A time for dystopias

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2024..14-21

Keywords:

dystopia, novel, 21st century, bulgarian literature

Abstract

This text is an introduction to the theme of this issue. First, it briefly overviews the place and the functions of the literary genre of dystopia in present-day world literature. It then outlines the history of the genre in Bulgarian literature from its almost complete absence until 1989 to the rise of a true dystopian wave in the second decade of the new century. In its last part, the text points out how the thirteen articles published inside can be divided into three groups in terms of their subject matter and disciplinary approach.

Author Biography

  • Milena Kirova, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

    Milena Kirova (PhD University of Sofia, Doctor Habil.) is Professor of Literature and Biblical Studies at the University of Sofia. She teaches and publishes in the areas of Bulgarian Literature and Gender Studies of the Hebrew Bible. She has authored fifteen books and edited twelve volumes, among which is the first History of Bulgarian Literature Written by Women (Vol. 1, Altera, 2009; vol. 2, Altera, 2013). Her monographs include Bulgarian Literature of the 21st Century (Colibri, 2023), History of Bulgarian Literature 1878-1918 in 3 volumes (Colibri, 2016-2018), also published in German, Biblical Femininity. Mechanisms of Construction, Politics of Representation (Sofia University Press, 2005). In 2020, Sheffield Phoenix Press published her monograph Performing Masculinity in the Hebrew Bible. For 25 years, Milena Kirova had been writing about newly published books for the Kultura specialised weekly newspaper authoring more than 700 reviews.

References

Kirova, M. (2024). Literatura, vlast i vaobrazhenie: potrebnostta ot distopiya v balgarskiya roman prez XXI vek. Lingvistika. Interpretatsiya. Kontseptsii, (І) 1, 92-113.

Parushev, Ch. (2021). Sreshtuchoveshkoto. Antiutopichniyat zhanr v literaturata prez XX vek. VS Publishing.

Popov, A. (2023). Zone Theory: Science Fiction and Utopia in the Space of Possible Worlds (Ralahine Utopian Studies, 28).

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Published

2025-11-06

Issue

Vol. 10 (2024)

Section

I. Dystopia Traditions, Genre Dynamics, Directions of Transformation

License

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How to Cite

A time for dystopias. (2025). Colloquia Comparativa Litterarum, 10, 14-21. https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2024..14-21