Albena Bakratcheva
Encyclopedia
Albena Bakratcheva (born 3 July 1961 in Sofia
) is Bulgaria
n
Americanist
, best known for her work on American Transcendentalism.
Albena Bakratcheva, D.Litt.
, is Professor
of American Studies
at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, New Bulgarian University
, Sofia.
in Bulgarian
and English literature
from the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia
in 1984. She defended her PhD
thesis
on 18th century British Novel
and late 19th century Bulgarian Fiction
in 1995, and in 2007 was awarded a higher doctorate (D.Litt.
) for her dissertation on The Artistic Discourse of American Transcendentalism.
(1995–1996), the Department of Foreign Languages, South-West University "Neofit Rilski", Blagoevgrad (1997–2002), and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, New Bulgarian University
, Sofia (2002-current).
Albena Bakratcheva has specialized at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies. Freie Universität Berlin (1992), the State University of New York
Geneseo (1993–94) as a Fulbright fellow, and the 1999 Summer Institute on Contemporary American Literature
. University of Louisville
, Kentucky
.
Since 2008 Prof. Albena Bakratcheva is Erasmus-Lecturer of American Literature at the Dipartimento di Lingue e letterature moderne. Università degli studi di Macerata, Italia.
.
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
) is Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n
Americanist
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the United States. It traditionally incorporates the study of history, literature, and critical theory, but also includes fields as diverse as law, art, the media, film, religious studies, urban...
, best known for her work on American Transcendentalism.
Albena Bakratcheva, D.Litt.
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
, is Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of American Studies
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the United States. It traditionally incorporates the study of history, literature, and critical theory, but also includes fields as diverse as law, art, the media, film, religious studies, urban...
at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, New Bulgarian University
New Bulgarian University
New Bulgarian University is a private university based in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. NBU is the first private university in Bulgaria, and among the top rated by Bulgarian businesses universities in the country...
, Sofia.
Degrees
Albena Bakratcheva received her master's degreeMaster's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Bulgarian
Bulgarian literature
Bulgarian literature is literature written by Bulgarians or residents of Bulgaria, or written in the Bulgarian language; usually the latter is the defining feature...
and English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
from the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia
Sofia University
The St. Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia or Sofia University is the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria, founded on 1 October 1888...
in 1984. She defended her PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
on 18th century British Novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
and late 19th century Bulgarian Fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
in 1995, and in 2007 was awarded a higher doctorate (D.Litt.
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
) for her dissertation on The Artistic Discourse of American Transcendentalism.
Academic career
Albena Bakratcheva has taught at the Department of English, American University in Bulgaria (AUBG), Blagoevgrad (1995–1996), the Department of Theory of Literature, University of SofiaSofia University
The St. Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia or Sofia University is the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria, founded on 1 October 1888...
(1995–1996), the Department of Foreign Languages, South-West University "Neofit Rilski", Blagoevgrad (1997–2002), and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, New Bulgarian University
New Bulgarian University
New Bulgarian University is a private university based in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. NBU is the first private university in Bulgaria, and among the top rated by Bulgarian businesses universities in the country...
, Sofia (2002-current).
Albena Bakratcheva has specialized at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies. Freie Universität Berlin (1992), the State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
Geneseo (1993–94) as a Fulbright fellow, and the 1999 Summer Institute on Contemporary American Literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
. University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
Since 2008 Prof. Albena Bakratcheva is Erasmus-Lecturer of American Literature at the Dipartimento di Lingue e letterature moderne. Università degli studi di Macerata, Italia.
Administrative career
Since 2002 Albena Bakratcheva is Chair of the American and British Studies Program, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, New Bulgarian UniversityNew Bulgarian University
New Bulgarian University is a private university based in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. NBU is the first private university in Bulgaria, and among the top rated by Bulgarian businesses universities in the country...
.
