Our Europe. Ethnography – Ethnology

Transcription

2 0 1 3 / 2
Ethnography Ethnology Anthropology of Culture
The Poznań Society for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences
210
Angelina Ilieva
THE POZNAŃ SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES
SECTION OF HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Our Europe
Ethnography – Ethnology – Anthropology
of Culture
vol. 2/2013
Bulgarian issue edited
by Katya Mihaylova
Poznań 2013
PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE POZNAŃ SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES
P O Z N A Ń S K I E T O WA R Z Y S T W O P R Z Y J A C I Ó Ł N A U K
THE POZNAŃ SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES
http://www.ptpn.poznan.pl
[email protected]
DIRECTOR OF PUBLISHING HOUSE
Paweł Marszałek
EDITORIAL BOARD
Grzegorz Pełczyński (editor-in-chief), Inga Kuźma (assistant),
Adam Pomieciński (assistant), Przemysław Kaszubski (language advisor)
EDITORIAL COMMITEE
Laurent Sebastien Fournier (Nantes), Grażyna Ewa Karpińska (Łódź),
Violetta Krawczyk-Wasilewska (Łódź), Katya Mihaylova (Sofia),
Dorota Skotarczak (Poznań), Andrzej Paweł Wejland (Łódź)
ADRRESS
Redakcja „Our Europe”
Katedra Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej US
ul. Krakowska 71-79
71-017 Szczecin, Poland
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
REVIEWERS
Karolina Bielenin-Lenczowska, Jarosław Derlicki, Ewa Jagiełło, Anna Kijewska,
Chris Korten, Violetta Krawczyk-Wasilewska, Magdalena Lubańska,
Noemi Modnicka, Klaudiusz Święcicki, Andrzej W. Wejland
COVER BY
Maciej Pachowicz
Copyright © PTPN and Authors, Poznań 2013
ISSN 2299-4645
ISBN 978-83-7654-290-4
TYPE SETTING
Dobrosława Gucia
Our Europe. Ethnography – Ethnology – Anthropology of Culture
Vol. 2/2013
Contents
From editors............................................................................... 5
Migrations, Communities, Identities
Valentina Ganeva-Raycheva
Migration and Memory: Policies and Practices in the Construction
of Identity and Heritage................................................................ 7
Zhenya Pimpireva
Ethnicity in Transition: the Karakachans in Bulgaria.......................... 23
Veselka Toncheva
The Slavonic Community from the Golo Bardo Region, Republic
of Albania: Traditions, Music, Identity............................................ 39
Katya Mihaylova
Labour Migration of Bulgarians to the Czech Lands and Some Aspects
of Their Ethnocultural Identity....................................................... 57
Religious Cults and Rituals
Vihra Baeva
A Local Cult, a Universal Symbol: The Golden Apple in Gorni Voden,
Southern Bulgaria........................................................................ 73
Ruzha Neykova
Nestinarstvo: Evidence from South-East Bulgaria............................. 89
Politics and Ceremonies
Valentina Vaseva
Funerals of Bulgarian Politicians in the Post Communist Period.......... 107
Sites of Memory
Ana Luleva
Transitional Justice and Memory Culture in Post-Socialist Bulgaria..... 117
Nikolai Vukov
Cities, Memorial Sites, Memory: the Case of Plovdiv........................ 129
Miglena Ivanova
Graffiti and the Symbolic Dismantling of the Berlin Wall................... 145
Anthropology of folk music, folk dance and role-playing games
Natalia Rashkova
Performing Folk Instrumental Music: An Anthropological View.......... 161
Evgenia Grancharova
Folklore Dance Clubs: A New Phenomenon in Modern Bulgarian
Urban Culture............................................................................. 177
Angelina Ilieva
The Social World of Bulgarian Larp Players..................................... 195
Narration and identity, everyday narration
Galina Lozanova
On the Use of the Islamic Formulae Basmala and Shahada Among
the Pomaks in Bulgaria................................................................. 211
Stanoy Stanoev
There Comes the Wife’s Mum: About the Prevalent Personage
in Jokes..................................................................................... 223
Intangible Cultural Heritage
Mila Santova
Human Rights and Intangible Cultural Heritage................................ 235
Information for Authors................................................................ 243
Vol. 2/2013
p. 005
Drodzy Czytelnicy,
Zapraszamy do lektury drugiego numeru naszego czasopisma. Złożyły się na
niego prace antropologów bułgarskich, które pozyskaliśmy dzięki staraniom p. prof. Katyi
Mihaylowej. Jest to niewątpliwie bardzo interesujący zbiór tekstów. Poruszane są w nich
tematy dotyczące przede wszystkim kultury bułgarskiej, ale też sąsiadujących z nią innych
kultur Półwyspu Bałkańskiego. Jak się okazuje, są to kultury, w których wciąż żywe pozostają tradycje ludowe. Jednak mają one także swój dzień dzisiejszy, będący również przedmiotem zainteresowania ze strony antropologów kulturowych. Niejednokrotnie ten dzień
dzisiejszy bezpośrednio tkwi korzeniami w powojennej, komunistycznej epoce. Z pewnością warto zwrócić uwagę, w jaki sposób antropolodzy bułgarscy podchodzą do tych tematów. Ich metody są bardzo różnorodne. Nie obce są im najnowsze podejścia naukowe, które
potrafią z powodzeniem zastosować do rozwiązywania nurtujących ich problemów
badawczych.
Redakcja
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the second edition of our journal, comprised of a series of essays by
Bulgarian cultural anthropologists which we have acquired thanks to the help and efforts of
Professor Katya Mihaylova. This undoubtedly interesting collection concerns itself mainly
with the Bulgarian culture, as well as with other neighbouring cultures of the Balkan Peninsula. While these cultures appear to have preserved living folk traditions, they also include
modern elements – often originating from the postwar, communist era. Such contemporary
aspects, too, are of interest to cultural anthropologists. The approaches and methods presented by the Bulgarian authors certainly merit attention: rich and diversified, they reflect
recent achievements in scholarly analysis and successfully deal with many of the tangled
research questions posed.
