CV MIGLENA DIKOVA-MILANOVA

Home address: Rue des Viviers au Bois 34, 7970 Beloeil, Belgium
Work address: Ghent University, Department of Languages and Cultures, Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Date of birth: 11/11/1965
Nationality: Belgian
Mobile: 0496/631818
Email: miglena.dikovamilanova@ugent.be
Websites:

• ORCID

• Research profile at UGent

• Academia.edu

• Slavistiek Translation Initiative

Professional Summary

Dedicated academic with extensive experience in Bulgarian language and culture, specializing in Russian and Bulgarian literature, literary history, and aesthetics. Proven track record in research, teaching, and translation initiatives, fostering cross-cultural understanding and academic excellence.

Education

• PhD in Philosophy, KU Leuven, Belgium — 2008
  Dissertation: "Kant and the Cultural Politics of the Sublime"

• MA in Slavic Studies, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Bulgaria — 1991

Professional Experience

Lecturer in Bulgarian Language and Culture, Ghent University, Belgium — 2014 to Present

• Teach courses in Bulgarian language, literature, and culture

• Research on Russian and Bulgarian literature, focusing on M. Bulgakov, L. Tolstoy, A. Popov, and G. Gospodinov

• Supervise theses and mentor students

Organizer of "TAALKRING" Language Initiative, Ghent University — 2018 to Present

• Host events on Southeast European languages, literature, and linguistics

• Lead the VerTaalKolectiV translation group

Postdoctoral Research Projects

• The Concept of the Sublime and the Russian Novel, Ghent University — 2014 to 2017
  Explored the concept of the sublime in Russian literature and its philosophical implications.

International Collaborations

• Online lecture series: Women’s Voices in Balkan Literature and Culture, with Manchester University and University of Belgrade (2020–2021)

• Book project: Philosophy, Freedom, Language, and their Others, University of Denver (2023)

• Master’s seminar: Post-Communist Nostalgia in the Balkans, University of Helsinki (Feb 2023)

• Lecture at ExpRees Summer School: The Politics of Memory and the Monument of the Soviet Army in Sofia, Lammi (Aug 2024)

Recent Book Presentations

• 4(four)2(two)на, Literary Salon "Spirit & Spirit", Plovdiv — April 12, 2023

• 4(four)2(two)на, Festival of Bulgarian Books, Brussels — June 11, 2023

  Selected Publications

  Books

  • Dikova-Milanova, M. (Forthcoming 2025). The Sublime and the Novel: Reading Russian and Bulgarian Fiction. Academic Studies Press, US.

  • Dikova-Milanova, M. (2021). 4(four)2(two)на. Musagena, Sofia, Bulgaria
    https://musagena.com/miglena-dikova-milanova/

  Articles and Book Chapters

  • Dikova-Milanova, M. (Forthcoming 2025). “The Monuments of Socialism: Strategies of Memory and Aesthetic Ambiguity.” In Foreign Humanities Studying Bulgaria and the Bulgarians, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia.

  • Dikova-Milanova, M. (2022). “Kant’s Language of the Sublime and Its Metacritique: On Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Karl Ove Knausgaard’s The End.” In Philosophy, Freedom, Language, and Its Others: Contemporary Legacies in German Idealism, ed. Elias Kifon Bongmba & Robert Manzinger. Bloomsbury Publishing.

  • Dikova-Milanova, M. (2020). “The Poetics of Embodiment: Elisaveta Bagriana and Rade Drainac, a Love Affair.” In Књиженство: часопис за студије књижевности, рода и културе, vol. 10.

  • Dikova-Milanova, M. (2018). “How to Handle Nostalgia: Georgi Gospodinov and the Reinvention of the Bulgarian Literary Hero.” In Belgian Contributions to the XVI International Congress of Slavists, Pegasus Oost-Europese Studies, vol. 31, pp. 15–25.
    https://biblio.ugent.be/publication?q=parent+exact+%22Belgian+contributions+to+the+XVI+International+Congress+of+Slavists%22

    Academic Awards

    • Marsico Scholarship in Arts and Humanities, University of Denver, 2012

      Poetry Awards

      • Second Prize, National Contest for Lyrical Poetry in the Name of Petko and Pencho Slaveykov, 2024
        Awarded to Miglena Dikova-Milanova for distinguished poetic achievement.

      • Special Prize from the Salon for Bulgarian Culture and Spirituality – Chicago
        Awarded in the international literary competition “Altars of the Bulgarian Spirit,” organized by the Literary Circle "Lyuborodets," the Confederation of Bulgarian Cultural Organizations and Figures Abroad, and the Salon for Bulgarian Culture and Spirituality – Chicago.
        Recognized for the poem “Sofia” among over 300 submitted works.