(С)поделена природа? Природно наследство и местно развитие в един регион от българо-сръбското пограничие

Author(s): Ivaylo Markov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2017

The article is focused on a border region between Bulgaria and Serbia which is geographically dominated by Ruy Mountain (whose ridge is the boundary between Bulgaria and Serbia) and the valley of Erma river forming two huge defiles along its way in this mountainous region – the Lomnishko defile (in Bulgaria) and the Poganovsko defile (in Serbia). The micro region (from natural and geographical point of view) shared until 1919 several cultural, social and economic characteristics (from an anthropological point of view), thus forming a common historical and geographical entity. The demarcation of the boundary between Bulgaria and Serbia as a result of the Treaty of Neuilly split the region between the two countries. The border regime, which was rigid and impermeable through the whole second half of the 20th century, made the zones on the both sides of the border well guarded, but industrially underdeveloped periphery. With the opening of the border in the period after 1989 and especially with the intensification of the European integration processes the character of the Bulgarian-Serbian border is undergoing changes and is gradually turning into a bridge for diverse trans-border initiatives. A great deal of these initiatives are connected with the well preserved ecology of the region, which is evaluated at present as a treasure by the local authorities and communities who believe it to be an important resource and instrument for the overcoming of the peripheral position of the region.

Мандалата в процеса на обучение като средство за себепознание и познавателно моделиране

Author(s): Yana Racheva-Merdjanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 8/2017

This article presents the educational and forming properties of the mandala in its philosophical and pedagogical aspect, and as an accumulated historical cultural practice. On the basis of professional experience and results the term „cognitive mandala“ is introduced, its heuristic potential and the methodical prerequisites for its expression in the profound process of self-knowledge and cognitive modelling.

COMPULSORY VEIL IN IRAN: A SOCIAL JUSTICE PROBLEM

Author(s): Nasim Basiri / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

This paper looks into different aspects of compulsory veil in post-revolutionary Iran and discusses this discriminatory and exclusionary law as a social justice problem. The paper also demonstrates and brings into the light a number of consequences related to implementation of compulsory hijab in Iranian society that has led to gender-based violence targeting women.

Simona Vidmar. (Еd.) Heroes We Love. Ideology, Identity and Socialist Art in the New Europe. Maribor, 2017

Author(s): Nikolai Vukov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2018

Съвременната медицина – наука или изкуство?

Author(s): Veselina Slavova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2019

The aim of the current paper is to discuss medicine as a unity of scientific knowledge, acquired skills, and attitude based on moral responsibility. Following an analysis of the terms ‘science’ and ‘art’, it is suggested that neither of them singlehandedly satisfies the requirements of contemporary medicine and those of medical practitioners. As a science, its focus is rather on the illness itself than on the patient and their needs and preferences. As an art, it prioritises the patients and their individual needs but risks undermining the knowledge and experience of the medical professional. The most beneficial option is a symbiosis between science and art. A dialogue between them would increase the amount of trust in the medical profession as a combination of scientific knowledge and technical skills.

War and Peace: the Interpenetration (WWI in a New Anthropological Perspective)

Author(s): Lazar Koprinarov / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The paper seeks to investigate some of the anthropological consequences of the First World War, which was not simply just another but the first total war. It was without a clear dividing line between the front and the rear; it was with long duration, involving the mobilization of millions of people, most of whom not specialized in conducting military actions. In this perspective, the paper analyses some specific modes of the interpenetrations of peacetime’ attitudes and frontline’ experiences. Special attention is paid to the rearrangement of the human sensorium of the soldiers in the trenches of the First World War. Another subject is the correspondence between soldiers and their families in the rear. The letters contain both the experience from the front and the peacetime attitudes of the soldiers. Their language is shaped by the tension between the two worlds – of the war and of the peace.

