Консумативният град: социалистическа София през 70-те и глобалното общество на спектакъла
The Consumer City: Socialist Sofia in the 1970s and the Global Society of the Spectacle

Summary/Abstract: This article is a chapter from a book dedicated to the visual culture of Sofia. It explores the evolving historical relationship between the official architectural and visual decisions of the city government and how they are perceived by city dwellers. The article delves into how official spectacles, carrying certain ideological messages, become part of everyday life and how city dwellers and visitors utilize them for non-ideological purposes. The chapter focuses on moments from the 1970s when the socialist government shifted from proletarian asceticism to catering „more and more to the needs of the working people.“ This transformation is evident in the emergence of a new consumer city beneath the surface of proletarian Sofia. The cityscape changed with the influx of advertisements, shop windows, new stores, furniture houses, household goods, Western-style cafes, clubs, and self-service restaurants. However, the article also investigates how the people of Sofia interpret and utilize these new benefits offered by the government. They strive to appropriate and inhabit these new places, often shaping their own, sometimes non-communist, ideas of consumption.

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