site.btaLIK Editor-in-Chief: Nowadays LIK Magazine Puts Journalism and History in Dialogue

"In its current period, LIK magazine is engaged in a media experiment. It is trying to bring, and succeeding in my opinion, journalism and history into dialogue," said the Editor-in-Chief of LIK magazine Georgi Lozanov at the presentation of the December issue of the magazine dedicated to the Ivan Vazov National Theatre. The event took place on Friday in the MaxiM Hall at the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

Journalism is also about history, just a history of the present. And when enough time passes, the journalistic narrative itself becomes a historical narrative, Lozanov noted.

 "Journalism is a historical narrative about what was happening at the time of its becoming and therefore it can change the course of the becoming. When it can no longer do that, it becomes a historical narrative that we find in the BTA archives. And many things are seen, but I'll tell you one thing, you see an increasing historicization of life. That is, more and more quickly every new thing becomes history and goes into the historical narrative," Lozanov said.

He noted that this was the case with the attack on the theatre by angry nationalists over Bernard Shaw's play. It is now history and we are already reading it as a historical narrative, never mind that it was as recent as less than two months ago, he said.

Lozanov noted that he heard something interesting in this debate, that the play's opponents had said there would have been no problem if the play had been staged at the Satirical Theatre. "And I can see why - because the National Theatre has earned the right to be the institution that says what is art and what is not art," explained Lozanov.

The history of the National Theatre, read through the archives of the BTA, is vast, said Yanitsa Hristova, LIK magazine editor. She explained that the volume of the magazine did not allow to include all the significant names of actors, directors and emblematic productions from the poster of the theatre.

In 2024 the Ivan Vazov National Theatre celebrates its 120th anniversary.