In English
- Bakratcheva, A. (2001). From Interculturality to Multiculturality in Liberal Education - In: FULBRIGHT, Globalization and Cultural Differences. Proceedings of the Fourth International Fulbright Conference, Sofia, May 19–21, 2000. Sofia: Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2002). The Sun Is but a Morning Star. Online Anthology of American Literature: Volumes I-VI
- Bakratcheva, A. (2003). A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever. Online Anthology of British Literature: Volumes I-VI
- Bakratcheva, A. (2003). Interculturality in the Garden: Americanization and Otherness - In: eRUNSMAGAZINE.COM, Issue 6, February.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2003). A Fate That Never Turns Aside: Globalization and Convergence - In: FULBRIGHT, Knowledge, Power and Freedom in a Changing World. Proceedings of the Fifth International Fulbright Conference, Sofia, May 16–18, 2002. Sofia: Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2003). Visibility Beyond the Visible: American Transcendentalism and/in Bulgarian Culture - In: ZENAF Conference Proceedings, 'Cultural Exchanges between Central/Eastern Europe and America' - East-West American Studies Conference, 29 May - 2 June 2002 at the Zentrum für Nordamerika-Forschung, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität. Frankfurt am Main: Volume 3.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2003). The Wild, The West, The World: The Wild West World or the World Wild West - In: Annual of New Bulgarian University. Department of Applied Linguistics. Issue: Applied Linguistics and Methodics of Foreign Language Teaching. Sofia: New Bulgarian University Press.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2004). Frontier Transcendences: The Need for Local Memories - In: America in the 21st-Century. Proceedings of the International Conference of the Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission and the Bulgarian American Studies Association (BASA), Sofia, November 21–22, 2003 (Issued on CD). Sofia: Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2005). The Strange Liberty of Walking 'Walden' - In: The Concord Saunterer. Special 'Walden' Sesquicentennial Issue: Walden the Place and 'Walden' the Book. Published Annually by The Thoreau Society, Concord, Massachusetts, U.S.A.: Volume 12/13, 2004/2005.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2005). Locating the American Voice: Space Relation as Self-Identification in Henry David Thoreau's Vision - In: How Far is America from Here? Selected Proceedings of the First World Congress of the International American Studies Association 22–24 May 2003. Edited by Theo D'haen, Paul Giles, Djelal Kadir, and Lois Parkinson Zamora, Series: TextxeT. Studies in Comparative Literature 47. Amsterdam-New York, New York: Rodopi.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2005). With or Without Principle: Transcending Transcendentalism. Aesthetic Controversies, Receptional Modes - In: Annual of New Bulgarian University. Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Issue: Language, Literature, Culture, Volume 6. Sofia: New Bulgarian University Press.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2005). The Sun Is but a Morning Star. Anthology of American Literature: Volume I. Sofia: New Bulgarian University Press.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2006). Metamorphoses of the Frontier: Realities and Haunting Ghosts of Americanization - In: eRUNSMAGAZINE.COM, Issue 42, February.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2006). Revelations of the Place: Transatlantic Romantic Globalizations - In: Spaces, Gaps, Borders. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference of the Bulgarian Society for British Studies held in Sofia, 24–26 October 2003. Volume I, Literature and Cultural Studies. Edited by Dr. Svetlin Stratiev and Assoc. Prof. Vesela Katsarova. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2006). Resounding New England Culture Today: Poetic Voices and Visions - In: Culture, Education and Leadership Today and Tomorrow. Proceedings of the 7th International Fulbright Conference, Sofia, May 12–13, 2006 (Issued on CD). Sofia: Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2007). Thoreau's Way from Emerson to Thoreau: The Gesture of Self-Naming - In: The Thoreau Reader, EServer Web Publishing Project, at Iowa State University. Ed. by Richard Lenat. Iowa: Ames.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2009). The Call of the Green. Thoreau and Place-Sense in American Writing. Veliko Tarnovo: Faber Publishers.
