Dynamics of Identities. Supporting Students’ Reflection on the Issue in Three Matriculation Texts – “Zhelezniyat Svetilnik”, “Prikazka za stalbata”, and “Balada za Georg Henich”

Margarita Krasimirova Hristova

Episkop Konstantin Preslavski Shumen University

College – Dodrich, Bulgaria

https://doi.org/10.53656/bel2025-6-6M

Abstract. This article focuses on three matriculation texts through the prism of a particularly relevant topic – self-identification. The necessity of exploring this topic is motivated by several crucial needs of young people related to maturity and self-affirmation. We believe that literature lessons in upper secondary education provide an excellent opportunity for reflection on this subject and associated challenges. Therefore, we offer a range of methodological guidelines and ideas.

Talev’s novel The Iron Oil Lamp, Smirnenski’s satirical short story The Tale of the Stairs, and Paskov’s novella Ballad of Georg Henich can be informally grouped into a new thematic core, as they present comparable interpretations of identity by a number of criteria. It is directly related to finding purpose, meaning, and direction in life and, in this sense, is an existential question. Each of these works contributes to the universal cultural discourse on who we are, where we come from, and where we are going.

Keywords: identity; literary education; reflection; interpretation; methodology; intertextuality

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