Културни организации и идентичност на турците в България в началото на ХХІ век

Author(s): Bojidar Alexiev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2017

After the restoration of the rights of the Turks in Bulgaria in the beginning of the 1990s, they again received the opportunity to develop culture in their mother tongue. Over the time the Turkish chitalishta (culture centers), which had existed in the past, were re-established and new organizations pursuing various educational, creative and informational activities appeared. Already for several years on end, the Turkish cultural associations in Bulgaria have been organizing events and staging traditional and modern musical and dancing performances. The article studies the functioning of the Turkish cultural organizations in Bulgaria as well as the Turkish community’s self-representation by means of folklore performances in front of the other communities.

Културното различие днес

Author(s): Elena Mihaylovska / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 3-4/2017

The article reflects upon the increased significance of cultural differences today, both in the constitution of social realities and, even more, in their perceptions, experiences and interpretations. Typical examples of aggressive and even terrorist manifestation, caused by such differences recently, are given and analyzed in the text. They put new and difficult to formulate questions about the rights of certain individuals, groups and communities in the European societies, including the Bulgarian one.

Культура Іґбо Як Етнічне Джерело Літературної Творчості Ч. Ачебе

Author(s): Olesya Shtanyuk / Language(s): Ukrainian / Issue: 97/2018

In the article the worldview of the Igbo people is analyzed. The most influential Nigerian writer Ch. Achebe belonged to Igbo ethnic group. Thus the author‟s native culture became the source of creating images in his texts. As the author lived on the “crossroads of cultures” – the Western European and the African, he was influenced by Christian education and tribal African traditions. As the writer realized that the vast majority of Europeans were not familiar with the life of Igbo, in his works he tried to convey as much as possible the life and traditions of the tribe. Such detailed descriptions contribute to a better understanding of his texts. Though, at first glance, his works are overloaded with ethnographic material, all the realia are taken from the author‟s everyday environment. Consequently, the Igbo culture dictionary should be recognized as a key factor in decoding Ch. Achebe’s texts. Though Ch. Achebe believes that it is more appropriate to consider Igbo ethnos as a nation, it is stressed that on the pages of his novels Igbo appear as a tribe since only a certain clan or tribal community is portrayed. It is accented that in his texts Ch. Achebe conveys the outlook of his native ethnic group, his culture, which becomes the source of the stylistics of his novels. Therefore rituals, African dances, masks, sacrifices, various holidays and festivals that are an important traditional component of the religious culture of Igbo are reflected in Ch. Achebe’s works. It is noted that polygamy is an essential feature of the Igbo society, and it is also reflected in Ch. Achebe’s novels. Ch. Achebe shows that a woman in the Igbo culture has double valency: on the one hand, this is a thing, on the other hand, the bearer of matriarchal power, the hidden force that helps a person to survive. This is especially vividly depicted in the novel “Things Fall Apart”, and it also acquires an important storyline in the novel “No longer at ease”.

Культурно-етнографічні відмінності весільних обрядодій етнічних груп кримських татар

Author(s): Lenura Khalilova / Language(s): Ukrainian / Issue: 29/2016

The article analyzes the specific marriage ceremony in various ethnic groups of the Crimean Tatars. Because of different way of life, origin, physiological features, and various historical and geographical processes wedding ritual in each group has significant differences. Some of the marriage ceremony of the Crimean Tatars were located in sub-ethnic groups. Every single day of the marriage ceremony is accompanied by complex rituals specified by a particular region. If the wedding traditions demonstrate various parallels, then the traditions of the steppe Tatars have individual differences.

Куфарната търговия – стереотипи на маргинализацията

Author(s): Krasimir Asenov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 16/2018

The article traces the genesis and development of the phenomenon “suitcase trade” among members of the Roma communities, covering a timeframe from the end of the last century to the present day. Much of the field data was collected thanks to the cooperation of “suitcase traders” from the ethnic neighbourhoods in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The ar¬ticle has the aim of providing an answer to a few main questions: what is the “suitcase trade”; who are the people involved in this practice, what kind of goods are trafficked, how this trade is carried out, etc.