The Editors
Vol. 2/2013
p. 007–022
Migrations, Communities, Identities
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Migration and Memory: Policies and Practices
in the Construction of Identity and Heritage
Abstract: This paper focuses on the institutions of the Thracian Bulgarians, refugees and migrants from
Eastern and Western Thrace. The historical emphases provide the necessary context in order to highlight
the contemporary policies of the Thracian organisation. The text elaborates on the specificities of the annual cultural calendar, on the policies of constructing Thracian memorial sites and their perception as part
of the national narrative, and on the practices of symbolic appropriation of spaces beyond the boundaries
of the nation-state; it also discusses the construction of social networks and the political usage of memory
and heritage. ‘Implanting’ a past in the collective memory, encapsulating heritage, and attempting a perspective onto the future are among the issues discussed here.
Keywords: refugees, memory, identity, heritage, institutions, policies, memorialisation
This paper introduces the observations and conclusions of a research project entitled Resettlers and Migrants on the Two Sides of the Bulgarian-Turkish Border: Heritage, Identity,
Cultural Interactions, financed by the national academic research fund in Bulgaria (Bulgarian
Science Fund).1 One of the goals of the research was to trace the processes of constructing
communities as a result of migration: which explains our interest in the institutions that
represent and legitimise migrants in the recipient society, keeping their cultural memory
and constructing their heritage.
This analysis draws upon ideas such as the invention of traditions (E. Hobsbawm), places of memory as support of collective memory, and memory as heritage (P. Nora), institutionalised public memory and the role of institutions as determining the manner of thinking
and the classifications of individuals (Douglas), the perception of cultural heritage as a dynamic phenomenon related to constructing and legitimising values by means of which the
past has been inscribed into the present, and, last but not least, the links between communities, cultures and territories.2
1
Two cases of involuntary transborder migration on the Balkans have been in the focus of this research aiming at a comparative analysis of the migration processes in a historical perspective and in the context of various
forms of mobility today. The descendants of Bulgarians from Eastern Thrace (refugees and migrants from Bulgaria) and Turks with a Bulgarian origin (emigrants and resettlers in Turkey from the mid-twentieth century up
to the present day) are in the centre of attention here. The project research team was interdisciplinary and included experts from the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Science, the New Bulgarian University, the Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv, and the
Sabancı University in Istanbul (for more details see www.2sidesborder.org).
2
For more details, see Cerclet 2004, Clemente 2006, Gri 2006, Bokova 2006.
8
The subject of research
The historical development and the socio-economic and political processes on the
Balkan Peninsula in the nineteenth and in the twentieth century call into question the relevance of the notions ‘local residents’ and ‘resettlers’ when a long-term link is attempted between a certain territory and specific groups of population. The ‘road’ and ‘being on the
road’ emerge as the relevant analytical figures when describing and explaining the world of
those who inhabit the Balkans (Kyosev 2009). The Thrace region is a case in point here;3 historically, it has been re-shaped more than once in terms of state borders and ethnic diversity
of its population. Nowadays it belongs to the territories of three states: about a fourth of
Thrace, known as Eastern Thrace, is in European Turkey, about a tenth of it, identifiable as
Western Thrace is in Greece, in the north-eastern corner, and the rest of it is in Bulgaria, in
the south-eastern part of the country. The geo-strategic situation of Southern Thrace is the
reason for many conflicts between the countries related to the Thracian territory (cf. Bokova
2012: 220–221).
The demographic data from the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth
century attests to the significant number of Bulgarians in these territories.4 Due to wars and
international agreements that were not exactly favourable to Bulgarian interests, Eastern
and Western Thrace were de-Bulgarianised in the first quarter of the twentieth century. As
a result of the forced migration, more than 200 000 (and according to some sources, more
than 400 000) Bulgarians from the lands that are now in Greece and Turkey were granted
asylum in Bulgaria (Miletich 1989; Filchev 2007).
The Bulgarians resettling from Eastern and Western Thrace moved to the towns and villages designated by the state: these were existing towns and villages, in which refugee
neighbourhoods were established; alternatively, the newcomers were accommodated in deserted villages and farm houses. Often, settling down permanently only happened after
a prolonged period of time with short-term stays at different places. Today Thracian Bulgarians are dispersed all over the country. Still, compact groups of the resettlers’ descendants
are noticeable in the north-eastern and south-eastern regions of Bulgaria, along the BlackSea coast, in smaller villages, or in bigger towns and cities, among which Varna, Burgas,
Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Kardzhali, Plovdiv, Sofia, Sliven, Yambol, etc.
The usage of ‘Thracians’ with reference to today’s population of Thrace is perceived as a
regional identity in Greece, Turkey, and Bulgaria. In the Bulgarian public domain, ‘Thracian
Bulgarians’ denotes the people who settled in Bulgaria due to the forced migration from Eastern and Western Thrace at the end of the nineteenth century up to the 1930s. Although it was
only the 1913 asylum seekers who were given the status of ‘refugees,’ the label is generally attached to all resettlers from Southern Thrace, regardless of when or why they had to migrate.
Thracian Bulgarians are the bearers of different local cultures. What they have in common is having to leave their homes behind, settling down to a place thought of as “the land
3
Thrace is a geographical and historical area in the South-Eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula of about
42,000 sq. km (Filchev 2007: 9). Geographically, this is the region delimited by the Sredna gora mountain on the
north, the Maritsa river on the west, the Aegean sea on the south, the Black sea on the east, and the Sea of Marmara on the south-east.
4
The French newspaper Courrier de l’Orient, published in Constantinople, is considered the most reliable
source of information on the ethnic diversity of the population: according to an issue from 1878, there were
190 568 Muslims; 372 476 Bulgarians; 147 984 Greeks; 13 710 Jews; 10 440 Armenians; 2 880 of other ethnicities
(qtd. in Shishkov 1992: 107). According to the archives of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the population of the Edirne area before the Balkan War consists of 328 028 Turks; 410 724 Bulgarians; 257 317 Greeks;
54 028 others (qtd. in Popov 1930:170–171; Filchev 2007: 10–11).
Migration and Memory: Policies and Practices in the Construction of Identity and Heritage
9
of our ancestors,” experiencing the locals’ perception of them as ‘alien,’ overcoming otherness, adapting and socialising in the host society.