In Bulgarian
- Bakratcheva, A. (1987). The Limits and Possibilities of the Literary Theory (1986) (Граници и възможности на литературознанието (1986)) - In: ABV, Sofia, 1, 6.1.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1988). Need or Possibility? (Потребност или възможност) - On the book series of 1986/87 Writer and Society - In: Septemvri, Sofia, 6.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1989). The Saga of Arthur and His Knights (Сказание за Артур и неговите рицари") - On the epic Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, Bulgarian translation (1989) - In: Puls, Sofia, 6, 6.2.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1990). Not To Be Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Без страх от Вирджиния Улф) - On the Bulgarian translation (1989) of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - In: Panorama, Sofia, 3.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1990). Politics as Novel and Novel as Politics (Политиката като роман и романът като политика) - On the Bulgarian translation (1989) of Norman Mailer's Armies of the Night - In: Panorama, Sofia, 6,
- Bakratcheva, A. (1992). Similarities in Divergences. Narrative Parallels in the Works of Oliver Goldsmith and Mihalaki Georgiev (Близост в отличията. Особености на повествованието у Михалаки Георгиев и Оливър Голдсмит) - In: Ezik i Literatura, Sofia, 2.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1993). Life as Vocation. Preface. (Животът като призвание, предговор) - In: H. D. Thoreau, Walden. Civil Disobedience. Sofia: Narodna Kultura.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1993). 'Thus the Novel Beginneth...' Narrative Features in the Eighteenth-Century British Novel and Late Nineteenth-Century Bulgarian Fiction ('Тъй се почнуват романите...' Особености на реалистичното повествование в английския просвещенски роман и българската следосвобожденска белетристика) - In: Literaturna Misal, Sofia, 1
- Bakratcheva, A. (1995). Similarities in Divergences. Realistic Narrative Characteristics in the Eighteenth-Century British Novel and Late Nineteenth-Century Bulgarian Fiction (Близост в различията. Особености на реалистичното повествование в английския просвещенски роман и българската следосвобожденска белетристика). Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1995). Visibility Beyond the Visible. American Literary Transcendentalism (Видимост отвъд видимото: Американският трансцендентализъм) - In: Ezik i Literatura, Sofia, 3.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1996). The Psychological Mystery of Crime: Patricia Highsmith (Психологическата мъглявина на престъплението: Патриша Хайсмит) - In: Vek 21, Sofia, 22, 13-20.10.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1997). Potentialities of Discourse. Bulgarian/British-American Cross-cultural Dialogues (Заложби на отвореността). Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1997). Amidst the Eternal Cycle: Gloria Naylor (Сред вечния кръговрат: Глория Нейлър) - In: Vek 21, Sofia, 1, 17-23.1.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1997). The Unity of the Whole: Joyce Carol Oates (Единството на цялото: Джойс Каръл Оутс) - In: Vek 21, Sofia, 5, 14-20.2.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1997). The Dark Side of the Ego: Margaret Drabble (Тъмната страна на собственото Аз: Маргарет Драбъл) - In: Vek 21, Sofia, 12, 2-8.5.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1997). Thoreau in Bulgaria (Торо в България) - In: Demokraticheski pregled, Sofia, 32, Summer.
- Bakratcheva, A. (1999). Late 19th-Century Bulgarian Fiction in the Light of the European Novelistic Tradition (Българската следосвобожденска белетристика в светлината на европейската романова традиция) - In: Balgarskata myara v literaturata. Sofia: Balgarski pisatel, 3.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2000). Unitarianism in the Spiritual Tradition of American Transcendentalism (Унитариатството в духовната традиция на американския трансцендентализъм) - In: Filosofia, Sofia, 1.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2001). Life Without Principle. Selected Works of Henry David Thoreau - editor, introduction and comments (Живот без принцип. Избрани произведения от Хенри Дейвид Торо - съст., студия и коментар). Sofia: LIK Publishing House.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2001). Visibility Beyond the Visible. Preface. (Видимост отвъд видимото, предговор) - In: Life Without Principle. Selected Works of Henry David Thoreau. Sofia: LIK Publishing House.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2001). American Transcendentalism (Американският трансцендентализъм) - In: Kant and the Kantian Tradition in Bulgaria. Volume in Honor of the 100th Anniversary of Prof. Tzeko Torbov. Sofia: LIK Publishing House.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2001). Inspiration in the Aesthetical Vision of the American Transcendentalists (Вдъхновението във философско-естетическата система на американските трансценденталисти) - In: Filosofia, Sofia, 1.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2001). The Foundations of American Transcendentalism: Puritanism and 18th-Century Rationalism (Първоосновите на американския трансцендентализъм - пуританство и просвещенски рационализъм) - In: Filosofski forum, Sofia, III, Vol. 9, No. 1.