ers
continued to experiment with a variety of themes and forms.

Realism had always been a strong theme in Bulgarian literature, and in
the decade after 1944 the Communists sought to utilize this tradition in
imposing Soviet-style Socialist Realism as the desired form of
expression. Writers who conformed to the prescribed style were
generously rewarded with stipends and special privileges that encouraged
a volume of writing heretofore unknown. The novel became the main
literary form as it lends itself particularly well to the prerequisites
of the prescribed literary style. Nikola Vaptsarov and Khristo
Smyrnenski have been singled out by the government as outstanding
writers in the style of Socialist Realism.

Most of the literature produced in the late 1940s and early 1950s has
been classed at best as mediocre, even by Bulgarians themselves. Several
works of that period, however, have been recognized as outstanding. The
most acclaimed of these has been Dimitur Dimov's _Tobacco_, dealing with
the revolutionary movement among tobacco workers before and during World
War II. The novel was strongly condemned when first published in 1951
but, after the relaxation of cultural controls in the mid-1950s, it was
hailed as the best novel since Vazov's _Under the Yoke_.

Dissatisfaction of the writers with the restrictions imposed on them and
discontent of the public with the monotony and lack of literary quality
of contemporary writing became evident in the mid-1950s. These feelings
broke into the open when a mild form of de-Stalinization was put into
effect in 1956 (see ch. 9). Although the so-called writers' revolt never
reached the proportions of those in Poland or Hungary, it did bring
about a short period of relative freedom in literary expression and a
number of outstanding literary works that aroused a great controversy.
Foremost among these was Emil Manov's _An Unauthentic Case_, which
describes interparty conflict. Todor Genov's play _Fear_ also received
high praise for its treatment of the corruption by power of a once
idealistic Communist.

The leaders of the writers' revolt, with one exception, were all loyal
Communists who had become disillusioned with what they saw as the
hypocrisy and dishonesty of the leadership, which they felt was leading
the people into moral bankruptcy. Their main forum was a new periodical,
_Plamuk_, edited by Manov, foremost of the rebels. The main demand of
the rebels was that an artist