A key social actor, representative of the Thracian Bulgarians, is the Union of Thracian
Societies in Bulgaria (UTSB). It brings together the local Thracian organisations. The Thracian Youth Association5 and the Thracian Women’s Association6 are affiliated to it. The positioning of the Thracian organisation in the public domain changes in the course of time, reflecting the historical and political context.
After the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and the then Ottoman province of
Eastern Rumelia in 1885, organisations involving Macedonians and Thracians were founded in order to solve the Bulgarian national problem. Following the Balkan War, the Thracian
movement chose its own line of development. Having initially sprung up as a movement
that meant to join the region to the Bulgarian state and to defend the interests of Thrace
before the Great Powers, subsequently, the Thracian organisation focused its efforts on solving the problems of refugees, such as accommodation, property compensation, etc. (for
more details see Filchev 2007: 17–268).
In 1934, along with other political parties and social organisations, UTSB was outlawed
by Kimon Georgiev’s government. It was re-established in 1947. In 1977, with a decision of
the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, the organisation was once more
dissolved because it had outlived its purpose.7 In 1990, the Thracian societies and the UTSB
were resurrected. Among the objectives in its statute were the following: the persistence in
and the successful completion of the Bulgarian national cause in Thrace, the right to have
Bulgarianness brought back to and reborn in Eastern and Western Thrace, the development
of Thracian spirituality, the safeguarding of the Thracian heritage, the protection of the human and property rights of the Thracian refugees and their descendants (Ustav 1990).
After the changes in the Statutes in May 2011, and in the spirit of the time and its place
in the EU, the organisation gave up some of its markedly nationalistic formulations and
outlined its goals as follows: persistence in and the successful realization of the slogan
“Thrace with no borders;” integration of Thrace within the framework of the European Union; Euroregion Thrace: constitution, management and development; safeguarding and
popularizing the Thracian cultural and historical heritage; respect for the human and property rights of the Thracian refugees and their descendants; safeguarding Bulgarianness, the
Bulgarians abroad, and Orthodox Christianity; well-being for the Bulgarian people and
prosperity for the Bulgarian state; active involvement to guarantee peace, trust, and good
neighbourly relations with the peoples on the Balkan Peninsula.8
Scholarly output has a major role in constructing and maintaining the memory of Thracians. Established in 1934, the Thracian Institute of Research unites scholars and activists
of the liberation movement in Thrace. In the years of its prime activity, the institute studied
the history, life, language, and struggles of Thracian Bulgarians, recovered archived documents, organised scholarly events, and published the Bulletin of the Thracian Institute of Research annually. Its more recent editions are the basis for historical and ethnographic publications on the towns and villages delving into the origin, family history, and oral tales of the
5
The first Thracian society was founded in 1896 in Varna. The first youth society sprang up in Varna too, the
year was 1922. In 1924 the youth societies were united in the Thracian Youth Association.
6
The first Women’s club of Thracian Bulgarians was founded in 1930 in Varna. The Thracian Women’s
Association dates back to 1933.
7
The number of Thracian societies varies throughout the years. The researchers have traced more than
250 societies and more than 20 000 regular members (Filchev 2007: 4).
8
Cf. http://stdbg.org/p_sayuz-trakiiski-drujestva-v-bulgaria-ustav_1_3.htm /last accessed 12 June 2012
(in Bulgarian).
10
Bulgarians from Eastern and Western Thrace. Currently, the agenda of the Thracian Institute
of Research has the ambitious goal to produce an encyclopaedia on Thrace that would cover
the whole region. The edition is focused on the Bulgarian perspective, its objective being to
demonstrate the Bulgarian cultural presence rather than the entire cultural diversity of
Thrace.
The following pages will offer an outline of the major tendencies in the policies and practices of the UTSB. The observations cover the period of restoring the organisation in 1990 up
to the present day.9
Memorialisation and fortifying the frames of memory
In the public domain, UTSB features itself as an institution of memory, a safeguard of historical memory and the historical truth about the past. The quintessence of this
image is revealed in the first part of the Trakia newspaper motto: “Do not forget but take no
revenge.”10 History and memory have become the fundamental resource for constructing
Thracian identity. This specificity has found its public expression in the annual calendar.
The cultural events often use the form of the Thracian fests and the concerts of amateur folk
groups.11
The calendar of cultural events combines celebrations specific for the Thracian community, sites of memory and dates honoured because of their link with the national heroic past
and the national heroes. The link with the national heroes and the events significant nationwide is explained away by the perception of the Thracian organisation as “socially patriotic,” and “a bearer of authentic patriotism.”12 UTSB declares itself one of the few institutions
in the country that consistently defend the national interests and have an unambiguous
position on the National problem. The Day of Thrace, 26th March, the day of conquering
Edirne in 1913, is an emblematic case in point. For the Thracians, the date symbolises two
momentous events: the battlefield glory of the Bulgarian army and the attempt of Thracian
Bulgarians to achieve freedom and rejoin the fatherland (Information Agency BGNES).13 In
the discourse of the Thracian leaders, the day is a holiday for all Bulgarians. The UTSB and
the local Thracian societies organise commemorative ceremonies and events to mark the
day. Political figures, the Bulgarian army, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and civilians join
in to pay their respect. The active role of the Thracian societies is interpreted by the leaders
as providing Bulgarians with an example as to “how the significant days and events in our
most recent history are to be celebrated” (Karamitrev 2011: 2).
The reflexive analysis is based on observing the events organised by UTSB and cultural events in Edirne,
Turkey, in the period 2009–2012, as well as on interviews with descendants of Bulgarians from Eastern and Western Thrace, and utilising written sources (documents, research, memoirs, travelogues, etc.). The majority of the
observations on the organised activities of Thracian Bulgarians have been carried out together with Natalia
Rashkova. This paper takes into account her conclusions too, recorded in the analytical reports for the project at
the end of 2009 and in the midst of 2010.
9
10
11
With a few disruptions, the newspaper has been in print since 1921.
There are 13 national Thracian fests and a number of regional and local ones. The huge number of folk
fests has to do with the mission of the organisation to preserve cultural memory and cultural traditions, in which
folklore has an important role as it is the bearer of the oral history of the various local communities.
