THE PARADOXES OF LITERARINESS

The aim of the paper is to present the special connection between reality and fiction in some emblematic literary texts from the time of the Bulgarian Enlightenment as well as the place of the literature in creating the ideological narratives of the mentioned period. The interplay between fiction and reality marks the entire Bulgarian Enlightenment, and both in the texts and in their reception this interconnectedness proves crucial. In this historical period, authors such as Vazov consider literature as one of the main ‘weapons’ for the transformation of the world. At a time when there were no Bulgarian institutions, as Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire, book publishing and education played the role of state-creating impulses without a state. That is why another important topic discussed in the paper is the pedagogical function of 19th-century Bulgarian literature which is both a source of knowledge about the world and a means of building the notion of the national ideal.