Модерно и популярно: за юбилейния образ на св. Методий в българската култура през ХХ век
Modern and Popular: On the Jubilee Image of St. Methodius in 20th-Century Bulgarian Culture

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes the image of St. Methodius as it was documented in the Cyrillo-Methodian jubilee publications during the 20th century, understood here as “formative texts” (according to Jan Assman). The main question is why the figure of the older brother is not a site of memory. A cursory review of the material confirms that the interpretation of St. Methodius is always dependent on the current situation, but it also reveals that, regardless of the changing socio-political conditions and worldviews, he remains solely the mission’s facilitator. The article argues that there cannot be an autonomous place for St. Methodius because, in the cultural memory, the brothers’achievement is reduced to the creation of the alphabet. As an assistant dealing with church affairs, he does not fit in the (post) Enlightenment (modern) model of man as a genius artist (as does his brother). In conclusion, the author assets that the secularization of the Cyrillo-Methodian cult manifests itself on a deeper level: it is a modern cult par excellence, since its emphasis is not on catechization but culture, and on national culture in particular.

• Details
• Contents