12
The phrase is K. Karamitev’s, a chairman of UTSB in 1989–2011, and it was used in his report on the
achievements of the organisation (Karamitrev 2011: 1). In May 2011, Kr. Premyanov was elected chairman of
UTSB.
13
The tradition of celebrating 26th March dates back to 1914. In 1934, the Day of Thrace was banned. Since
2006, with a decision of the Council of Ministers, the day has had national recognition.
11
Photo 1. The Day of Thrace, 26th March 2012, Sofia; a festive gathering at the memorial of the Edirne epic. Photo:
V. Ganeva-Raycheva
The strategic goal of UTSB “to safeguard Bulgarianness and Orthodox Christianity” has
its expression in the project “to resurrect distinguished Bulgarians who have been forgotten”
in order for them “to take their venerable place in the pantheon of our national heroes.” Paying respect to the figures of Thracian origin is a priority. The cultural events of 2009 are marked
by celebrating the 165th birthday of Kapitan Petko Voyvoda [Captain Petko, the Chieftain].14
With the help of Thracian organisations, thirty-one monuments have been built to commemorate him. The year 2010, on the other hand, was dedicated to 140th anniversary of the Bulgarian Exarchy and was declared the year of Exarch Antim I.15 The acts of raising the monuments
are ways of purposeful appropriation of space, building a specific memory landscape. They
transcend the national borders and appropriate foreign national space.16 The awareness that
UTSB expresses national interests is encoded in official addresses to the government on the
topic of a state protocol regulation of paying respect at those sites of memory.
By methodically placing memorial signs, UTSB has constructed an entire system of locations that function as memory triggers. The number of memorial signs of Captain Petko is
14
A well-known protector of the Bulgarians in the Aegean region. He was born in 1844 in Doğanhisar,
Dedeağaç region, and he died in 1900 in Varna. A lot of folk songs, works of literature, and studies are dedicated
to him; there is also a biographical television series. A peak on the Livingston Island, Antarctica, has been named
after him.
15
16
The first Bulgaria exarch, who was born in Lozengrad, Edirne district.
Monuments of Captain Petko exist in Doğanhisar (nowadays Άισυμη), Greece, in Rome and in Kiev.
A monument of Exarch Antim I was built in Edirne.
12
comparable to those dedicated to Vassil Levski. They cover almost the entire national territory, with a higher frequency in the towns and villages where the Thracian refugees settled.
They are markedly concentrated along the eastern and the southern border. Apart from
their significance as memory sites and places to pay respect to, they visualise the image of the
guard at the border, the protector of Bulgarians and Bulgarianness; what is more, they send the
message that this is where Bulgarian lands reach to and they are guarded and protected. It
is particularly telling that the checkpoint Novo selo was renamed Kapitan Petko Voyvoda in
2004, an initiative of UTSB. In the discourse of the leaders of the organisation, “the two captains guard our southern border.”17
Other familiar instruments to keep up memory are also used. A number of streets,
schools, societies, and culture houses (chitalishta) in the places where the descendants of the
Thracian refugees live nowadays are named after Captain Petko. Tours “in the steps of Captain Petko” have been organised in the recent past. The UTSB has established a special award
to honour worthy activists of the Thracian movement, i.e. a gold medal in the name of Captain Petko.
Emblematic examples of constructing Thracian sites of memory and including them in the
national narrative are the celebrations for the anniversaries of the Ilinden Uprising, which
take place in the Petrova niva area,18 the commemoration of the children who died on the
long journey to Bulgaria (the National Youth Thracian Fest Ilieva Niva functions as the Day
of Thracian Children and takes place near Ivaylovgrad), the expression of respect at the anniversaries of the Thracian Bulgarians’ ruination in 1913 (the Day of Thracian Memory in
Madzharovo), the commemoration of the women and children who died in 1913 in the
Maglenik area (the National Thracian Women’s Fest in the village of Avren, Krumovgrad
district). There are memorial signs in all of these spaces, references to historical narratives.
They are similarly structured: a monument of the victims, a chapel, usually by the name of
St Petka, and a drinking fountain. Representatives of UTSB, of Thracian societies from the
region and the country, of the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary power, of schools
and other institutions take part in the commemorative events. The public celebrations follow similar scripts: Revival-period and patriotic songs are played first, then the occasion for
the gathering is emphasised, a reading of poetry comes next, there are official speeches, a
church ritual of prayers for the souls of the dead, a minute of silence, laying wreaths and
flowers, and performances of amateur groups.
The various traumatic moments are turned into elements of group identity; they have
been given symbolic value. The Thracian sites of memory are interiorised in the collective
body as places of national tribute and respect, the deceased become “martyrs of the Christian faith and Bulgarian ethnic belonging” and “victims in the name of Bulgaria,” while the
events of 1913 are represented as “bloody and heroic moments in the most recent history of
Bulgaria.” The awareness of the social significance of the victims has found its expression in
the suggestion made by the Thracian Women’s Association and Father Boyan Saraev19 and
addressed to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for the 42 women and children from the village of Manastir, Western Thrace, and the 200 children, casualties of the
flight to Bulgaria, to be canonised and declared saints.
17
The reference is to the two checkpoints: Kapitan Petko Voyvoda [Captain Petko, the Chieftain] on the
Greek border and Kapitan Andreevo [Captain Andreev’s place] on the Turkish border. Captain Nikola Andreev
is a hero from the Balkan war; he died in battle at Kadıköy.
18
This is the place where, at its congress, the Revolutionary committee of the Edirne district made the decision to to organize the Ilinden Uprising (1903).
19
Boyan Saraev is known as the Baptist of the Rhodope mountain, where compact groups of Bulgarian
Muslims are to be found.
13
A case in point is the town of Madzharovo. In accordance with the policy of the state in
the socialist period to turn heroes into patrons of villages or towns,20 the village of Yatadzhik
has been renamed after Dimitar Madzharov,21 following the suggestion of local Thracian
activists in 1951. Madzharovo has been labelled a “capital of the ruin and a bearer of the
spirit of the Thracian apostle D. Madzharov,” and its residents describe themselves as “followers of the chieftain’s bequest” (Popchev 2010: 203). The place has a very good potential
for turning into a memory trigger and offers opportunities for its symbolic utilization.
