ed criteria of style and content is known only by its creator
and a few select friends; nevertheless, it is produced. Much of what
passes the censor is of doubtful artistic quality, but works of
considerable merit have appeared in all forms of artistic expression.
Gifted artists and writers find ways to express their talent within the
confines of government regulations.

THE ARTS AND SCIENCES UNDER COMMUNISM

Since 1944 artistic and intellectual expression have been subject to the
cultural policy of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP--see Glossary),
which has followed a relatively strict adherence to the concept of
Socialist Realism as developed in the Soviet Union. Under this concept
art, music, and literature are required to promote communist ideology
and present an idealized picture of communist society. In order to
impart the ideological message, artistic and intellectual expression
must be understood by the common man and, therefore, can only take the
form of straightforward representative statements.

During the period of de-Stalinization in the mid-1950s, cultural
controls became less restrictive, and artistic and intellectual
expression burst into new creativity and life. Although this outburst
never reached the proportions it did in Poland and Hungary during the
same period, the regime considered it a threat and reimposed strict
controls in the late 1950s. At that time the government was preparing
for a great push in economic development and, to further this goal,
mobilized the cultural community into service as propagandists.

Another thaw in cultural restriction occurred in the early 1960s when
several factions were struggling for control of the BKP. After Todor
Zhivkov assumed firm control of the party, writers and artists were
again required to serve the needs of the state until the fall of Nikita
Khrushchev in the Soviet Union, and an attempted coup in Bulgaria forced
Zhivkov to broaden his popular support by relaxing the BKP's control of
national life.

This ebb and flow of restriction on artistic and intellectual expression
continues and serves as a barometer for the political and economic
climate in the country. At no time since the mid-1950s did cultural
policy reach the degree of repression of the Stalinist period. The
leadership in Bulgaria, as did those in other Eastern European
countries, learned that repression was counterproductive. Instead, it
adopted a subtler method of control through t