https://doi.org/10.60056/Lit.2024.33.388-404
https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1306330
Post-feminism with a Tabloid Twist
Albena Vacheva
South West University “Neofit Rilski”, Bulgaria
bnv@abv.bg
The article analyses four Bulgarian novels written by women – “The triumph of the bitches” (2016), “The triumph of the bitches. The Continuation” (2021) by Veneta Raykova, “For one night” (2017) by Lusi Eleazar and “Yoga, Love and Other Myths” (2024) by Victoria Penkova. The genre of the novels is popular as a chick-lit, but the genre itself and this type of literature has not been exam- ined in Bulgarian literary studies. That is the reason why on the first place the analysis is focused on some characteristics of the chich-lit and how those type of literature reflects or disputes the main concepts of feminism in the global market conditions. Bulgarian chick-lit novels share some kind of world tendencies but have some key differences as well. One of the easiest that can be noticed is the failing between traditional visions about gender roles and the women’s efforts for emancipation. The four texts show that the characters are more like holo- grams, reflecting main traditional gender views in society, that were reconfirm in the public space with the help of the post-communist press (slowly changing its face from news to tabloid in the decade between 1990 and 2000).
Keywords: chick-lit, post-feminism, Bulgarian novels, tabloids, gender stereo- types
For citations: Vacheva, А. Post-feminism with a Tabloid Twist. // Literaturata, god. XVIII, 2024, № 33. Sofia: UI „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“. (In Bulgarian)
About the author: Albena Vacheva is a professor of contemporary Bulgarian literature at the South-West University Neofit Rilski, Blagoevgrad. She is the author of the project “Reflections of Modernity in Bulgarian Literature and Culture”; of the monographs „Under the Sign of Modernity” (2002), “On the Periphery of the Canon. Bulgarian women writers in the first half of the 20th century. Century“ (2013), “Essay in Modern Bulgarian Literature” (2014) and “Socialism: Memory and Story” (2017). She is a co-author of the book “Figures of Transition in Bulgaria” (2024), editor and compiler of a collection of texts by Bulgarian women writers from the first half of the twentieth century “The Woman – the Sinful and the Holy” (2013) and of the series “Culture and Criticism” in 4 volumes created together with G. Chobanov and Y. Eftimov (2003–2006).
