80 YEARS OF UNRESTRICTED DEVELOPMENT OF MACEDONIAN LITERATURE: REFLECTIONS AND THEORETICAL NOTES

Abstract

This paper summarizes the author’s research on the formation and evolution of Macedonian literature in the Macedonian literary language, focusing on its fundamental characteristics and key influencing factors. Special attention is given to the so-called uneven or “accelerated” development observed in the Macedonian literature from 1945 until the early 1980s. Drawing on the works of prominent Russian scholars such as Gorgi Gachev, Gannady Pospelov and Alexander Gugnin, as well as Macedonian researchers like Milan Gjurchinov and Miodrag Drugovac, the paper analyzes the processes that enriched Macedonian culture. Its growth was grounded in both- folklore and the legacy of world literature. In the immediate postwar period, Russian literary traditions played a particular important role. In the following decades, symbolism, surrealism, existentialism and expressionism from European and Russian literature simultaneously took root in Macedonian literary ground. A modern system of literary genres was established in a remarkably short time. The role of translation in shaping and developing the national literature is also emphasized as well. Special attention is paid to the significance of Blaze Koneski in enriching the national literary heritage. Contemporary writers increasingly draw on their own artistic traditions and strive to resist the challenges posed by globalization, especially regarding threats to national languages.