site.btaFrench Institute in Bulgaria Director: French People Read Georgi Gospodinov's Works, Want to Learn More about Bulgaria

French people do not know Bulgaria well enough, but they want to learn more about it, the Director of the French Institute in Bulgaria, Luc Levy, told BTA on Wednesday. “I have friends who were in the region this year and want to go back to see what they did not get to see - because they think Bulgaria is a great country. I know people who have read Georgi Gospodinov’s works and want me to recommend a book for them to learn more about Bulgaria,” he added.

He underscored the importance of artists as Bulgaria’s ambassadors. “You know, Sonya Yoncheva recently sang in Versailles and people were asking where she comes from. And this is an occasion to explain to them that Bulgaria can be proud of many things - roses, sports, art... When I found out I was coming to Bulgaria, I bought about twenty authors translated into French. Then I realized that there are quite a few books and it shows the variety of Bulgarian literature published in France. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outstanding work of Marie Vrina, who has been translating and promoting Bulgarian literature into French for many years.”

Another Bulgarian-artist he mentions is Sylvie Vartan. “Several generations of French people learned where Bulgaria is through Sylvie Vartan's song La Maritza. She has done and continues to do a lot for the country where she lived for a very short time. She has spoken so much about Bulgaria to the media in France that thanks to her Bulgaria is well known in France.”

Luc Levy is adamant that the more often artists from the two countries meet, the stronger the Bulgarian “lobby” in France will be, and it will be loved and recognized. “Friendships are forged through affinity between people of similar cultural backgrounds, between writers, between intellectuals. Through these very personal and human connections, we can discover the other side. That is why it is important to have a network of cultural institutes like the one here in Sofia. Because this is a way of exchange - through people coming and making connections. This is how we can talk about the presence of Bulgaria in France and France in Bulgaria.”

He kicked off the interview in Bulgarian, saying that he is learning the language of each of the countries he stays and works in. "It is a beautiful, musical and rich language. As someone who knows other languages in the region that are similar to Bulgarian, I can say that Bulgarian is the mother tongue of all these other languages that I speak. I find your language very beautiful and as a richness for other languages. Since I speak Russian well, when I came here I said to myself that I understand almost everything because these are Russian words. After a while I very quickly felt that these were actually Bulgarian words that the Russians had appropriated... This is a historical and linguistic truth," he noted.

It is important for him to understand when he listens to the radio or watches TV, or when he goes into a bookstore, to at least be able to decipher the titles of books. “And why not, when I'm in a cafe or restaurant, to know what people are talking about,” he added.

“In fact, when we make cultural connections, we say it is a two-way process, but I call it a mirror connection. And for that relationship to be strong, we have to understand each other very well the language,” Luc Levy argued.

"When we talk about Francophonie, we must understand that Francophonie does not belong to France alone. It is a language that belongs to all the peoples who decide to use it", Levy pointed out. 

He said that for him, Francophonie is diversity. “There are countries where French is the mother tongue and is learned from an early age. In many places in the world French is the second most widely spoken language after English. There are other countries where French doesn't have the place that it used to have, but where there is still that great affection, both for the culture and for the language. I believe that it is the case in Bulgaria.”

The French cultural policy is in line with Europe's cultural development policy, he stressed. "Defending one's own culture is a very important European act. We, the countries of the European Union, are called upon to grow closer and closer at political, economic and institutional level. If there is one area where we want to preserve our specificities, it is culture," he explained.

He speaks with passion about the role of the government to protect the diversity of languages and their richness. He mentions as an example the Scandinavian countries with their strong policy for subsidizing books and encourage writers to continue writing in their own language. “These are nations that are relatively small and local people speak perfect English. The aim is to protect the cultural diversity.”

Levy said the recent Sofia international literary festival one of the central issues was the role of translators. “Translators have a very important role to play and it was exactly what people were saying at that forum, that translations are actually the language of Europe.” 

“For several decades, the French state has been aware the importance of defending culture,” the French Institute Director said. “I, as a Frenchman, am proud that France is a spokesperson in Europe for this type of policy,” he added.