On the Need of Balkan Literary Sites and How to Present Ourselves to the World

This article examines the question of what is happening in the Balkan internet today from the point of view of a Bulgarian PhD student in Slavic languages at a US institution. It may sound somewhat exotic yet such an academic field does exist in the American academia. It is a different issue that, in the mind of the average American person, “Slavic” still coincides with “Russian.” In the academia, in particular, the meaning of the term divides into approximately 70% Russian (in the most diverse Slavic departments), 10% Polish, 10% Ukrainian, a little bit of Czech and the leftovers are Balkan languages of which predominant are Serbian and Croatian.

I am not sure how important this question is for the intellectuals in Bulgaria and how interested they are in the position of the Balkans in the American academia. The fact remains, however, that Bulgarian literature in almost non-existent to the American academic knowledge. (Perhaps we are more known in Western Europe? It is a related question). If we consider the reasons for this grim situation, we would remember that they are primarily political. During the Cold war American intellectuals looked at Eastern-European literature as a political fact. Naturally, from such an angle Russian literature arose most interest in them, as did the dissident writers of Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, Bulgaria did not have such prominent figures who became refugees in the West, hence its literature was of no significance to the American audience.

At the present moment, however, when the political scene has changed and Eastern Europe has become a “normalized” part of the world, we have the opportunity to reject the marginal place allocated to us during the old political order. Bulgarians can create a new image for their country which, in the minds of Americans, is still associated with its communist past. For Americans, the Balkans are a dark region of war and dictatorship, a place that gave the meaning of the verb “balkanize,” denoting “to divide into smaller and hostile units.” They see the region as a hazy political object, not as an area of cultural importance.

The first task in initiating a change is for Balkan intellectuals to get to know each other. They must think about the Balkans as one, as an indelible part of Europe and of world culture. Therefore, I consider the endeavors of literary translation from one Balkan language to another particularly important, as well as the organization of meetings and team projects bringing together representatives of all Balkan nations. The creation of internet sites which would concentrate their efforts in presenting different Balkan authors and in translating them into English will help to dissolve the negative stereotype of the Balkan region existing in the mind of Western (and American) people. Such collective online enterprises have been Local Minds, (http://www.localminds.com/), created in 2004 and discontinued for lack of funding as well as the online anthology of Balkan authors on the Macedonian P.E.N. club site, (http://www.pen.org.mk/publications/stari/balkan/index.html).

Several times American friends of mine, who do not read literature professionally, have asked me to tell them the name of a Bulgarian poet or writer. My ready-made answer has been that there are no translated authors who can be easily found. Imagine a scenario in which I could give them a website, rich in contents like liternet.bg or litclub.com (two of the largest Bulgarian literary sites), but dedicated to publishing Balkan authors both in English and in their local language (as in the case of the two sites mentioned above). Such a website could serve as the introduction to our literature for those Americans who are curious to read it.

There are, of course, a number of translated Bulgarian books by U.S. presses; for example, “Natural Novel” by G. Gospodinov (2004) and the collection of poems “Ashes of Light” by Lyubomir Levchev (2006). These books, unfortunately, are not only sold in smaller, more specialized bookstores, but never make it to the “Recommended Readings” central bookstore stands where many visitors end their literary journey. These translations, on the contrary, are to be found in the faraway corners, hidden among thousands of other books (or, they can be searched for on amazon.com).

A mouse-click is so much more convenient and logical today. Only then, if our prospective American reader finds something on the website captivating, he or she will go to the bookstore to look up the particular author or, more likely, will find a book on amazon.com or similar virtual stores. What is more, the interest may spark in some readers to learn a Balkan language or to read something about Balkan history which, together with the region’s literatures, is a completely unknown and dark field.

The value of such a site seems unquestionable to me. In order to succeed, it must have links leading to it from many other regional literary sites and its icon must appear on the American sites created by Bulgarians or the other Balkan communities in the U.S. The site would become a more accessible way to present our literature to the West—to the casual reader and to the potential publisher. It needs, of course, enthusiasts who would establish and manage it, as well as provide high-quality translations (which is another big issue to popularizing our literature in the English-speaking countries). I trust that there will be such people, once Balkan intellectuals have grown aware of the need to have such a site in the contemporary literary market.






Sonya Petkova:
I am a 25-year-old student from Bulgaria. I graduated from Stanford University, CA, in 2005 with a major in English literature. In January 2006 I began my PhD program in Slavic Languages at Columbia University, New York. At the moment I am completing my M.A. thesis which is on contemporary Balkan literature (since the 1990s) and the changes determined by the new economic conditions, the market system and its global influences. Internet literary projects on the Balkans, the periodicals of the 90s and the question of literary translation are of particular interest to me. You can reach me at sonyaji@gmail.com-- I will respond to anyone interested!