Writer Zdravka Evtimova: Our society is facing an abyss

In recent weeks, Bulgarian society has been shaken by a sense of institutional collapse - we have witnessed the horrifying “Petrohan” case, in which six lives were taken, domestic murders, the online circulation of footage showing violence against animals, and illegally recorded videos from beauty salons posted on pornographic websites. The feeling of impunity is palpable, and the roller coaster of horrors seems to have no final stop as all this is unfolding on the eve of upcoming early parliamentary elections.

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“Our society is facing an abyss,” warns internationally acclaimed Bulgarian writer Zdravka Evtimova in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio.

According to her, wherever money begins to play the leading role, humanity and compassion disappear. “I believe that precisely the virus of greed is the cause of all these calamities - of the murders, the torture, the mockery of humanity, pedophilia. In other words, the basest instincts lead to the fastest and easiest money,” Evtimova says.

Why have we degraded to this point? Is re-education needed, or should writers and artists form a kind of front to stop the spreading cruelty and lack of spirituality?

“I personally do not believe in reforming one’s character once the virus of avarice appears. The only remedy against this virus is for a person to know, to be capable, and to possess qualities. A person who can earn their money through knowledge accumulated over a lifetime will not surrender to the virus of greed. Greed triumphs where the lowest human passions run wild - murders, pedophilia, debauchery…Of course, this is degradation and a measure of how society copes - or fails to cope - with the problems it faces. This degradation shows that we have allowed illiteracy and ignorance to prevail, because the illiterate and the ignorant are the ones who grab dirty money. Money becomes the only sign that you are worth something, whereas in fact that money is a sign that you are a criminal, that you do not deserve the life given to you by the universe.”

One of the paths for overcoming the corrupted soul, she believes, is faith.

“Faith is the greatest opposite of the desire to crush, to cause pain, and to turn pain into a financial resource. When from childhood a person has not been taught such foundations, they easily succumb to the temptation to turn people’s humiliation, pain, and filth into a source of wealth. That is crushing to me, and I think that as a society we have allowed dirty money to dominate people’s consciousness to a great extent. And if there are clients for such materials that turn pain into wealth, that means society truly stands before an abyss. I am afraid - but fear has never helped people. Fear is only a sign. It is like a stab wound to the heart - the fear itself is not important, but the actions taken to heal the wounded person are. I believe the role of punishment, justice, and the judiciary is enormous. That is precisely why the struggle for justice in our country is so important. No one should be able to buy their innocence simply because they have money. If a system of justice allows you to purchase your innocence, that is not justice - it is a participant in the crime and perhaps even an instigator of it. There is an ancient Roman maxim: silence in the face of evil makes you an accomplice to that evil.”

A creator is always guided by feelings. A writer observes life and leaves it in what they have written. “Some write to preserve within themselves a sense of integrity. Talent cannot live in an environment of servility - it is the antithesis of submission and flattery,” the writer states firmly.

If a writer has strong inner foundations, they can temporarily be engaged in an administrative job, Evtimova believes. This is her answer to the question of why we do not have writers and intellectuals in responsible state positions, as cabinet ministers.

“Personally, I would support any writer who takes on such a heavy burden,” says the author of the short story ‘Blood from a Mole’, which is part of literature curricula in the United States. “It takes away precious time if a writing person takes anadministrative position.  It may be permissible, but it must be very temporary, because a writer’s eyes must see what happens precisely in the corridors of power. Here I want to point to George Orwell as an example. He participated in the Spanish war against General Franco and witnessed infighting among separate leftist groups, which opened his eyes to the truth that totalitarianism can be born from the extreme left as well as the extreme right. So if a writing person has inner foundations, if they do not place their talent in the service of a totalitarian leader, that writer can for a year or two become an administrator,” says Zdravka Evtimova in a conversation with BNR’s Daniela Stoynova in Varna, where she is lecturing in a creative writing course.

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English: R. Petkova