In 1956 the novel “Will” was published in Bulgaria, written by Mitko
Gorchivkin. It was modelled on Soviet novels such as those written
by N. Ostrovski and B. Polevoy – the main character of the Bulgarian
novel had a real prototype – a boy who had lost his legs during the
bombings in Sofia and by the strength of his will was able to learn to
write and draw.
The conformity with the doctrine of socialist realism – depiction
of “truth of life” and, accordingly, the creation of characters to serve
as models, guarantees the success. But, ironically, the principle of authenticity
played a nasty trick on the author: several years after the
publication the author was sued and had to give a part of his fee to his
prototype.
This is an example of the unexpected effect of: 1) the relationship
between life and literature in socialist realism and 2) the contradiction
between propaganda “idealism” motivating the wish for glorification
(the man himself looks for an author to depict his life) and material
interest.
