Bai Ganyu

“Bai Ganyu. Incredible stories about a modern Bulgarian ” - a satirical book by Aleko Konstantinov , published in 1895 . It is one of the most popular works of Bulgarian literature. The main character is a small trader of pink oil Ganyu Balkansky (Bai Ganyu).

The book consists of two parts.

The first part, “Bai Ganyu travels around Europe, ” combines the stories of close friends familiar with Bai Ganyu about his travels in Europe, and compares European customs with Bulgarian ones who have been influenced by the East . It consists of the following stories:

• I. Bai Ganyu travels
• II. Bai Ganyu at the opera
• III. Bai Ganyu in the bath
• IV. Bai Ganyu in Dresden
• V. Bai Ganyu at an exhibition in Prague
• VI. Bai Ganyu at Irechek
• VII. Bai Ganyu at a party
• Viii. Bai Ganyu in Switzerland
• IX. Bai Ganyu in Russia

The prototype of the protagonist was a character who was met by the author during his trip to the USA (about which Konstantinov wrote a book of travel notes “To Chicago and vice versa”). Skillfully using comparisons with Europeans, he shows some characteristic features of the Bulgarian people and, in particular, the already formed petty bourgeoisie.

The nature of Bai Ganyu is ambiguous - along with lack of education, inconsideracy, complacency, desire for profit, rusticity, it also contains prudence, energy, enterprise, rude humor. But the main thing for him is to profit from the trade in rose oil. In the last story, “Bai Ganyu in Russia,” the author, after reflection, even justifies his hero:

Do not despise this simple, cunning, greedy man. He is a product of a rude environment, a victim of rude educators. Evil lies not in himself, but in his environment. Bai Ganyu is active, prudent, receptive - most importantly, receptive! Give him a good leader, and you will see what feats he is capable of. Until now, Bai Ganu has shown only animal energy, but it lurks a reserve of dormant spiritual forces that wait only for a moral impulse to begin to act.

The second part consists of several independent feuilleton , continuing to acquaint the reader with the new bourgeoisie and considering the pressing topics of Bulgarian political life at the end of the XIX century. These feuilleton are:

• Bai Ganyu returned from Europe
• Bai Ganyu holds elections
• Bai Ganyu - journalist
• Bai Ganyu in the palace
• Bai Ganyu in the deputation
• Bai Ganya in opposition - well, well!
• Sobriety society
• A letter from Bai Gan to Konstantin Velichkov
• From the correspondence of Bai Ganyu Balkansky

Bai Ganyu no longer sells pink oil, but participates in big politics - writes a petition to the prince (“Bai Ganyu returns from Europe”), runs for parliament (“Bai Ganyu holds elections”), publishes a newspaper (“Bai Ganyu is a journalist”). The independent actions of Bai Gan were replaced by joint actions of a group of like-minded people led and inspired by him. The emphasis in the second part of the book is on the negative traits of character, developing under the influence of base passions.

The name Bai Ganyu became a household name and gave rise to many anecdotes about this character, in which he acts as a typical Bulgarian. Typically, jokes begin with the phrase “Once met German, French, Russian (or, respectively, an Englishman, Turk, American, etc.) and buy Ganyu ...”. As a rule, actions or words of Bai Ganyu expose him in a funny way in front of his interlocutors. In the second half of the 20th century, with the development of science and technology, jokes about the engineer Ganev (Ganyu Balkansky) appeared.

The names of Bai Ganyu’s accomplices - lawyer Gunu Kilipirchikov, Bai Mikhal (Mikhal Mikhalev), Bochool, Gochool, Dochool and Danko Kharsyzin - also became common, although not so widespread.

The book was translated into Russian by D. Gorbov. M. Gorky wrote about the release of this book (in the article "On the work of inept, careless, dishonest, etc." ^[1] ):

A book by the Bulgarian A. Konstantinov “Bai Ganyu” was published by the NIHL. The introduction recommends it as the “most popular book” of Bulgarian literature. If this is true, it is very sad. But somehow I can’t believe that this particular book is the most popular in the literature, where Vazov , Slaveykov , Todorov and other highly talented people worked. However, “they don’t argue about tastes” and, maybe, my assessments are inappropriate.

Soon after the publication of this article, the editor of Bai Ganyu, the Bulgarian critic and publicist G. I. Bakalov wrote to Gorky a letter (May 1931 ) with an objection to his criticisms ^[2] . However, Gorky, in a letter to the addressee (end of May or June 1931 ), remained at his former opinion ^[3] .