Семейството в житейските разкази на бесарабските българи

Author(s): Zhenja Pimpireva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

The article is devoted to the role of life stories in the study of the family of theBessarabian Bulgarians. The eyewitnesses’ stories (or the stories of their loved ones)contain various appreciations, experiences, feelings, values, and meanings whichallow the reconstruction of their world. The study is based on the life stories collectedduring field ethnographic expeditions conducted in 2009-2010 in villages witha predominant or significant Bulgarian population in the Republic of Moldova andUkraine.The life stories are an invaluable source for the study of the Bessarabian familyin traditional and contemporary perspective. Sharing them requires a climate of trustbetween the respondents and the researcher. The life stories represent a collection ofselected facts and episodes, in which many hidden, suppressed and forgotten thingsremain beyond the narrative. Because of their subjective character, the family is representedin an estimative and emotional way enabling the identification of the trendsin its development and the judgement of its values and morals.

Цветан Тодоров (1939–2017) – апостолът на хуманизма, мечтателят за свобода

Author(s): Valentina Sharlanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

Изложба „Д-р Евдокия Петева-Филова – завръщане в Двореца“

Author(s): Anita Komitska / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

Brunnbauer, Ulf. Globalizing Southeastern Europe. Emigrants, America, and the State since the Late Nineteenth Century. New York, 2016

Author(s): Valentina Sharlanova,Petia Bankova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2016

Аспекти на патернализма и популизма на българския социалистически модел (държавната грижа и закрила в нормативните актове)

Author(s): Ina Pachamanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2018

The article seeks to ascertain whether and to what extent the state policy of “care” and “protection” of the family, woman-mother, children and youth in the period of socialism in Bulgaria is the result of the paternalism and populism typical of the Bulgarian socialist model.

Мила Маева. Българските емигранти в Англия – минало и съвременност. София, 2017

Author(s): Anelia Kassabova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2017

Chopin na barykadach, czyli o socrealistycznych narracjach w 1949 roku

Author(s): Michał Bruliński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01 (36)/2018

The main aim of this paper is to examine the discourse on Frédéric Chopin that took place in Poland in 1949, when the 100th anniversary of his birth coincided with the culmination of the socialist realist propaganda in the field of Polish culture. The discourse, initiated and moderated under effective surveillance of the Polish People’s Republic’s government, was filled with communist ideology. The authorities aimed at creating a sense of com-munion in the Polish nation, therefore they undertook numerous actions in the area of cultivating memory of Chopin and reception of his works. The composer was used as a banner under which culture of socialist realism was to be consolidated. Chopin was presented by the narrators in the socialist realist context in various dimen-sions. “Deep humanism”, “truth”, “optimism”, “sincerity” and “democratic features” of Chopin’s music were the crucial notions used by them. Chopin was depicted, among others, as a revolutionist and a prophet of tri-umph of communism. The oeuvre of Chopin was said to bring together “fraternal countries and nations”, Polish People’s Republic and Soviet Union, while being simultaneously a crucial element of class conflict. The authori-ties had a tendency to overemphasize folk roots of his compositions, thus among musical genres composed by Chopin the importance of Mazurka was exaggerated. Other genres without such strong folk connotations, as sonatas, ballades and scherzos, were marginalized in the discourse.

Проблемът за културно-историческите паметници в българо-румънските взаимоотношения

Author(s): Spaska Shumanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2018

The problems concerning research, preservation and management of Bulgarian cultural monuments in Romania have attracted the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and particularly the Embassy of the People‘s Republic of Bulgaria in Bucharest for many years. The Art and Culture Committee, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and other institutions are also involved in solving of these problems. Although many meetings of political and cultural leaders of various fields and the exchanged diplomatic notes the targeteted specific measures have not been achieved. The first reason for this is the lack of coherence, systematicity and organization and the lack of persistence, flexibility and purposefulness in solving of these problems by the People‘s Republic of Bulgaria.The second reason is the „special line“ of the Romanian government towards Bulgarian cultural interests and monuments. Remarkable in this aspect is the case of the Bulgarian School „Hristo Botev“ in Bucharest, which accordingly to the new architectural planning, were destroyed in February 1988 with an old Bulgarian church on Str „Kalarashilor“ (present-day „Cornelius Coposu“ Blvd.).

Отношенията между държава и религиозни институции: българският случай

Author(s): Maya Grekova,Iva Kyurkchieva,Maya Kosseva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2017

The objective of this article is to outline the basic tensions in contemporary Bulgarian society concerning the intertwining of religion and secularism through the prism of relations between national state and different religious organizations and individuals.The general goal is to combine the presentation of national historical context, existing legislation and the current social debate based on anthropological fieldwork.

Просветното дело и „културната революция“ в модернизационната политика на Българската комунистическа партия спрямо туркините в България

Author(s): Georgi Burnaski / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2019

The post-war situation confronts the Turkish population in Bulgaria with the challenges of both the strained relations between Sofia and Ankara and the assimilation-led policies of the communist ideology against the minority. This publication examines the attempts of the Bulgarian Communist Party to build a new view of life among the Turkish women in Bulgaria through the mechanisms of education and culture. By pursuing its goal of depersonalizing the influence of religion at the expense of emancipatory perceptions of women’s active participation in social and political life the state harnesses totalitarian propaganda in order to change the value orientation of the Turkish women. The striving for modernization of the life of the Turkish women is also in compliance with the specific tasks and problems of the simultaneously pursued minority policy in the country.

