АНТИФАШИСТКИ И ОКСИДЕНТАЛИСТКИ МОТИВИ В МЕМОАРИ НА БЪЛГАРСКИ ИНТЕРБРИГАДИСТИ ОТ 60-ТЕ ГОДИНИ НА ХХ ВЕК: ИНТЕРДИСЦИПЛИНАРНИ ПРОЧИТИ
ANTI-FASCIST AND OCCIDENTALIST MOTIFS IN THE MEMOIRS OF BULGARIAN VOLUNTEERS IN THE INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES FROM THE 1960s: INTERDISCIPLINARY READINGS

Summary/Abstract: The paper interprets the narrative motifs for Occidentalism and anti-fascism in the memoirs published in the 1960s of the Bulgarian volunteers in the International Brigades formed during the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939). The memoirs of the brigaders are used as a tool in the ideological arsenal of the Bulgarian Communist Party and confirm their important role in the communist power hierarchy and active participation in the mass anti-fascist organisations in the People's Republic of Bulgaria. The party-state leader Todor Zhivkov attracts the brigaders among the privileged ‘anti-fascist fighters’. The memoirs noted how important the topic (and the ideological legacy) of the Spanish Civil War was for the Party. The paper uses archival materials and periodicals to emphasize the need for a new reading of the historical issues that memoirs raise. Emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary links between history, literary theory, socio-cultural anthropology and folklore studies.

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