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2003). Transcendentalism and Romanticism: Transatlantic Parallels (Трансцендентализъм и Романтизъм: трансатлантически ракурси) - In: Sledva, Sofia, Issue 6, August.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2004). Transatlantic Metamorphoses of Postkantianism: Ralph Waldo Emerson (Трансатлантическите преображения на посткантианската мисъл: Ралф Уолдо Емерсън) - In: Kant and the Dialogue of Traditions. Volume Dedicated to the 280th Anniversary of Immanuel Kant's Birth and the 200th Anniversary of his Death. Blagoevgrad: Neofit Rilski University Press.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2004). American Transcendentalism (Американският трансцендентализъм) - In: Media Times Review, Issue April.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2004). The Transatlantic Identity of the Transcendentalist (Трансатлантическата идентичност на трансценденталиста) - In: Literaturen vestnik, Sofia, 15, 14-20.4.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2004). The Poet-Priest: the Aesthetic Model for the American Transcendentalists (Поетът-проповедник: естетическият модел на американските трансценденталисти) - In: Ezik i Literatura, Sofia, 1-2.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2004). American Transcendentalism: Artistic/Religious Practice and Way of Life (Американският трансцендентализъм - художествено-религиозна практика и начин на живот) - In: Filosofia, Sofia, 2.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2004). The American 'Defense of Poetry' - Apotheosis of the American Poet (Американската 'Защита на поезията' - апотеоз на американския поет) - In: Foreign Language Teaching, Sofia, 4.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2005). Traditions and Individual Talent: Emerson and Thoreau (Традиции и индивидуален талант: Емерсън и Торо) - In: Ezik i Literatura, Sofia, 1-2.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2005). Mentorship as Vocation: Thoreau through the Eyes of Emerson (Менторството като призвание: Торо през погледа на Емерсън) - In: Filosofia, Sofia, 4.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2006). The Ecopoetic Thoreau (Екопоетичният Торо) - In: Ezik i Literatura, Sofia, 1-2.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2006). 'Walden': Thoreau's Artistic Harmony ('Уолдън': Художествената хармония на Хенри Дейвид Торо) - In: Sledva, Sofia, Issue 14, May.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2006). In the Harmony of a Sanctuary Preserved: Walden, Thoreau and 'Walden' (Сред хармониите на опазената святост: Уолдън, Торо и 'Уолдън') - In: Filosofia, Sofia, 4.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2007). Thoreau's 'Homeric Experiment' ('Омировският експеримент' на Хенри Дейвид Торо) - In: The Word - Ancient and Modern. Jubilee Conference of the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology. Volume 1/2005, Edited by Svetlana Arnaudova. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2007). The Glamorous Burst of American Critical Thought: Margaret Fuller (Яркото зарево на американската критическа мисъл: Маргарет Фулър) - In: Ezik i Literatura, Sofia, 3-4.
- Bakratcheva, A. (2007). Visibility Beyond the Visible. The Artistic Discourse of American Transcendentalism (Видимост отвъд видимото. Художественият дискурс на американския трансцендентализъм). Sofia: New Bulgarian University Press.
Editorials and Translations
- Patricia HighsmithPatricia HighsmithPatricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
: Deep Water. Novel. 1988 - Wole SoyinkaWole SoyinkaAkinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...
: The Lion and the Jewel, The Swamp Dwellers, Death and the King's Horseman. Plays; "This Past Must Address Its Present", Nobel lecture, 1986 - In: Wole Soyinka: Eternal Cycle. 1989 - Henry David ThoreauHenry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
: Walden. Civil Disobedience. 1993 - Henry David ThoreauHenry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
: Life Without Principle. Selected Works. 2001 - The Unifying Aspects of Cultures. Frontier Metamorphoses: Americanization and Otherness - In: Trans Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften 15.Nr, Mai 2004. Research Institute for Austrian and International Literature and Cultural Studies (INST) Vienna, Austria.
Citations
- Albena Bakratcheva - Interculturality in the Garden: Americanization and Otherness, (Accessed 2 August 2005) - In: M2 - Les USA et le monde : perspectives environnementalistes
- Albena Bakratcheva - Bulgarian Literature: Crossroad and Crucifix, Publisher LiterNet, 30.11.2002 - In: THE BULGARIAN-TURKISH INTERETHNIC PROBLEMS IN MODERN BULGARIA AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, By Orlina Boteva, A Thesis for the Degree of Master of Arts, The Graduate School, The University of Maine, May, 2004
- Албена Бакрачева - Американският трансцендентализъм, Издателство LiterNet, 15.07.2000 - В: А. А. Градинарова, БОЛГАРСКИЙ СУБЪЕКТНЫЙ ИМПЕРСОНАЛ И ЕГО РУССКИЕ ФУНКЦИОНАЛЬНЫЕ СООТВЕТСТВИЯ (ACTA LINGUISTICA)