In 1928, a tribute was organised here for the first time and the search for the remains of
the refugees and the resistance-group members (chetnitsi) who died crossing the Arda river
in 1913 (more than 2,000 of them) was set off. On Madzharov’s suggestion, the tribute to the
victims of the Yatadzhik tragedy was made national in 1948. A pantheon-ossuary was built
in 1948 and the recovered bones of the dead were deposited there. In 1993, the place was
turned into a memorial complex called Madzharovo, which includes a pantheon, a drinking
fountain and a chapel by the name of St Petka Balgarska. The pantheon-ossuary has small
containers of soil from the birthplaces of the refugees, each of them labelled. The symbolic
monument Thrace with no borders was also built here, and declared a historical culture site of
local significance.
The memorial complex is interpreted as part of the local heritage.22
The Thracian sites of memory construct the space of the settled area or the landscape,
placing new symbolic emphases and creating a system of purposeful references.23 Monuments, anniversaries, and rituals make memory enduring. Through symbolic reminders
and tributes, memories become established and are entrusted to the next generations. Heroism is accompanied by stories of martyrdom. The experience of suffering is utilised with
pathos and ceremonialism. In the identity thus constructed, the awareness of sacrifice and
injustice has a central place. This is what legitimises certain positions, like the denial of forgiveness, and mobilises the descendants. It would be appropriate to quote Renan’s statement that “suffering in common unifies more than joy does. Where national memories are
concerned, griefs are of more value than triumphs, for they impose duties, and require a
common effort” (qtd. in Assmann 2004: 175).
Interpreted between triumph and trauma, the UTSB calendar of cultural events is structured on the memory of victims and heroes. The cultural events show a tendency reminiscent of P. Nora’s apprehension that memorialising victims or heroes, absolutely justifiable in
itself, might take on the objectionable form of a “commemorative fever,” in other words, it
may bring about deformations of memory, which are destructive with regard to the future.
Thus, a range of activists from the UTSB or the local Thracian societies, representatives of
the older generation, in their capacity of legitimate authorised speakers of the Thracian descendants, monopolise memory, impose their own viewpoint as the only one possible, which
inevitably leads to the encapsulation of memory and heritage (cf. Penkova 2011a), and repelling the younger generations, which obstructs continuity. An example I would like to
draw here is the discontent with the songs and dances of children’s folk groups accompanying the tribute to the victims at Ilieva niva expressed by the ‘hard-liners’ and addressed to
20
21
Cf. Vukov 2007: 41–62.
In the memory of Thracian Bulgarians, the chieftains D. Madzharov and R. Slavov remained the saviours
of more than 20,000 refugees whom they led to the Bulgarian border at Yatadzhik, Svilengrad district.
22
In the municipality plan for development in the period 2007-2013, “due to the great public interest,” the
Thracian tribute was meant to be developed into a tourist attraction and an advertisement for the municipality.
Similar examples of taking advantage of the Thracian heritage in the local government politics are documented
and interpreted elsewhere too (on Tsarevo, see Zlatkova 2011; Penkova 2011a).
23
Cf. Vukov 2007: 59.
14
Photo 2. A national Thracian youth festival in the Ilieva niva area, Ivaylovgrad district, 4th June 2011, a religious
commemoration of the children who died. Photo: V. Ganeva-Raycheva
Photo 3. The Thracian Day of remembrance, Madzharovo, 1st October 2011, lighting the commemorative fire.
Photo: V. Ganeva-Raycheva
15
the local government and the leaders of UTSB, with the stipulation that the day is meant to
be a time of respect and sorrow rather than of joyful celebrations.24 In the argumentative
discourses, the place is represented as the actual place of death of the refugee children:
“they dance on the graves of the victims.” The truth about the past is privatised; it is being
manipulated in order to make a certain point of view dominant because it is considered the
right way forward, or in the spirit of the accepted norm and morality.
Transforming the recollections that divide
In 1992, UTSB formulated the idea of Thrace with no borders. In 2006, the creation of Euroregion Thrace in the framework of three states became a strategic objective in the
statutes of the Union. A step in that direction was the activity of the Thracian organisation
directed towards the opening of small border checkpoints. The checkpoints Zlatograd–Xanti and Slaveevo–Kyprinos started functioning in 2010 and this is evaluated as a significant
step in creating zones for the free movement of goods and people, for intensifying trade and
tourist links between Bulgaria and Greece, and for the economic revival of the places close
to the border. Observations in Ivaylovgrad confirmed research expectations. Within a year,
the region demonstrated a notable development in the sphere of tourism and services. The
new checkpoint, the possibility to travel across the border on a daily basis and be employed,
these are steps towards the reconstruction of the old links the town and the district had with
the places on the other side of the border. The human flow has been modernized and so
have been routes, as well as cultural and economic links that revitalise the idea of a unified
Thrace from bottom up.
The idea for a Thrace with no borders is not approved of by those leaders and members
of the Thracian organisation who insist on paying tribute to the victims, on sealing the memory of the suffering and injustice they experienced.25 In such an attitude towards the past,
researchers of memory trace the inability to interconnect with other memories, as well as a
pronounced tendency to construct polemically (Assmann 2004: 176). Memory seals identities and establishes borders, chooses the past as its sole orientation and instils fears of the
past into today’s generations.
The Thrace Euroregion project is an attempt to look into the future, to overcome the
trauma and to utilise the possibilities of today and establish economic and cultural cooperation. It is a reflection of the understanding that the past cannot be changed but there is the
possibility to get some material compensation, a symbolic recognition of those, who suffered. Dividing memories can be transformed into forms of mutual acknowledgement.
The possibilities to cross the border freely after 1990 have offered steps in this direction.
They open up fields of symbolic reconstruction of territories outside the confines of the nationstate, marked by Bulgarian presence in the past. I would like to briefly mention two examples.
24
Ilieva niva is a relatively new memory site but illustrative of the strategies for constructing practices of
recollecting. The celebrations date back to 1996. Initiated by UTSB, the commemorative event at Ilieva niva has
gradually turned into a significant occasion in the calendar of cultural events in Ivaylovgrad; the municipality
has become its organiser and has turned it into a holiday. Commemorative tributes are part of the cultural events
that take place for a week before and after the International Children’s Day (1st June); they include concerts, theatrical performances, book launches, children’s drawing competitions, etc. The public celebrations attract Greek
tourists from across the border and popularise the town and the cultural sites in the region.
