https://lib.uni-plovdiv.net/handle/123456789/1270 2026-08-19T22:17:19Z https://lib.uni-plovdiv.net/handle/123456789/1305 FROM OUTLAW AND ROBBER TO OWNER OF MNIBUS – THE MEETING BETWEEN BAE SLAVE FROM “CHAMKORIA” AND BACHO GICHO FROM “ELEVATION” BY MILEN RUSKOV Boev, Nikolay; Боев, Николай This study provides a comparative analysis of Milen Ruskov’s last two novels, “Elevation” and “Chamkoria”, focusing on the main characters: bacho Gicho and bae Slave. First, the main similarities between the two works are examined, emphasizing the importance of the common topos and the idea of “elevation” as an ideal aspiration. The analysis continues with a detailed examination of the characters themselves, discussing their common traits, mannerisms, and similar fates. Their similarity to the character of Bay Ganyo is also emphasized. Finally, attention is drawn to the characteristic artistic language, which is also key to the author's popularity. 2026-05-21T00:00:00Z https://lib.uni-plovdiv.net/handle/123456789/1304 THE PICARESQUE GNOSTICISM IN THE NOVEL “VAZVISHENIE”: THE GNOSTIC PREVAILS OVER THE PICARO Dimitrov, Aleksandar; Димитров, Александър The article examines the novel “Vazvishenie” through the lenses of the picaresque and Gnosticism – two discourses embedded within the metafictional framework of the narrative which resonate with the author’s own creative disposition. Milen Ruskov persistently strives to narrate tragic events in a humorous register, a tendency that lends his works a distinctly tragicomic complexion. Within this configuration, the picaresque operates on the plane of comedy, while Gnosticism unfolds on the plane of tragedy. Just as the comic and the tragic intersect in tragicomedy, the picaresque and the Gnostic likewise converge in what may be called picaresque Gnosticism. The focal point of this convergence is the consciousness of the narrator and protagonist, Gicho, who over the course of the novel undergoes a transformation from picaro to Gnostic. This trajectory is inscribed within the context of the Bulgarian National Revival and determines the subtext of the motif of “elevation,” which has come to stand as the novel’s emblem. 2026-05-21T00:00:00Z https://lib.uni-plovdiv.net/handle/123456789/1303 MAN AS A REDUNDANT INSTRUMENT: A COLLAPSE IN FOUR MOVEMENTS IN “A BALLAD FOR GEORG HENIG” BY VIKTOR PASKOV Raycheva, Denitsa; Райчева, Деница The current study situates Viktor Paskov’s “A Ballad for Georg Henig” within the broader discourse on social and moral decline and examines the process by which the individual is displaced from being the artist of one’s own life to being a redundant tool. The analysis focuses on the interaction between values, art, and social environment, revealing the spiritual, moral, and cultural deficiencies in the characters’ behavior, choices, and interpersonal relationships. Particular attention is paid to the mechanisms of transformation that underscore the erosion of traditional moral foundations and the imposition of new pseudo-value models, illustrating how social pressure contributes to the marginalization of the individual. 2026-05-21T00:00:00Z https://lib.uni-plovdiv.net/handle/123456789/1302 LANGUAGE AS RESISTANCE: PLAY AND IDENTITY IN GEORGI MARKOV’S “THE PORTRAIT OF MY DOUBLE” Bozova, Vesela; Бозова, Весела The paper analyzes the literary language and the problem of play in the novella “The Portrait of My Double” as forms of resistance against the language of socialist ideology. The main thesis of the study is that the game functions as a metaphor for an autonomous reality governed by its own internal rules, according to which deceit, ruthlessness, and amorality are considered virtues. Within this play-world, the individual achieves a paradoxical kind of freedom – while remaining subject to the rules of the game, they are able to “play” with their identity, liberating themselves not only from the dogmas of ideology and society, but also from their own self. In this way the characters in the novella oppose the narrative of the “new” virtuous socialist man. 2026-05-21T00:00:00Z