Представата за „другия“ на Балканите: образът на гърка в българската книжнина – XV – средата на ХIХ век
The Notion of the “Other” in the Balkans; The Image of the Greek in Bulgarian Literature – 15th – Mid-19th c.

Summary/Abstract: The study follows up the evolution of the image of the Greek as reflected in Bulgarian manuscripts, books, correspondence and textbooks from the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans to the middle of the 19th century. This is an attempt to shed light on the conditions and mechanisms of the formation of one of the basic national stereotypes of the Bulgarian which played a role in their relations with the neighbours. Revealed are the stages in the building up of the image of the Greek, connected with the processes running in Bulgarian society of forming the nation and with the analogous processes in Greek society. Special attention is paid to the role of the formation of the Bulgarian national identity, an important element of which was the identification of the “other” on the basis of criteria different from the religious ones. Stress is laid on the effect of the collision of the national platforms of Bulgarians and Greeks on the evolution of the image of the Greek in which negative traits began to prevail in the second half of the 19th century. At the same time, much space is devoted to the authors who in their works drew the image of the Greeks and Greece fully in a positive light.

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