25
Those against the idea of establishing the Thrace Euroregion support their position with misgivings about
Turks buying off the land, Turkish capital dominating on the Bulgarian side of the border, economic and political
dependence on Turkey.
16
Photo 4. The national Thracian festival on St George’s Day in the church yard of the Bulgarian St George in Edirne,
Republic of Turkey, 6th May 2012. Photo: V. Ganeva-Raycheva
Photo 5. “Back to where our forefathers came from” expedition, Yaylagöne, Keşan district, Republic of Turkey, 3rd
July 2010. The ruins of a Bulgarian house, taking soil for the graves of the ancestors. Photo: V. Ganeva-Raycheva
17
The first example is of Edirne, a Thracian symbol for several reasons: significant Bulgarian
population up to the first decades of the twentieth century, Bulgarian traces preserved, conquering the fortress of Edirne, and the liberation of Thrace even if short-lived. The Bulgarian
traces preserved (St George and Sts Constantine and Elena churches, the Bulgarian cemetery,
Dr Petar Beron high school for boys) have been turned into sites of symbolic usage and new
commemorating practices. In constructing and legitimating urban locations as Bulgarian, a
number of social actors are involved – among those, the Union of Thracian Societies in Bulgaria, with their ideas, lobbying, campaigns to raise funds for the restoration of those topoi,
practices to make them their own (for more details see Ganeva-Raycheva 2011). Another
example of the symbolic reconstruction of territories is provided by the expeditions to the
birthplaces of the refugees (for more details see Rashkova 2011).
The construction of a group image and social networks
The activities of the Thracian institutions collaborate with the memory of the past
in the construction of a group image that has a representative identification. In the opinions
of our interviewees, descendants of Bulgarians from Eastern Thrace, a Thracian can be characterised by: respect to the origins, awareness of the ‘thickness of blood’ (“We are pure Thracians”); a well developed familial feeling (“A man without roots is not a man. We need to
know our past in order to head towards our future”); hard work, experience and resilience
(“They have been building houses on three locations.” “There is a lot to learn from our Thracians because their achievements are due to hard work, they have been through a lot”); patriotism (“It was for their religion and for their Bulgarian name that they came here. Were it
not for it, they could have put the turbans on their heads; they could have stayed there for
the sake of their property. Figure out what kind of patriotism we are talking about”).
Inheriting has different dimensions expressed in between “the excess of memory” and
its “deficit” (Ricoeur). Inheriting is relatively all-encompassing when individuals share the
characteristics of the group image. The heirs have interiorised the public narratives relating
the past from the point of view of authorised witnesses or memory speakers. Thracian identity is accepted as a primordial bond expressed in the conscious delving into finding one’s
roots, in handing down family history and memory to the next generations, in being active
and getting included in the organised life of the community.
Breaking away from one’s heritage has to do with “the deficit of memory;” it is an interruption of the process of inheriting, the inability or the unwillingness of the individual to act
as an heir. Memory could be made available in a number of situations but constructing a
Thracian identity is instrumental. The “contradictions of inheritance” start surfacing
(Bourdieu 1993; cf. Zlatkova 2011; Penkova 2011a).
Maintaining social networks through the symbolic capital of the Thracian Bulgarians’
heritage is an important prerequisite for the living energy of the Thracian organisation,
which cannot secure continuity between the generations. The perspective to look at heritage
“with new eyes” (to borrow Bourdieu’s phrase) reveals the topical issue of compensations
for the Thracian properties left behind in Turkey.26 The movement for finding the evidence
of having owned property is a prerequisite for a re-evaluation of the significance of the
26
In 2008, under the pressure of Bulgarian deputies, the European parliament linked Turkey’s membership
in the EU with solving the problem with the Thracian properties. The negotiations between Bulgaria and Turkey
began in 2009. It was in that period that a mass campaign for finding property documentation about the places
left behind in Eastern Thrace and Asia Minor was initiated: UTSB postulated it as the patriotic duty of the
descendants.
18
‘Thracian roots’, for joining the social network and assessing the Thracian link as symbolic
capital.
An actual step towards restoring and maintaining a network are the meetings of the fellow
villagers. Such a meeting under the slogan “Back to the roots” has been organised for three
years in a row, at the end of April, by a descendant of Thracian refugees in Sliven. The event
brings together the descendants of refugees from Eastern and Western Thrace, predominantly from the villages in the region of Keşan и Uzunköprü. The event includes both organised and spontaneous initiatives. In 2011, the preliminary agenda listed: paying tribute
to the victims and heroes (laying wreaths at the Thracian chapel plaque), visiting the
SHARED THRACE exhibition,27 showing stop-frames from the 1913 Refugees and To the lands
of our ancestors in Western and Eastern Thrace films (the latter made in the summer of 2010),
meeting the presenter of “Driven away from their native lands” (a show on SKAT television), listening to the speeches of experts from the Central State Archive in connection with
a project entitled “The property of Bulgarian refugees from Eastern Thrace and Asia Minor,”
engaging in reminiscences about the birthplaces of the predecessors. The first film recalls
the past and serves as a catalyst of emotions and negative attitudes towards Turkey’s membership in the EU. The speeches point towards the role of the media and the specialised
programmes in keeping the memory and safeguarding the historical facts from the past. The
time of the fellow-villagers meeting, St Thomas Sunday (the week after Easter), is interpreted as portentous of the event: it is a time of paying tribute to the dead, i.e. suitable for
paying tribute to those Bulgarians, who were killed or driven away from their birthplaces.
With the meeting “Back to the roots,” the organisers relied on the familiar instruments
to consolidate the community: memorialising and mobilising the historical memory, among
which martyrdom and painting the past in heroic shades play a key role. This type of event
has an important function in making the younger generation part of the past and reconstructing recollections about shared experiences.
The objectives of filling in a questionnaire are the confirmation of the social network and
the preparation of an organised visit to the birthplaces of the predecessors. The awareness
that the collective body and will are important is expressed in collective decisions, which are
addressed to the local authorities and UTSB.
