Чалгата като желан културен модел в постсоциалистическа България
Čalga as a desired self-image in post-communist Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the so-called „Čalga“– the sound of the „new Bulgaria“today dominating the public and private sector of the country. Frowned upon during socialist times, the music-style čalga produced and performed back then mainly in the rural environment, has expanded since the end of the 1990s into a cultural complex with its specific behavioural patterns and values: scanty clothing, vulgar, almost pornographic speech, provocative poses, and money greed. Through the years čalga got nothing short of national significance, became an identity-generating phenomenon and matured to a cultural expression even of the power elite. By analysing different types of media this article is trying to find explanations for the unique triumphal march of an extremely popular phenomenon in post-communist Bulgaria.

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