Идеологията и невъзможната й трансформация в масово комерсиално изкуство при социализма

Author(s): Angelina Petrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2019

Тhe decade of 1944-1954 marked a prominent rise of the mass-song, which became a major ideological genre. It is a genre-product that performs the ideological, state and public order of the Communist Party in tune with cultural engineering. It embodies the economy of socialist production of culture: provision with contractions at all levels, realization through sponsored state chambers, secured by contractions with state institutions in a hierarchical state order. The mass-song is created in the system of state socialized art of socialism designed by the civil engineering of socialism. Still, something prevents it from growing into commercial art - it hinders its ideological, adaptive, traumatic nature, offsetting anger and fears. Its disharmonious duality is the cause of its crisis after a decade of generously sponsored development. In the party papers officially published by the Union of Composers in 1954 and then (1956, 1958) instead of a succession of successes and conquests of a broad audience, in the mass-song, a collapse, poor performance, a crisis. In the 1970s, this led to its encapsulation.

Читалищата като част от развитието на гражданския сектор в България в периода от 1878 г. до 1944 г.

Author(s): Silvena Bayrakova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2019

In order to analyse in depth, the process of the present special status of the Bulgarian chitalishta, a look at the past is required to search for historical threads that lead to the reconciliation between their functions as state institutions from the one hand and civic organization ones from the other hand. The article highlights some features of the development of the Bulgarian civil sector and focuses on the chitalishta as the first civic organization with traditions dating back to the Bulgarian nation building period. Two major events in the span between 1878 and 1944 have an impact on the contemporary government policy concerning the Bulgarian chitalishta. Firstly, their consolidation in union in 1911 is initiated by the will of their leaders to coordinate the activities and to form high representation raising the organizational status. Secondly, due to the longstanding efforts of the chitalishte intelligentsia, the first Law to regulate them is passed in 1927, which strongly favours their financial and infrastructural support. This text intends to reveal how the democratic civic associations that have occurred in the context of non-existent national state during the Bulgarian “modernity”, acquire specific social and government-institutional hue that brings forth the prototype of their public duties and functions as a space for civil debate.

Общински годишни програми за развитие на читалищна дейност в контекста на опазване на нематериалното културно наследство

Author(s): Sylva Nalbantyan-Hacheryan / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2019

The article presents and analyses the relation between the chitalishta and the municipalities on the basis of the municipal programs for the development of the activities of this specific institution. The data used is able to demonstrate the resources of the chitalishta, the rich variety of the activities accomplished there, as well as to make more concrete the appeals for support, to show the attitude of the municipalities as cultural institutions participating in the realization of public policies. Having in mind the importance of the chitalishte institution for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage, the content of the programs is analysed from the point of view of the activities and measures for the safeguarding of this kind of cultural heritage.

Българската етнология в началото на ХХI век – теория и практика. Съст. Валентина Васева. София: Издателство на БАН „Проф. Марин Дринов“, 2017

Author(s): Anelia Kasabova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2019

Book review

Езичеството през призмата на средновековния български книжовен език

Author(s): Tatyana Ilieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 17/2019

The paper analyses that vocabulary of certain medieval Bulgarian written monuments which is related to mythological notions and religious believes of the pagan antiquity. It is part of a series of studies on specific lexical-semantic groups of words in the history of the Bulgarian language, both united and differentiated on the basis of their subject-logical links in relation to reality, which have been done with a view to collect material for the Thematic Dictionary of the Medieval Bulgarian Language. Analysis is based on language data of the earliest written monuments – of the 10th to 14th centuries – which are reflected in the Palaeoslavonic lexicographic editions. The following thematic units are studied: names of pagan religious buildings and facilities, terms of pagan religious practices, names of persons involved in pagan practices, sacred words and names of mythical characters. The study reveals the existence of a large and detailed thematic union covering numerous word items related to pagan culture.

Св. св. Кирил и Методий в Германия и Чехия: Места на национална памет, поклоннически и възпоменателни практики

Author(s): Tanya Matanova,Mariyanka Borissova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 18/2019

Objects of research are sites of national memory in Germany and Czech Republic, devoted to St. St. Cyril and Methodius – creators of the Slavonic script and pioneers of the Slavonic liturgy. Nowadays these sites of memory – monuments, chapels – are centers of pilgrimage and com-memorative practices.

