Българската маскарадна обредност в контекста на европейската традиция
Bulgarian Rilual Masquerades within the Context of the European Tradition

Summary/Abstract: A major problem that has been lastingly attracting the attention of the researchers of the Bulgarian ritual masquerades has been the problem of their origin. The concept has gained grounds in Bulgarian ethnological literature that the type of masquerades, taking place during the first week of Lent (mostly the Eastern Bulgarian type that has become popular with its local name koukeri), originates from the ancient Hellenic (or ancient Thracian) carnaval tradition; the type of masquerades, associated with the New Year (mostly of a western Bulgarian type, known by the local name sourvakari) is of a Slavic origin. An analysis of the symbolic language of the ritual, when compared with some historical data of the Slavic and Bulgarian cultural region, points to the common origin of Bulgarian ritual masquerades. They, like the European ritual masquerades in general, have inherited the system of holidays of the late Antiquity and early Byzantine

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