The writers, the conflicts and power in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia 1948-1968

Metodiev, Metodi (2017) The writers, the conflicts and power in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia 1948-1968. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

My research answers the need for a comparative approach in the research of the history of Eastern Europe. In this respect I will compare the relationship between the writers and the power wielders in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia during the first twenty years of communist power in the two countries (1948-1968). My main idea is firstly to trace the influence of the international context on the domestic scene in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia, and then to show how writers in the two countries answered the challenges posed by their political context. In terms of the international context, I will outline the role of the Soviet Union in the political development of the two countries. In connection with the domestic context, I will illustrate the two models of relations between the power wielders and the writers, exemplified by the Bulgarian Communist leader Todor Zhivkov and the First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, Antonín Novotný. The second trajectory of the research focuses on the conflicts conducted in the highest organ of control in the writers’ sphere - the Praesidium of the Writers’ Union. On the basis of primary sources, I will demonstrate the different approach exhibited by the writers in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia in a period of political unification. As a result of this comparison the thesis will contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between the politics and the arts in Eastern Europe during the Communist period.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, writers, conflicts.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages; P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > Slavonic Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Čulik, Dr. Jan
• Date of Award: 2017
• Depositing User: Mr Metodi Metodiev
• Unique ID: glathesis:2017-7858
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 03 Apr 2017 13:31
• Last Modified: 29 May 2017 09:37
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/7858