Креативни образователни модели на работа с езиковото културно наследство: рефлексии върху дейността на Ателие Киликан, Фрайбург(Германия), и разработената методика, насочена към обучението на билингуално растящи деца

Author(s): Miglena Hristozova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 18/2019

This article describes the complex methodological background as well as diverse education forms developed by the multilingual Atelier Kilikan, Freiburg, between 2015 and 2018. It puts an accent on the intercultural and translingual potential, which needs to be widely discovered among bilingual children raised in the multicultural environment in Freiburg (located in the border area between Germany, France and Switzerland). It presents some examples of workshops and language courses for kids of Bulgarian descent, as well as some intercultural methods represented in the complex art installation “The multilingual monster” created by children of different origin, artists and pedagogical mentors. The methodology provides different ideas on how bilinguals can be encouraged to transfer cognitive and academic abilities from one language to another (translan-guaging) and thereby effectively increase their competences in the target language which they currently learn: In this regard, the methods presented here can be used in non-formal education courses of migrant, minority and family languagesThis article describes the complex methodological background as well as diverse education forms developed by the multilingual Atelier Kilikan, Freiburg, between 2015 and 2018. It puts an accent on the intercultural and translingual potential, which needs to be widely discovered among bilingual children raised in the multicultural environment in Freiburg (located in the border area between Germany, France and Switzerland). It presents some examples of workshops and language courses for kids of Bulgarian descent, as well as some intercultural methods represented in the complex art installation “The multilingual monster” created by children of different origin, artists and pedagogical mentors. The methodology provides different ideas on how bilinguals can be encouraged to transfer cognitive and academic abilities from one language to another (translan-guaging) and thereby effectively increase their competences in the target language which they currently learn: In this regard, the methods presented here can be used in non-formal education courses of migrant, minority and family languages.

Модели на фолклорното православие ІІ: памет и наследство в православните храмове на град Самоков

Author(s): Konstantin Rangochev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 18/2019

