L’AVENTURE DE LA LITTÉRATURE FRANÇAISE EN BULGARIE À TRAVERS L’ŒUVRE DE LATCHEZAR STANTCHEV
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2023, N 4
Roumiana L. STANTCHEVA
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
Bulgaria
The Adventure of French Literature in Bulgaria Through the Work of Latchezar Stantchev
Abstract: After completing his higher education in Roman/French Philology at the University of Sofia, and after having published his first award-winning books of poems, Latchezar Stantchev (1908-1992) won a scholarship from the Alliance française and continued his training in Paris between 1937 and 1939. With the acquired experience, the Bulgarian poet devoted himself to the translation of poetry in verse, both classic and modernist, from French and Francophone literature, including La Chanson de Roland and other masterpieces. The example of his verse translations contributed to the formation of contemporary criteria in the field of translation of poetry and literary texts into verse in Bulgarian. Latchezar Stantchev also contributed substantially to the rediscovering of Symbolism in Bulgaria, by translating works by Verhaeren in the midst of the dogmatic context of the 1960-80s behind the Iron Curtain.
Keywords: Alliance française in Sofia, Latchezar Stantchev, Professor Léon Beaulieu, verse translation, anti-dogmatic cultural practices