Author: Jakub Mikulecký
Slavic Institute – Prague
Published in Slavyanski dialozi, XX, 2023, 32.
Abstract: The article deals with selected prose by the Bulgarian exile author Irene Dolska (or Rene Kaleva), an almost unknown expat writer who published her work in Italy in the 1950s and 1960s. The article focuses on the two novellas Hope (Упование) and The Labor Brigade (Бригадири), and the novel The Two Captives (Двамата пленника). Irene Dolska’s literary works are characterized by resolute anti-communism, which is usually presented from overtly Christian positions. Communist figures and their lackeys are depicted as the embodiment of absolute evil and often display infernal and demonic features–all this makes Dolska’s work a good fit for the bipolar context of the Cold War.
Key words: Irene Dolska, Bulgarian exile literature, anti-communist literature, Cold War literature