Having started as an initiative ‘bottom-up’ rather than as an initiative of UTSB, the fellow-villagers meeting was realized in partnership with the local Thracian society. With the
second edition of the meeting, however, in accordance with the established manner of thinking, the organisers sought the approval and the support of institutions (the Sliven municipality and UTSB). As a result of the legitimacy granted, in 2012 the event was included in the
calendar of cultural events of the municipality and the Union. The circumstance altered the
script for the fellow-villagers’ meeting and predetermined the official protocol at its
opening.
Another chance for creating and maintaining a social network of the descendants of
Thracian Bulgarians are the internet forums. The participants there would seek out the geographical location and the current names of the ancestors’ towns or villages; they would
track down their next of kin, share their knowledge of the life and families in those places of
origin, exchange information on specialised literature or their trips to the birthplaces of the
forefathers, get in touch with fellow-villagers in origin, express their position on the Thracian question, comment on the policies and activities of UTSB, etc. As these forums are not
27
The photo exhibition visualises the observations of the team that worked on the research project mentioned at the beginning of this article. The authors of the exhibition, V. Ganeva-Raycheva and N. Rashkova, were
specially invited by the organiser of the fellow-villagers meeting.
19
administered by the institution, it cannot have control over the individuals’ memories or
impose its manner of thinking. Often, the comments on the UTSB are critical and demonstrate disagreement with certain policies. Such an example is the forum of Thracian descendants in Dr At. Shterev’s blog space; the forum distinguishes itself from the Thracian
institution (Forum 2010).
The common ground where the institution and the descendants who do not identify
with it meet is the awareness of the important role of history and memory. The difference
is in the approaches they use and the objectives they have or, in more general terms, in their
instrumentalisation. Apart from the position demonstrated in Dr Shterev’s blog, the descendants of Thracian Bulgarians, especially the younger generation, are unified in the
position that, in general, there is a ‘gap’ about this period in social memory and the knowledge of the events, which led to the de-Bulgarianising of Southern Thrace, is inconsistent.
The expectations are addressed to the media and the educational sphere, which have to
prepare society and assist in understanding the tragic events from the early twentieth
century.
Political usage of the Thracian heritage
As a social patriotic organisation, UTSB does not hide its ambitions to be an actor on the political stage.28 Due to the historical context, the community demonstrated its
preference to the political left. In 2001, the Trakia political club was founded: it could take
part in the local and parliamentary elections on its own or in coalition with other parties.
Its manifesto declared that the club shared the principles of the national Thracian movement. The leaders of the Thracian organisation were among the founding members of the
Alternative for a Bulgarian Revival Movement in 2011. The organisation consistently lobbies
for the Thracian cause in the Bulgarian Parliament and in the EU. The candidates of the
Trakia political club are mayors and municipal councillors in municipalities close to the
border.
Utilising the Thracian heritage for political purposes is a premise for its transformation.
The active participation of the Thracian organisation in the local elections is ambivalently
evaluated by the descendants. For many of them, this is a change in the nature of the organisation that has declared it is not a political party, and their reaction is one of disappointment
and withdrawing from active involvement.
The new leadership of UTSB publicly declared its ambitions to turn into an active figure
on the political stage. This is obvious in the 2012 programme, which is packed with activities
of the Trakia political club. As the Thracian electorate is small and fluid, new options are
sought after. In order to achieve a better visibility in the public domain, the institution declares more wide-reaching goals, leaving the smaller scale of the Thracian question, addressing more popular socially significant problems, and making contacts with new social
actors. Their intentions have found their expression in the goals phrased in the new statutes,
i.e. the organisation defends the interests not only of the Thracian refugees and their descendants but also of the Bulgarians abroad, of Orthodoxy and Bulgarianness in general.
The first steps in this direction have been made. UTSB publicly criticised the government
policy of not using the Bulgarian status of an EU member-state in order to demand from the
28
As early as the beginning of the 1930s, the Committee for the Freedom of Thrace emphasised on the need
to have Thracian members of Parliament, who would look after the specific interests of Thracian emigrants
(cf. Samo istina).
20
neighbours “European thinking and attitude towards the country itself and towards the
Bulgarian communities on their side of the border.”29
The leaders have altered the politics of UTSB and have brought to the fore activities, related to the realisation of wide partnerships (in Bulgaria and abroad), greater publicity, providing the support of international institutions, central and local government, and reaching
a wider range of political representativeness. The platform of UTSB suggests new forms of
work with the members of the organisation and attracting supporters and public figures,
who do not have Thracian roots, but “have expressed their willingness to work for the Thracian cause.”
Conclusion – memorialising and politicising
The historical, political and socio-cultural contexts determine the changing place
and the role of the Union of Thracian Societies in Bulgaria in the public domain. The strategic goals of the organisation are also changing and so are its priorities in the policies of
constructing the Thracian memory and heritage. In view of contemporary realities, two tendencies can be highlighted, the first of which is dominating. Keeping up cultural memory is
closely related to the national narrative. The powerful memorialisation of victims and heroes is used to mobilise the descendants and it leads to constructing an inflexible framework
of remembering, encapsulating memory and heritage. The second tendency is an attempt to
open up new fields and ways of remembering by transformation of the memories that divide into a mutual recognition in order to attract the younger generation, keep up and enlarge the social networks. Wavering in between the two and in search of its own balance,
UTSB utilises the symbolic capital of the Thracian heritage to form a political lobby and
carry through its strategic goals and, at the same time, makes itself known as an actor on the
political stage.
Translated from Bulgarian by Vitana Kostadinova
Bibliography
Assmann Aleida (2004), Mesta na pamet. Mezhdu triumfa i travmata [Places of Memory. Between Triumph and Trauma] in: I. Znepolski (ed.) Okolo Pierre Nora. Mesta na pamet i konstruirane na nastoyashteto, Sofia: Dom na naukite za choveka i obshtestvoto, pp. 173–187
(in Bulgarian).
BGNES (n.d.), Trakiytsi otbeliazvat Denya na Trakia [Thracians Celebrate the Day of Thrace]
Information Agency BGNES, http://news.bgnes.com/list/all.cult/last accessed 26 March
2012 (in Bulgarian).
