Petya Petkova-Staleva

Petya Petkova-Staleva is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures at New Bulgarian University (NBU), specializing in Italian literature and language pedagogy. With over three decades at NBU, she has taught courses spanning Italian literature history, translation practice, lexicology, and language didactics across bachelor's and master's programs including Romanistics, Italian Studies, and Linguodidactics. Her administrative roles include former directorship of Romance Studies programs and consultancy for multiple language programs.

Research Focus: Her scholarship centers on Italian Renaissance novellas, examining narrative techniques in works from the 13th-17th centuries. She investigates authors like Boccaccio, Sercambi, and Parabosco, alongside studies in literary translation pedagogy and cross-cultural language acquisition. Key interests include:

• Evolution of the novella genre and its intersection with folklore
• Narratological structures in frame tales
• Pedagogical applications of literary texts
• Lexical interference in Italian-Bulgarian translation

Publications: Her 40+ publications demonstrate consistent focus on Renaissance narrative forms, with recent works analyzing Counter-Reformation anthologies, didactic tales, and genre hybridity. She frequently explores how historical contexts shape storytelling conventions, using philological and comparative approaches.

Professional Engagement: She has organized translation schools (TRAD NBU), led Italian Cinema Club film analyses (2018-2019), and conducted seminars for the Italian Cultural Institute. As a sworn translator, she handles specialized legal/technical texts and develops translator training methodologies.