Пътят към „другата” Европа
Travelling to the "Other" Europe

On Franco-Ottoman Cultural Relations, 16th – 18th Centuries

Author(s): Raya Zaimova
Contributor(s): Nikolay Aretov (Editor)
Subject(s): History, Language and Literature Studies, Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Diplomatic history, History of ideas, Modern Age, Special Historiographies:, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, The Ottoman Empire
Published by: Кралица Маб
Keywords: Europe; Ottoman Empire; Bulgarian culuture; images; Christian-Muslim relationship
Summary/Abstract: It is always fascinating to know the image westerners had of the "other" Europe during the centuries. The present book contains information that is unknown to the Bulgarian audience, although the Bulgarians often want to know more about it. As a whole, today’s Bulgarians are more or less familiar with France’s cultural presence from the 19th century on and with the community of Bulgarians, speaking French (the so-called Bulgarian Francophonia). However, the cultural presence of France is much more ancient than France’s colonial expansion. Its history, as far as the Balkans are concerned, is rather long and begins with the times when the Bulgarians were considered "Greeks", which meant "Orthodox Christians". By the way, most Balkan Christians belong to the Orthodox Church. For this reason in the memories of the 16th – 18th century French ambassadors to Constantinople the Balkan Christians are mentioned mainly within the context of the Christian-Muslim relationship. That relationship developed in time and space and gave birth to various images of the "other". The present book deals precisely with these images as reflected in French works that have not been translated into Bulgarian.

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