site.btaNational Library to Host International Conference on "Alphabets, Memory, Continuity" December 8-9

The St St Cyril and Methodius National Library is organizing a national scientific conference with international participation on "Alphabets, Memory, Continuity" on December 8-9, the institution said on Friday. Experts from cultural, academic and educational institutions in Bulgaria, Italy, Iceland, Norway, Armenia and Sweden will present their papers across several thematic panels.

Speakers will address topics linked to the new life of old letters: younger generations in the humanities; the historical context of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets and unresolved matters in history; the reassessment of sources; and scholarly and popular mythologemes. In the conference's individual sessions, papers will be delivered on subjects including the Glagolitic alphabet in art; alphabets, cultural memory and literary tradition; and the documentary and literary heritage.

The conference seeks to highlight new research strategies and technologies in the comprehensive study of the old alphabets and written heritage, as well as the ongoing debates surrounding the creation of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets.

The conference is part of a series of events mottoed "Year of the Glagolitic Alphabet" and is taking place under the patronage of Vice President Iliana Iotova, the press release said. Two important anniversaries are marked this year: 1160 years since the Bulgarian people adopted Orthodox Christianity and 1170 years since the Glagolitic alphabet, the predecessor of the Cyrillic alphabet, was created in Bulgaria.