Authors

Discussion

The presentation raises the question of generating memory of the origins of the Old Bulgarian alphabet and literacy under the conditions of the Communist regime. The subject of interest is the discussion that took place in the Bulgarian academic community on the occasion of the anniversary of 1100 years of the Moravian Mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius (1963). The Moravian Mission is traditionally regarded by the Slavic scholars as the beginning of the Slavic script. In Bulgarian historiography, however, there is a claim that the “Slavic Enlighteners” invented their alphabet long before they went to Great Moravia, as it was intended for Bulgarian people. The research focus is on the scientific discourse on the subject and the role of Bulgarian intellectuals in the process of (re)creating the notion of (their) nation with regard to the local religious tradition.