Страстите на душата: в старата и новата българска литература: опит за сравнение
The passions of the soul in the old and new Bulgarian literature: comparative Analysis

Summary/Abstract: The article explores a big number of lexical and figurative similarities concerning the passions of the soul conveyed in the works of two authors who take significant place in the history of the medieval and modern Bulgarian literature – the first one is the XIV century author of religious anthems – Efrem and the second is Yavorov – one of the most famous Bulgarian poets from the very beginning of the XX century. Efrem’s views about the fall, passions and contrition of the soul, as well as the connections of these views with the Christian penitential literature and st. Paul’s letter to the Romans are regarded in details. Special attention is paid to Efrem’s soteriological notion of inferno which is rooted in psalms and the Christian idea of Jesus’ victory over death. This soteriological notion essentially differs from the mythological notion of inferno taking place in other literary traditions from the same period. In respect to the passions of the soul the analysis of the poetry of Yavorov reveals a big number of figurative and lexical similarities with Efrem’s anthems. I conclude that the similarities in question are not result of cultural continuum between Yavorov and Efrem but originate from common dramatic experiences exceeding epochs and the peculiarities of literary genres. These common experiences give rise to similar metaphysic language used by both authors.

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