Dr. Anna Alexieva, Senior Assist. Prof.
Institute for Literature - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
https://doi.org/10.53656/bel2023-5-2A
Absract. The paper is focused on the book “Hristo Botyov – an attempt for a biography” (1888) by Zachary Stoyanov. It is the first and probably the most popular biography of the poet and revolutionary. The creation of that book could be considered, alongside with the book “Works by Hristo Botyov”, edited and published by Z. Stoyanov as well, as an episode, part of a systematic project to install Botev into the then-rising heroic pantheon of Bulgarian history and culture. The biography
text was reflected during the days of his publication and later on. Some of them,
seen as signifying, are regarded in the current research work. According to certain
authors, the biography of Botev by Stoyanov is written in idealized mode. Others
claim, in contrary, that Hristo Botev was discredited by his first biographer.
Keywords: Hristo Botev; Zachary Stoyanov; biography; heroic pantheon; communicative memory; cultural memory