Currents of History 1/2019

Slobodan Selinić

Dispute between the Union of Yugoslav Writers and the Union of Bulgarian Writers Over the Macedonian Language 1966-1987.

Abstract: In 1966, the Union of Yugoslav Writers and the Union of Bulgarian Writers broke off official cooperation due to a dispute over the Macedonian language. The reason for this was the refusal of the Union of Bulgarian Writers to sign an agreement with a delegation of writers from the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the Macedonian language. Until the end of the existence of the Yugoslav state, the Union of Yugoslav Writers had insisted on the Bulgarian signature on the agreement being in the Macedonian language as a condition for renewed cooperation.

Key Words: Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Macedonian language, writers

Summary

Until the mid-nineteen sixties, relations between the Union of Yugoslav Writers and the Union of Bulgarian Writers were not significantly different from the general relations that the Union of Yugoslav Writers had with similar organizations in the other countries of Eastern Europe, even though it had always been mindful of the different approach to the issue of recognizing the Macedonian nation and its language. However, the refusal of the Union of Bulgarian Writers to sign a document in the Macedonian language in 1966, pushed the Macedonian issue into the forefront of relations between the two literary organizations and caused a break in their official cooperation. This gave the relations of the two unions an additional dimension, which did not exist in relations between the Union of Yugoslav Writers and the union of writers of the other socialist countries. This dispute was not ironed out even in the next two decades. The Union of Yugoslav Writers insisted that the condition for renewing cooperation was the Bulgarian acceptance of the Macedonian language and the Macedonian nation, in other words, signing the agreement on cooperation between the two unions in the Bulgarian and Macedonian languages, which the Bulgarian side kept refusing.