The motive “outcasts” in Bulgarian literature of the last quarter of the 19th century

The article deals with the functioning of the motif of “the outcasts” in Bulgarian literature of the last quarter of the 19th century. This motif first appears in Hristo Botev’s poem “At Farewell” that puts to consideration the role of emigration in the process of development of Bulgarian national consciousness. In the whole publicity of the period - journalism, literary fiction, public life - life in emigration is presented as an expression of a liminal ordeal, the purpose of which is to establish the new values of freedom, solidarity and national dignity. Nevertheless, for these new values to be adopted by the traditional patriarchal society of Bulgarians at that time, literature presents them in several universal cultural narratives. The most often used ones are the plots of the parable of the Prodigal Son, the tale of the Babylonian captivity and the legend of St. Alexis the Man of God. The article traces how the motif of “the outcasts” is first promoted by Botev and then elaborated in the work of two other great authors of the epoch - Ivan Vazov and P.K. Yavorov, who, by following Botev directly, put the question to what extent the liminal transition succeeds in realizing its function. That is achieved by the introduction of another motif borrowed from Botev and closely related to the first one - the motif “we drink, we sing with recklessness”. As a result of the research work, the article claims that it is not earlier than twenty years after the founding of the modern Bulgarian national state that Bulgarians succeed in realizing the said liminal transition - when they gaze at the misfortunes of others, at last Bulgarians manage to understand the meaning of the new values of freedom, fraternity, solidarity and dignity.