors and our heritage, and these voices need to be heard,” the literary scholar said.
He said Bulgarian society is too centralised, particularly in terms of media coverage and the presence of public figures at major forums. “Through the BTA campaign, it is being shown that this is a problem and that it is worthwhile and important for representatives of libraries, theatres, museums and schools from across the country to appear and express a position,” he commented.
During the discussion, Assoc. Prof. Yordan Eftimov also said that the story of Petko and Pencho Slaveykov demonstrates the different dimensions of attitudes towards education – from Petko Slaveykov’s direct involvement in educational activities to his son Pencho’s critical stance towards specific forms of education. He also pointed out that changes to school curricula and the disputes surrounding them are not a phenomenon unique to the present day.
Eftimov also focused on the way writers from the past are assessed today. “When, as critics, we assess whether something is good or not, we are not outside our own time – we exist within a particular system of thought. But that does not mean that we should not make judgements,” he said.
According to him, many people, particularly when it comes to writers from the past, tend simply to accept that everyone has their place and that “everything is fine”. The literary scholar said, however, that it is important to make distinctions because “some of these writers are more profound, more complex in literary terms and develop the language to a greater extent”.
As an example, Eftimov pointed to contemporary pupils’ attitude towards the work of Pencho Slaveykov. One reason why he is not as popular among pupils today is his deliberate use of dialect words, the literary scholar believes. “They are present in his poetry not because they were his only natural way of expressing himself, but because he deliberately enriches it with them. This proves to be a serious obstacle for today’s pupils, who want to understand everything quickly,” Eftimov said.
He stressed that this difficulty can itself be viewed as part of the characteristics of good literature. “One of the concepts of good literature is that it deliberately creates obstacles in order to make us read more slowly and with greater effort,” Assoc. Prof. Yordan Eftimov added.
The discussion in Targovishte was attended by Regional History Museum curator Nikolay Stavrev and English teacher Petya Gleridis.
Historian Nikolay Stavrev said that Petko Slaveykov ushered in a new period in the educational development of Targovishte during his stay in what was then Eski Dzhumaya in 1863-1864. His arrival in the city was connected with the establishment of the “Saint Seven Saints” school – one of the most significant Revival-era schools in the Bulgarian lands – and his work transformed the organisation of local education, Nikolay Stavrev noted.
Petya Gleridis, an English teacher at “Prof. Nikola Marinov” Secondary School in Targovishte, said during the discussion that Pencho Slaveykov is among the most difficult Bulgarian poets to translate into English. Gleridis spoke about her personal connection with the poet’s work, dating back to her school years. She said her interest in Slaveykov began in an unusual way, when, as schoolgirls, she and three friends acted out the “Misal” literary circle, taking on the roles of its representatives, with Petya Gleridis herself playing Pencho Slaveykov.
The meeting in Targovishte was the 31st in the BTA campaign “Pencho Slaveykov and Bulgarian Modernism”.
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