Към историята на гръцката общност в София от средата на ХХ век до днес: първите години

Author(s): Daniel Fokas / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 3/2017

The publication is the result of the study of the Greeks who arrived in Bulgaria in 1948–1949 and the process of settling in the country in the 1950s. Their community is formed by political emigrants from Northern Greece who left the homelands after the Civil War in the country (1946–1949). The article traces the main moments in the history of the emigration and the settling in the new country, as well as the initial integration into the Bulgarian society. It outlines the actions of the Bulgarian state in support of the Greek immigrants – the establishment of dormitories, the providing of medical care, the work placement. An important point in the article is the special care for children refugees as well as their education. Another accent is the self-organization of the Greek community in Bulgaria during the first years of the settlement – the committees in the hostels, the General Committee of the Greek Immigrants, the additional organizations, the newspaper, the information bureau, the creation of an educational structure. The author also provides information on the structure of the emigrant community in terms of its ethnicity, geographical and social origin. The main purpose of the publication is to present these processes from the point of view of the internal life of the immigrants on the basis of the interviews of the author with some prominent community representatives who have finally settled in Sofia.

Лиляна Ковачева. „СЪКРОВЕН СВЯТ. Празнично-обредна система на ромите в Средна Западна България“. София: Просвета, 2015

Author(s): Ventsislav Bozhinov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 3/2016

Лична имена припадника националних мањина и њихово службено признавање

Author(s): Vladimir Đurić / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 149/2014

This paper deals with the regulation of the use and official recognition of names of persons belonging to national minorities in the minority languages in international and Serbian law. The official recognition of names in the minority languages could be faced with three types of challenges that require legal interpretation and resolution: the way in which the name from a minority language and script should be transcribed in the language and script which is officially used, the possibility of dual use of the name and the feasibility of changing the name and the legal legitimacy of such a request, in cases in which such names have been forcibly changed. The laws and state practices, the attitudes of international bodies, the theoretical interpretations and the perception of the European Court of Human Rights in connection with the above issues are different. The Republic of Serbia has opted for the model of dual use of names which allows the official recognition of the names in minority languages. On the other hand, the legal provisions on the right to change the name and practice of its implementation do not prevent the abuse of this right. The concept of minority self-rule which is exercised by minority national councils, among others, in the field of the official usage of the language and script also implies the question whether it could be possible, by reference to the minority languages rules as determined by the national council, to require a change of all national minority member names that end with Slavic suffixes “ić” and “vić”, as it was in the case at hand. The conclusion is that such attempts would not be allowed in terms of human rights.

Личното име и езика като културни маркери за (само)идентификация на поколението от смесени семейства

Author(s): Desislava Pileva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 3/2017

This research deals with two topics concerning mixed parentage rearing practices in Bulgaria. On the one hand, it is the naming the offspring with regard to the name giver(s) and principles of name-choosing, deriving from parent(s)’ cultural heritage and affected (or not) by the living-in social environment. On the other hand, there is the matter of the non-Bulgarian language acquisition, whose development is a question of micro managing of each of the families (and in many cases of each of the partners). Parents’ decisions, regarding these topics, set the manner in which others look at the mixed offspring, as well as how the children accept themselves as bearers of two cultural backgrounds.

Локализиране на балканската прародина на българите туканци от Бесарабия и Таврия според писмени и фолклорни източници

Author(s): Alexander I. Ganchev,Vladimir Milchev,Alexander A. Prigarin / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2016

The problem of the origin of tukantsi, the first Bulgarian settlers in Budjak remains already for a long time a controversial question. The article, which is the result of a complex research of the authors, demonstrates that the inhabitants of the valleys between Stara planina and Sredna Gora called Karadza Dag (Sarnena Sredna Gora) are the earliest Bulgarian immigrants in Southern Bessarabia in modern times. The article is based on different sources: acts and statistics from the archival collections of modern Ukraine and Moldova and materials from field studies accomplished by the authors in the period between 2012 and 2014, in Budjak and Sredna gora (photo documents, oral and written narratives). The updated statistical documents, together with the narratives, the folklore, graphic and other types of sources not only allow to confirm the hypothesis of the South Bulgarian origin of the tukantsi from the region of Karadza Dag, but also reflect the direct continuity, the direct genetic link between Budjak and the Balkans during the nineteenth century.

Магда Люнчева-Милчева. По пътя на Слънцето и Месеца. Традиционни календарни празници на християните и мюсюлманите в Хасковския край. Стара Загора, 2016

Author(s): Rachko Popov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2017

Магдалена Елчинова. Невидимата общност: православните българи в Истанбул. София: НБУ, 2017

Author(s): Valentina Ganeva-Raycheva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2018

Book review

Маргиналне друштвене групеу Србији – поглед у прошлост

Владимир Јовановић: Сјај и беда варошког живота – маргиналне скупине и државна реакција у Србији 19. века. Београд: Завод за уџбенике, 2017, 272 стр.

