Northern (N): Bulgaria (NG). Arts and Culture

A file containing documents concerning art and culture in Bulgaria. Issues covered in the file include the Soviet influence on Bulgarian artistic trends; speeches made at a meeting of the Union of Bulgarian Artists; and the views of Todor Zhivkov, the Bulgarian leader, about the influence of Western ideas and the danger of their impact on the development of communism. Other matters covered include an article in the Bulgarian press discussing Freud's influence on developments in Western literature and films; a translation of a song published in a Bulgarian satirical review, which criticised the Bulgarian government; and the impact of criticisms of Western standards and traditions by Zhivkov on nightlife and entertainment in Bulgaria. The file also contains a letter from the British legation in Sofia reporting on articles in the Bulgarian press that criticised "bourgeois ideological influences" on Bulgarian literature and art, and the failure of Bulgarian art to follow Marxist-Leninist principles.