Socialist State Politics toward Muslim Women and their Literature Interpretations in the 50s of the 20th century: The Case of the Novel “KADRIE” by Zlatka Cholakova

Authors:

Pages: 551-558
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/TGCH2292

Abstract:

Muslim women became an object of the Communist Party politics in Bulgaria during the time of four decades. The relatively closed live in their communities, the religiosity, which contradicted the official communist ideology as well as the aesthetic confrontation with the socialist ideal of modern women made the Muslim women a group difficult to be controlled. Under the slogan of modernization of Muslim women, several measures were implemented: special courses, courses for improvement of the everyday life and qualification, measures attracting women to become members of the Communist Youth Union and the Communist Party. A lot of propaganda forms were used involving also art, literature, poetry, music, theatre. The case of the book “Kadrie” takes a central place in our research. It was written by the writer Zlatka Cholakova (1899–1985) and was published in the beginning of the 50s of the 20th century. It was played as a theatre peace many times in the next years in the cultural centres in villages and small towns in the Rhodope Mountain as well as in professional theatres. We analyze the social background and the biography of the author as a woman educated in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century and the place of “Kadrie” in her carrier as a writer and the cultural, political and social context of the book. We analyze further the content of the book and the image of the main personality – the young woman Kadrie from the Rhodope Mountain as well as the reception of the book and its political use.

Keywords:

literature, Muslim women, modernization, Communist Party politics

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