Folk Orthodox Christianity in Bulgaria is a product of Bulgarian Orthodox mentality: this is the canonical knowledge that partially alters its form in time under the pressure of extreme external factors but retains its core relatively unchanged. It has indirect expression in all folk forms while the direct one is in the Christian prayer, rituals, and different beliefs. An interesting manifestation of folk Orthodoxy in the Orthodox temples of the town of Samokov is the practice that could hardly be defined as “canonical” or “non-canonical”: in the chairs, which are also called the thrones in the churches, are placed paper plates with names of pa¬rishioners. These are people who paid a certain amount of money to the temple so that the church board put their names and they could use these chairs during the liturgy: they stayed each in front of his/her chair and sit down when it was allowed to sit. It was considered to be especially pres¬tigious to have a throne (chair) in the temple and the deprivation of this privilege was regarded as a major insult. As a rule, people who took care of the church, donated money and worked as volunteers had such chairs/ thrones. Name plates are always present in the temple space, so the person symbolically “always attends” the temple and liturgy. The beginning of this practice can be placed after the end of the fifteenth century when bishop thrones were placed in the Orthodox churches. Its ubiquitous dissemination dates back to the second half of the 18th century. The peak was in the 19th century, when after the age of the Tanzimat (1839) began the intensive construction of orthodox churches in the Bulgarian lands. It should be borne in mind that the name plates on the chairs in the churches could play their role only when the literacy among the Bulgarians became widespread in the first half of the 19th century and there was a public that could read the names.Folk Orthodox Christianity in Bulgaria is a product of Bulgarian Orthodox mentality: this is the canonical knowledge that partially alters its form in time under the pressure of extreme external factors but retains its core relatively unchanged. It has indirect expression in all folk forms while the direct one is in the Christian prayer, rituals, and different beliefs. An interesting manifestation of folk Orthodoxy in the Orthodox temples of the town of Samokov is the practice that could hardly be defined as “canonical” or “non-canonical”: in the chairs, which are also called the thrones in the churches, are placed paper plates with names of parishioners. These are people who paid a certain amount of money to the temple so that the church board put their names and they could use these chairs during the liturgy: they stayed each in front of his/her chair and sit down when it was allowed to sit. It was considered to be especially prestigious to have a throne (chair) in the temple and the deprivation of this privilege was regarded as a major insult. As a rule, people who took care of the church, donated money and worked as volunteers had such chairs/ thrones. Name plates are always present in the temple space, so the person symbolically “always attends” the temple and liturgy. The beginning of this practice can be placed after the end of the fifteenth century when bishop thrones were placed in the Orthodox churches. Its ubiquitous dissemination dates back to the second half of the 18th century. The peak was in the 19th century, when after the age of the Tanzimat (1839) began the intensive construction of orthodox churches in the Bulgarian lands. It should be borne in mind that the name plates on the chairs in the churches could play their role only when the literacy among the Bulgarians became widespread in the first half of the 19th century and there was a public that could read the names.Folk Orthodox Christianity in Bulgaria is a product of Bulgarian Orthodox mentality: this is the canonical knowledge that partially alters its form in time under the pressure of extreme external factors but retains its core relatively unchanged. It has indirect expression in all folk forms while the direct one is in the Christian prayer, rituals, and different beliefs. An interesting manifestation of folk Orthodoxy in the Orthodox temples of the town of Samokov is the practice that could hardly be defined as “canonical” or “non-canonical”: in the chairs, which are also called the thrones in the churches, are placed paper plates with names of parishioners. These are people who paid a certain amount of money to the temple so that the church board put their names and they could use these chairs during the liturgy: they stayed each in front of his/her chair and sit down when it was allowed to sit. It was considered to be especially prestigious to have a throne (chair) in the temple and the deprivation of this privilege was regarded as a major insult. As a rule, people who took care of the church, donated money and worked as volunteers had such chairs/ thrones. Name plates are always present in the temple space, so the person symbolically “always attends” the temple and liturgy. The beginning of this practice can be placed after the end of the fifteenth century when bishop thrones were placed in the Orthodox churches. Its ubiquitous dissemination dates back to the second half of the 18th century. The peak was in the 19th century, when after the age of the Tanzimat (1839) began the intensive construction of orthodox churches in the Bulgarian lands. It should be borne in mind that the name plates on the chairs in the churches could play their role only when the literacy among the Bulgarians became widespread in the first half of the 19th century and there was a public that could read the names. Folk Orthodox Christianity in Bulgaria is a product of Bulgarian Orthodox mentality: this is the canonical knowledge that partially alters its form in time under the pressure of extreme external factors but retains its core relatively unchanged. It has indirect expression in all folk forms while the direct one is in the Christian prayer, rituals, and different beliefs. An interesting manifestation of folk Orthodoxy in the Orthodox temples of the town of Samokov is the practice that could hardly be defined as “canonical” or “non-canonical”: in the chairs, which are also called the thrones in the churches, are placed paper plates with names of parishioners. These are people who paid a certain amount of money to the temple so that the church board put their names and they could use these chairs during the liturgy: they stayed each in front of his/her chair and sit down when it was allowed to sit. It was considered to be especially prestigious to have a throne (chair) in the temple and the deprivation of this privilege was regarded as a major insult. As a rule, people who took care of the church, donated money and worked as volunteers had such chairs/ thrones. Name plates are always present in the temple space, so the person symbolically “always attends” the temple and liturgy. The beginning of this practice can be placed after the end of the fifteenth century when bishop thrones were placed in the Orthodox churches. Its ubiquitous dissemination dates back to the second half of the 18th century. The peak was in the 19th century, when after the age of the Tanzimat (1839) began the intensive construction of orthodox churches in the Bulgarian lands. It should be borne in mind that the name plates on the chairs in the churches could play their role only when the literacy among the Bulgarians became widespread in the first half of the 19th century and there was a public that could read the names.

Културното наследство и местната колективна rдентичност – фактори за развитие на културния туризъм (Теренно изследване върху културния живот в западната част на Самоковската котловина)

Author(s): Radostina Boneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 18/2019

The following study has the purpose to research the cultural and historical heritage of several neighbor villages, to present the unifying factors related to the local identity of their inhabitants and to offer opportunities for the conservation and retransmission of their traditions and culture. The villages included in the survey are: Dolni Okol, Gorni Okol, Shiroki Dol, Relyovo, Belchin and Alino. An unifying factor associated with these villages is their location. All of them are located in the Samokov municipality, in the western part of the Samokov valley, in the valleys of the Plana Mountain and along the Palakariya. The work process includes tracking the history of the villages, as well as their current condition. The main motivation for choosing this topic is related to the tendency of depopulation in the countryside. The lack of continuity regarding to local traditions is a problem that needs to be discussed by cultural institutions and that needs a solution. History, folklore and traditions must be explored and described before they are forgotten. This study outlines the opportunities for cultural development in these villages and gives recommendations for preserving the local cultural and historical heritage. In this publication the reader would find the final results of the study, and last but not least conclusions and recommendations. The main benefits of preserving the local traditions have been discussed in the publication. Moreover, recommendations for future development of the villages are given. Furthermore, the benefits of preserving the local traditions have been analyzed. The recommendations for the development of the local cultural tourism include organization of open concerts in the mountain and building eco-tracks. A main topic that has been analyzed is the opportunity to create an ethnographic collection in the “chitalishte”, in which the history of the local communities will be presented, which is of a great importance.

Слово за звездата Ирани: история на текста и критическо издание

Author(s): Iva Trifonova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 18/2019

The object of the article is a late legend – The Story of the Irani Star – which might have originated among the Eastern Orthodox Slavs in the 15th c. The plot revolves around the Star of Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, and the pilgrimage of the Magi (cf. Matthew 2: 1–12). The article discusses the narrative, its structure and the history of the text, with a focus on the edition and reconstruction of the text. The Story is published according to the copy found in Miscellany No 143 (504), 258v–265r, dated to the 16th c., which is part of the manuscript collection of the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery. Today, the manuscript is kept in the Russian State Library (Moscow, Russia). The edition is prepared in comparison with four copies of the legend dated to 15th and 16th c.

Езикът на едно писмо на Иван Н. Момчилов от 1848 година (Граматични особености)

Author(s): Ivo Bratanov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 18/2019

The report is written in connection to the language of one letter written by the Bulgarian Revival writer Ivan N. Momchilov. The article exposes important grammatical peculiarities of the language of this text. The review shows that Ivan N. Momchilov contributes to the approval of a series of grammatical norms, inherent to the contemporary Bulgarian language.

Взаимодействия между християнството и исляма в дизайна на надгробия и храмове в България

Author(s): Lyubomir Tsonev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 18/2019

The centuries-long coexistence of Christianity and Islam on the Balkans has led to artistic interactions between them in modeling of gravestones and temples. These interactions concern the form of the cultic monuments and not their confessional ideology. The material presented originates mainly from the territory of modern Bulgaria. The study of this phenomenon can continue with the collection of new material throughout the Balkan Peninsula.

Лайош Дьобрьоши. Мисията на един унгарец на българска земя. София: Унгарски културен институт/ИК „Арка“, 2018

Author(s): Mila Maeva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2019

‘Gezi Spirit’: Narrative Fragments and Modes of Articulation. Ethnography of Post-Protest (Istanbul 2013–2015)

Author(s): Zornitza Draganova / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

This text is based on an ethnographic study on the protests and civic initiatives that initially took place in 2013 but then continued with varying intensity throughout the following years. While applying the method of participant observation during the Gazi events’ and conducting interviews with individuals who had taken part in the protests, a main goal of this study is to grasp the transformation in the identification, articulation and presentation of important and secondary topics and problems that had been brought forward throughout the public discussions. The initial motivation of this study is the idea that after the first demonstrations and clashes, the interpretation of the political projects’ turbulence, of the reinvention of urban spaces, of the success or failure of diverse protest and resistance practices, gradually modifies the way the aforementioned events and ongoing processes are being thought and talked about. The research questions the respondents’ participation in protests, the constitution and disintegration of communities, the ‘diagnosis’, ‘prognosis’ and ‘rationale’ elements in respondents’ and informants’ micro-discourses and their acts in relation to diverse initiatives. The text attempts to systematize the observation data and the collected ‘narrative fragments’ within four ‘modes of articulation’: transformative, subjective, argumentative, and topological.