Author: Hristina Balabanova
Institute for Literature – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Published in: Slavyanski dialozi, XI, 2014, 15
Abstract: The subject of this article is the linguistic work of Boris Yotsov – a distinguished Bulgarian literary historian and specialist in the area of Slavic studies with a doctoral degree from Charles University in Prague. He was sentenced to death by the so-called People’s Court and executed after the 9th of September 1944. Following that, the long- standing censorship on him and his works allowed using his research ideas and themes without giving credit to the author. The article focuses on ; this disturbed continuity in Slavic literary studies in Bulgaria and emphasizes B.Yotsov’s contribution to the research in the area of Slavic relationships and cultural contacts of the new Bulgarian literature. The interpretation offered here stands in contrast to this ideologically imposed forgetfulness and contraposes the necessity of a more active modern reception of B. Yotsov’s academic legacy which would transform it into a living one and justify the quality of Bulgarian academic tradition.
Key words: Boris Yotsov, Slavic literatures, comparativistics, ideological doctrine