Author(s): Radomir J. Popović / Language(s): English,Serbian / Issue: 4/2017

Марек Якоубек. Войводово. Историята на едно чешко село в България (не само) през погледа на неговите жители. София: Парадигма, 2016

Author(s): Kiril Hristov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2018

Book review

Марек Якубек. Войводово, едно непознато чешко село в България. София: Парадигма, 2013

Author(s): Todor Bozhinov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2016

Book Review

Мегданът на българските емигранти

Author(s): Julia Popcheva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 2/2020

With its fifth edition in 2019, the festival ‘Na Megdana na Drugata Bulgaria’ (At the Public Square and Gathering Point of the Other Bulgaria) establishes itself as one of the main events for Bulgarian emigrants in Europe. It gathers folklore enthusiasts and besides a dancing stage, it is a ground for new friendships, meetings, and exchange of expertise. The article examines the festival as a place of contact of informal migration-based groups of interest and as a trigger for developing an imagined community around symbols such as origin, clothes, music, dance and food. The ‘megdan’ is considered a community centre existing mainly in people’s mind but not as a geographic location. The article searches for the link between the event and the ways of preserving and transmitting cultural heritage in migration. The study was conducted in three stages: a preliminary online survey; fieldwork in the period May 10 – 12, 2019 in La Nucia, Spain; an additional digital data gathering.

Медийни интерпретации на бежанската криза

Author(s): Miglena Dancheva / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 7/2017

The paper analyses the presentation of the European migrant crisis in the Bulgarian media. The research is conducted on the basis of a large volume of mostly on-line news published after October 2015 and before February 2017. The number of refugees across the globe is disturbingly high and is expected to continue to rise in the foreseeable future. Awareness about t he developing crisis has become enormously import ant but the preoccupation with numbers worldwide has, too often, ignored each refugee as an individual. As a result, journalistic objectivity and the neutral perspective have become a challenge. The media often take advantage of this uncertainty and create a crisis mentality in which the migrants are portrayed as the “enemies at the gate“ who are constantly advancing like a wave and attempting to invade the countries they have reached. This research addresses the journalism ethics by examining the effects of common media portrayals of refugees in Bulgaria in terms of demonization, xenophobia, dehumanization and hyperrepresentation of criminal and worrisome events and their effect on public opinion.

Между канона и традицията – локални версии на Мевлида сред турци сунити в Североизточна България

Author(s): Behrin Shopova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2018

Mevlid is one of the basic ritual complexes in the culture of the Turks in Bulgaria and is practiced by all Muslim communities. It is believed to be religious in nature and is an immanent part of the system of calendar and family rites. Mevlid first appears among Sufi Muslims, but soon becomes an element of the traditional Suni rites. The article follows the appearance and the diffusion of the rite and further compares Mevlid in mosque practice with its performance in the village tradition by revealing the specifics of the ritual as it is performed in the village of Gorna Hubavka, Targovishte region. The use of a text which differs from the conventional one, the appointment of specific months in the religious calendar for the performance of the ritual, the inclusion of authors songs not related to the Prophet, as well as the nature of the ritual stereotypes that are built form the local specifics of the ritual in the village. The analysis of the Mevlid and its particular local characteristics opens the possibility for the study of a very important aspect of the culture of the Suni in Bulgaria. It reveals the mechanisms of functioning of the so-called Balkan Islam which differs substantially from the high Islamic religious culture.

Между Прустом и Джойсом: Вехи на пути к Aбсолюту

Author(s): Olga Anatolyevna Demidova / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 2/2015

In this article Olga Demidova provides a detailed analysis of the critical reception of Marcel Proust and James Joyce in Russian émigré literature of the Interwar years. She suggests that responses of émigrés to Proust and Joyce were essentially self-descriptive: when writers compared a peer to Proust or Joyce, they were primarily expressing their own aesthetic and ethical framework.

Между уюта на традицията и изкушенията на модерността - младежки жизнени светове в едно изолирано мюсюлманско село

Author(s): Petar Vodenicharov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2002

The research is a part of an educational project supported by Phare Lien Program of the European Union. The autobiographical essays written by secondary school pupils from two West Rhodope villages inhabited by Muslim Bulgarians (Pomaks) have been analysed in the article. The life prospects of the pupils from Ribnovo village evolve along three basic trajectories: (1) family: becoming a respectable parent (getting married, bringing up two children, building a comfortable house); (2) religion (being modest and hard working, compassionate to poor people, loyal to the native place, kin and community); (3) profession (being a good student, getting higher education and a good profession). The analysis reveals the tensions between different sources of influence: the mosque; the school, the local tradition, and the media (TV, video, newspapers). The essays of Ribnovo pupils are compared to the similar essays of Christian pupils living in the town of Gotse Delchev.