Author: Elisaveta Nencheva
Paisiy Hilendarski University of Plovdiv
Abstract: The records of Bulgarians in Old Serbian literature are centred around several themes: war and war-like conflicts, where the Bulgarians are referred to as adversaries exclusively, whereas the alliance between the Serbs and Bulgarians is not mentioned at all. Other instances of mentioning Bulgarians concern the transfer of holy relics and issues related to language: the reform of alphabet, translation difficulties regarding the two languages etc. The paper also deals with transcripts and works in which the town of Plovdiv is mentioned. The author clearly shows how the attitude towards Bulgarians has was changed over the course of time, – from condemning condemnation of individual rulers, political opponents or certain national characteristics to pointing out the common binding features, such as Old Slavic heritage, Orthodox Christianity, sacred elements, as well as historic events, predominantly the Turkish rule. The connections between the two peoples must have been closer and much more intricate than the preserved literary sources show, which can be concluded hinted at from the examples mentioned above
Key words: Bulgarians, Medieval Serbian Literature, Serbian-Bulgarian relations
Published in: Slavyanski dialozi, 2015, 16