Slovenian-Bulgarian Theatre Contacts: Performances, translations, reception

Mateja Pezdirc Bartol, Ljudmil Dimitrov

Although, historically, Slovenians and Bulgarians have not directly been connected politically or culturally, we are connected linguistically, since both languages belong to the South Slavic language family. Between the two countries, we notice cultural exchanges in the field of theatre that began already during modernism and intensified in contemporary times once both countries became members of the European Union. The purpose of the paper is to show the historical scope of this cooperation, ranging from translations, productions and guest performances to perspectives on imagology and reception. In this discussion, we will also address the levers that have instigated these theatre exchanges and the prospects for cultural dialogue between the two countries in the future.

Mateja Pezdirc Bartol is an associate professor of Slovenian literature in the Department of Slovenian Studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. In her research she deals with Slovenian drama, the history of drama and theatre, drama theory, youth literature and the processes of reading and understanding literary texts. She is the author of numerous articles and the scientific monograph Najdeni pomeni: empirične raziskave recepcije literarnega dela [Found Meanings: Empirical research on the reception of a literary work], the editor of Slovenski jezik, literatura, kultura in mediji [Slovenian Language, Literature, Culture and Media], Telo v slovenskem jeziku, literaturi in kulturi [The Body in Slovenian Language, Literature and Culture] and Slovenska dramatika [Slovenian Drama] and a co-author of textbooks for teaching literature. In recent years, she has been a guest lecturer at universities in Sofia, Padova, Warsaw, Prague, Lisbon, Belgrade, Budapest and Naples.

Dr. Ljudmil Ivanov Dimitrov is a professor at the Faculty of Slavic Studies, University St. Kliment Orhridski in Sofia, currently teaching at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. He is the author of over 200 articles, the author of monographs, textbooks, paper collections and anthologies and a translator of scientific texts, fiction, drama and poetry from Russian, Slovenian and English. He has participated in over 60 national and international projects and symposia in relation to Russian, Bulgarian and Slovenian literature, theatre and film. A member of the Bulgarian translator’s association and the Bulgarian PEN, his works have been published in Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, etc.