Спомени и рефлексии за всекидневието на българските турци по време на тоталитарния режим

Author(s): Nadezhda Zhechkova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2019

The proposed text does not attempt to present in detail the transformations pertaining to the Bulgarian Turks that have taken place in the state system and the society in Bulgaria since November 10, 1989. Rather, it attempts to explore a phenomenon which, at first glance, undoubtedly resembles nostalgia, but reveals, after a more thorough looking into it, the Bulgarian Turks‘ memory of the repressive party line of the totalitarian state and its culmination - the policy of forced assimilation, cynically called „revival process“. Also, the new reality of the Transition evokes a certain perception of the totalitarian regime, not in regards to its construction, normative or services, but in regards to its everyday life expressed through work realization, education, organization of public spaces, etc.

Култът към католическите мъченици на тоталитаризма в България (1944–1989)

Author(s): Valentin Voskresenski / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

The article presents religious practices and politics of memory, related to the cult of the “new martyrs” (“martyrs of totalitarianism”) in the Catholic Church in Bulgaria after 1989. The paper is based on terminological apparatus and methodology in the field of anthropology of memory and anthropology of religion, and describes the procedures of beatification of Blessed Eugene Bossilkov (beat. 1998) and bishops Fr. Kamen Vichev, Fr. Pavel Dzhidzov, Fr. Iosafat Shishkov (beat. 2002), Fr. Fortunat Bakalski, Fr. Rafael Peev, and others. The objective of this study is to elucidate major moments related to the institutionalisation of the cult, the processes of construction of sacredness, the creation of new religious practices, the commemoration practices, and the places of memory. The study explores the elements of the veneration of the “new martyrs” in Bulgaria, the connection between cult and history, and the issues of memory and the policies of memory as a form of heritage. The observations and the examples are obtained through field research and interviews conducted in several settlements in the Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv and the Diocese of Nicopolis (primarily the towns of Plovdiv, Rakovski, Ruse, and Belene, the village of Oresh, and the city of Sofia). Relics, testimonies of martyrdom, stories of miracles, hagiographical and iconographical innovations, commemorational festivities, places of memory, related to the “new martyrs” – all of these are analysed through the prism of processes of invention of cultural-historical heritage, renovation of confessional identities, and creation of reworking models of traumatic memory in the period of socialism. The article looks for answers to the following questions: What is the character of the totalitarian martyrology in Bulgaria? How are the confessional consciousness of the Catholic communities and the character of their religious culture being transformed through the religious cults of the “new martyrs”?

За дуалистичния характер на българския граждански празничен календар

Author(s): Grigor Har. Grigorov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

The paper puts forward the proposition that today’s Bulgarian civic festive calendar may be examined as a system composed not of individual holidays but of corresponding holiday pairs (3 March – 2 June, St. George’s Day – St. Michael the Archangel’s All Soul’s Day, 24 May – 1 November). The holiday pairs have been formed gradually, and in the course of time a ‘strong’ and a ‘weak’ holiday came to exist, the former – honouring a supreme community value, whereas the latter – paying respect to the memory of the heroes who devoted their lives to its achievement. The paper makes an attempt to substantiate the thesis that dualism is the leading trend in the development of the festive calendar, which might be observed in its past historical stages as well.

Празникът „Кюстендилска пролет“ и социалистическата празничност: „Изобретяването“ на празника (Част I)

Author(s): Svetla I. Kazalarska / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2022

The article examines and analyses the process of “inventing” Kyustendil Spring Day in the context of socialist festivity. Based on the local tradition of welcoming spring in Kyustendil, which integrates pre-Christian rituals related to the day of spring solstice, the Day of Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in the Orthodox calendar and Mladentsi in the folk calendar, the holiday is gradually “domesticated” by the socialist authorities in the late 1960s, purged of its religious elements and re-invented – engaged with “new, socialist content”. Having combined various festive forms, symbols and rituals and occupying various urban spaces throughout the years, the holiday eventually established itself as a successful “invented tradition” during the socialist period, including several elements: a beauty contest, a ceremony for handing over the symbols of spring, a carnival procession, a public celebration on the Hisarlaka hill above the town, and accompanying cultural and sports events.

Книги 2021 – 2022

Author(s): Emiliya Voleva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 45/2022

Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in the current year.

Ива Кюркчиева. „Етнология и футбол“. София: Издателство на БАН „Проф. Марин Дринов“, 2020

Author(s): Stanoy Stanoev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2022

Book review

Живот с реката: един пример от село Драганово

Author(s): Georgi Georgiev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2022

I explore the connections between a particular place that was created by a natural agent (the Yantra River) and an artificial object (the ‘buna’), and the activities by which local people gave the place a specific character. I highlight their past actions and experiences; remembering, recounting and evaluations in the present; the emotional attachment to the place and the ecological nostalgia after its ‘loss’ due to hydro technical intervention.

Политическият виц през втората половина на XX век и днес

Author(s): Jaroslav Otčenášek / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2023

Book review

Книги 2024

Author(s): Emiliya Voleva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 49/2024

Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in the current year.