Sibylle Lewitscharoff's "Apostoloff" Makes Debut in Bulgaria

Society » CULTURE | October 8, 2009, Thursday // 10:03

The novel "Apostoloff" by Sibylle Lewitscharoff, a German writer of Bulgarian origin, which made headlines with its despiteful descriptions of post-communist Bulgaria, will make its premiere in the capital Sofia on Thursday.

Translated in Bulgarian by Lyubomir Iliev, the novel will be presented to critics and readers

at Goethe Institute, Sofia.

Excerpts from the book have already surfaced in Bulgarian online editions, triggering a harsh controversy and vehement attacks against the author, who pictures Bulgaria mainly as a shattered land spoiled by industry and tourism and now ruled by the mafia, even though a member of the European Union since 2007.

It is an autobiographical novel in which two sisters, different as chalk and cheese, the older one rational and lenient, the younger one aggressive and nagging, travel through Bulgaria, the former homeland of their father.

The title comes from the name of their Bulgarian driver, Rumen Apostoloff, who is always keen to praise his country, but falls on deaf ears with the younger sister, the first-person narrator, who prefers to sit in the back seat of the Daihatsu, ‘because I rather spread my poison from behind.’

The book provides a description of thoughts and sentiments of the narrator, about whom hardly anything is told, not even her name. She depicts her impressions of her current travels, remembers in daydreams her childhood in Stuttgart-Degerloch, her parents and their relatives and friends, and the trip from Stuttgart to Sofia, which Tabakoff, a family friend, arranged to transfer the mortal remains of 19 dispersed relatives and friends from all over the world to their Bulgarian homeland.

Bit by bit a vague image about the past of the Exile-Bulgarians and the emotional relationship of the narrator with her family emerges. She uses the travel through her father's homeland as an opportunity to remember, but her hate against the parental authority is ingrained.

Cynically she summarises: ‘Father-Hate and Bulgaria-Hate are intertwined and are stubbornly kept on a slow boil.’

‘Apostoloff’ is not merely an entertaining novel. The first-person narrator deals with her own past. The reader finds out more and more details about the life of the father and the other Exile-Bulgarians. The author, who slips autobiographical elements into the novel, doesn’t become melancholic but battles against this with hate and humour which seem inseparably intertwined.

The novel ends on a pessimistic note: ‘Is is not love that is able to keep the dead at bay, […] only an indulgently cultivated hate.’

Asked whether hate is the most powerful feeling, Sibylle Lewitscharoff said it is important to understand the motives behind it.

“Do we ask ourselves why does the worm is gnawing at our soul, corroding and torturing it? If we manage to find the answer to this question, the feeling of hate will lose its sharp bite.”

Sibylle Lewitscharoff has insisted that the Bulgarians she has spoken to see the destruction and decay in their country just the way she has described it in the book.

“I don't spare anything when I write about Germany as well. Yet the Germans do not get angry with me.”

Critics say that beside the intricate description of the past and current happenings, the special appeal of the novel ‘Apostoloff’ lies mainly in the language itself.

“Apostoloff” won the prize of the Leipzig Book Fair 2009.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Culture » Be a reporter: Write and send your article

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria