Chavdar Mutafov - “The Prince of Paradox” in Bulgarian Literature

Chavdar Mutafov is regarded as one of the most unusual creators in contemporary Bulgarian literature. He is a consistent avant-garde and expressor of the most fashionable literary trends in Europe at the time. Mutafov "transports" Europe to Bulgaria, but in our patriarchal country it is difficult to understand his case. That is why today it is rather a name unknown to the general public.

Chavdar Mutafov is better known today as the husband of the exceptional Fanny Popova-Mutafova, called the "Little Marquis", the first lady of Bulgarian historical fiction. He and Fanny love each other forever. Chavdar is an elegant, representative and handsome man, with aristocratic manners and gentlemanly demeanor. Fanny exudes grace and splendor: the daughter of a general, beautiful, strict and gentle. For a woman she is unusually intelligent and ambitious. Her husband is a flawless gentleman. Follows as a shadow the more talented wife. She shares all her weaknesses, passions and interests. The two are mutually supportive, encouraging and complementary: they are the dreaming couple. However, it is undeniable for all that Fanny is the stronger personality of the two.

But Chavdar Mutafov is far from the image of the impersonal husband who has taken on his wife's skirt. At one time, he enjoyed the fame of a "prince paradox" in Bulgarian literature and culture. As kind and kind as he is to put up with the superiority of the woman to himself, as a creator he is remarkable and unique. In modern language, Chavdar Mutafov can be called a "great innovator". He and Geo Milev are two of the most striking exponents of avant-garde art in Bulgaria after the First World War.

The matter of changing reality is well defined by Mutafov in his critical article The Green Horse. Mutafov tells why he is a green horse, ie. why it should be written in a new way: "He should be green every time he was grazing red grass under a yellow sky." He looks too distracted and incomprehensible, and is so purposeful. The advantages of avant-garde art, of the new over the old, are in the decorative style, ie. it affects the format by which content change is sought. Mutafov's works must be perceived in terms of their stylistic impact. Unlike the "barbaric" style of Geo Milev, Mutafov demonstrates elegance and innate aristocracy by choosing words and images ("puppets").

Why is it necessary to make a radical change in the conception of art, of which Chavdar Mutafov becomes the main speaker?

After the end of the wars for national unification (1912 - 1918), national catastrophes occurred in our country and elsewhere in Europe. The time of optimism in Europe, marked by "Belle Epoque" ("beautiful epoch"), comes to a sudden. A major and grim renewal is coming in many spheres of public life. There is no way this artwork will get past this update. Geo Milev writes: “Bulgarian poetry needs to be embraced. From raw juices. Of raw juices in which there is primeval life. To infuse the life of dead poetry. ”While Geo Milev delves into poetry, Chavdar Mutafov imparts avant-garde prose.

Chavdar Mutafov is the author of the decorative novel The Amateur, the collections of "Marionettes", "The Poker of the Temperamental", "Technical Stories". According to one of Mutafov's best researchers, his invasion of literature aims to "blow up the tradition." He was creating something completely new, rooted out of his root. Mutafov's great artistry lies in the paradox. Here is one of the classic paradoxes of the Prince Paradox.

Dialogue between man and woman. The woman begins:
"There is no goal for true love, Love is a goal in itself."
- I find such a goal pointless. I deny it as existing. I deny you. I want to be a goal in my own right. You are completely indifferent to me. Everything is indifferent to me. The only thing that interests me is my own being. Through it, I achieve at least one goal: myself.
- Through me, you achieve all your goals.
- Through you, I can only achieve the negation of every goal. And the negation of yourself. I'm passing you by. Goodbye. "(" Amateur ")

It becomes clear that Mutafov's prose requires serious philosophical preparation in order to be "solved". Anyone interested in taking this writer's work as a challenge can use the dialogue cited as the key to understanding it. Mutafov brings major philosophical questions to the attention of his reader, attacking them from two sides, focusing on two points of view. In this case: Love is the highest goal or Man is the highest goal. Which is true? Chavdar Mutafov himself plays opposite roles in life and creativity: once he is his puppet character Dandy, other times he is the Amateur character. Once it's the Winner, other times the Loser.
"The Amateur's life had meaningless and grotesque forms of cheap theater spectacle."

"Dandy was awakening quietly in the midst of his dreams, now experiencing them again in their gentle and hopeless harmony. And in the fragrances and distant vagueness of his life, he felt the subtle and pure beauty of love and woman. The woman was a dream dissolved in his soul, and through it he connected with the sheer and mystical mirages of life. And in his soul was the glowing and eternal mirror of love lost in wishes. "(" Puppets ")

Chavdar Mutafov remains in the history of Bulgarian literature as one of the most difficult to understand, but therefore also the most interesting authors. His literary paradoxes are remarkable and point to the thesis of the self-sufficiency of literature. For Mutafov, literature, as art, is not about understanding but about feeling.