Интердисциплинарен проект „Емоционалното съдържание на българската национална идентичност: исторически корени и съвременни измерения”
Emotional Content of Bulgarian National Identity: Historical Origins and Contemporary Dimensions

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims to present the interdisciplinary research project “Emotional content of Bulgarian national identity...” The goal of the project is to examine the emotional content of Bulgarian national identity from different perspectives – historical, sociocultural and socio-psychological. It investigates the importance of group emotion (e.g. admiration, pride, shame, fear, (in)security, etc.) as a product (and generator) of social identity and social context, and as a mediator of social action and political participation. Participants in the project apply an integration of social identity theory (together with its developments), and of intergroup emotion theory. Their main objectives are: 1) to identify the emotional components of the Bulgarian national identity and how they relate to other key identities (personal, gender, religious, etc.) as well as to the process of European integration; 2) to explore how the international comparative context affects both the character of the collective emotions and the salience of the national identities; 3) to investigate how the audience to which identity is being exposed affects both the character of the collective emotions and the salience of the national identities; 4) to demonstrate whether it is possible to deliberately produce certain shifts in some of the emotional components of the (Bulgarian) national identity; 5) to investigate the interdependence between the occurrence in the society of internal (semi)structural cleavages and the strength and emotional “colouring” of the national identity. The defi ned objectives are realized by two types of activities: a) explorative work: text materials investigation (archives, text books, literature) and fi eld studies; b) seminars, workshops and international conference.

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