structuralism, Christo Todorov, Gustave Guillaume, Pantelei Zarev, modality, tension, структурализм, Христо Тодоров, Гюстав Гийом, Пантелей Зарев, модальность, напряженность, Oriental languages and literatures, PJ

The development of structuralist ideas in Bulgaria coincided with the liberalization of the human and social sciences during the 1960s and the 1970s and from the start was involved in various discussions, both internal and external. The present paper focuses on the case of the literary theoretician Christo Todorov, a representative of the Bulgarian Guillaumist School, and his curious siding with Pantelei Zarev, a powerful professor in the highest ranks of the Bulgarian Communist Party and at the time a Rector of the University of Sofia, during his attack on structuralism. At the end I propose a Guillaumist interpretation of the situation in which Todorov found himself, using his own methodological instruments.