Bokova Irena (2006), Mestni kulturni resursi i politiki za konstruirane na nasledstva (otnoshenie
mezhdu ‘natsionalno’ i ‘mestno’ v balgarski prochit) [Local Cultural Resources and Policies to
Construct Heritage (the Relationship between ‘National’ and ‘Local’ in a Bulgarian Version)]
in: M. Santova & M. Pavanello (eds.) Bulgaria – Italia. Debati, lokalni kulturi, traditsii,
Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov, pp. 49–60 (in Bulgarian).
Bokova Irena (2012), Trakia – geografska oblast, politicheski granitsi i simvolni teritorii [Thrace:
a Geographic Region, Political Borders and Symbolic Territories] in: V. Ganeva-Raycheva,
M. Elchinova, M. Zlatkova & N. Vukov (eds.) Migratsii ot dvete strani na balgaro-turskata
29
Cf. http://stdbg.org/p_stdb-bg-predsedatel-krasimir-premyanov-interview_1_241.htm/last accessed 17 March
21
granitsa: nasledstva, identichnosti, interkulturni vzaimodeystvia, Sofia: IEFSEM – BAS,
pp. 220-236, www.2sidesborder.org (in Bulgarian).
Bourdieu Pierre (1993), Les contradictions de l’héritage in: P. Bourdieu (s.l.d.) La Misere du
Monde, Paris: Editions du Seuil.
Cerclet Denis (2004), Nasledstvo, istoria, pamet: rolyata na asotsiatsiite v evoliutsiyata na ponyatieto nasledstvo [Heritage, History, Memory: the Role of Associations in the Evolution of the
Term ‘Heritage’], “Balgarski folklor” 30 (1–2), рр. 126–137 (in Bulgarian).
Clemente Pietro (2006), Mestni kulturi i traditsii v Italia [Local Cultures and Traditions in Italy]
in: M. Santova & M. Pavanello (eds.) Bulgaria – Italia. Debati, lokalni kulturi, traditsii,
Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov”, pp. 86–97 (in Bulgarian).
Douglas Mary (1986), How Institutions Think, Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University
Press.
Filchev Ivan (2007), Trakiyskiyat vapros i trakiyskoto dvizhenie v Bulgaria [The Thracian Issue
and the Thracian Movement in Bulgaria]. Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin
Drinov” (in Bulgarian).
Forum (2010), Forum na trakiyskite potomtsi v Blog za politika i zdraveopazvane na d-r At.
Shterev [Forum of the Thracian Descendants in Dr At. Shterev’s Blog on Politics and Health
Care], www.atanas-shterev.com/?p=587, created on 3 March 2010/last accessed 15 June
Ganeva-Raycheva Valentina (2011), Rekonstruirane na teritorii chrez nasledstvo: primerat na
Odrin [Reconstructing Territories through Heritage: the Example of Edirne] in: I. Bokova
(ed.) Godishnik na departament Antropologia, Vol. 4. Kulturni nasledstva – politicheski zalozi i rekonstruirane na teritorii, Sofia: NBU (electronic edition, forthcoming) (in Bulgarian).
Gri Gian Paolo (2006), Mestna avtonomia, politiki na pripoznavane i upotreba na etnografskoto
nasledstvo [Local Autonomy, Policies of Acknowledgement and Utilisation of the Ethnographic
Heritage] in: M. Santova & M. Pavanello (eds.) Bulgaria – Italia. Debati, lokalni kulturi,
traditsii, Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov”, pp. 61–67 (in Bulgarian).
Hobsbawm Eric & Ranger Terence (1983), The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Karamitrev Kostadin (2011), Otchet za deynostta na Sayuza na trakiyskite druzhestva v perioda
2006–2010 [Report on the Activities of the Union of Thracian Societies in Bulgaria], “Trakia”
91 (10), рр. 1–7 (in Bulgarian).
Kyosev Alexander (ed.) (2009), Podvizhnite Balkani. Izsledvania na proekta NEXUS (2000–
2003) [The Mobile Balkans. Research on the NEXUS Project 2000–2003]. Sofia: Prosveta
(in Bulgarian).
Makedonia i Odrinsko (1995), Makedonia i Odrinsko. Statistika na naselenieto ot 1873 g. [Macedonia and the Edirne Region. Statistics of the Population in 1873], Sofia: Makedonski
nauchen institut, рр. 70–71 (in Bulgarian).
Miletich Lyubomir (1989), Razorenieto na trakiyskite balgari prez 1913 [The Ruin of the Thracian Bulgarians in 1913]. Sofia: G. Dimitrov Publishing House. Replica edition (First
edition 1918) (in Bulgarian).
Nora Pierre (1997), Kolektivnata pamet [original title: Mémoire collective] in: L. Deyanova
(ed.) Duhat na ‘Anali’, Sofia: Kritika i humanizam, рр. 233–237 (in Bulgarian).
Nora Pierre (2004), Svetovniyat vazhod na pametta [World-wide Upsurge in Memory] in:
I. Znepolski (ed.) Okolo Pierre Nora. Mesta na pamet i konstruirane na nastoyashteto, Sofia:
Dom na naukite za choveka i obshtestvoto, pp. 19–35 (in Bulgarian).
Penkova Stoyka (2011), „Protivorechiyata na nasledstvoto”: mehanizmi na (ne)nasledyavane
i diskursivni praktiki (varhu sluchaya s etnicheskata identichnost) [“Contradicitons of Inheritance”: Mechanisms of Inheriting and Discursive Practices (the Case of Ethnicity)], “Sotsiologicheski problemi” 43 (Special edition), рр. 38–58 (in Bulgarian).
Penkova Stoyka (2011а), „Protivorechiyata na nasledstvoto”: mehanizmi na (ne)nasledyavane
pri naslednitsite na trakiyskite bezhantsi i na balgarskite izselnitsi v Odrin [“Contradictions of
Inheritance”: Mechanisms of Inheriting with the Successors of Thracian Refugees and Bulgarian Out-migrants in Edirne] in: I. Bokova (ed.) Godishnik na departament Antropologia.
Vol. 4. Kulturni nasledstva – politicheski zalozi i rekonstruirane na teritorii, Sofia: NBU (electronic edition, forthcoming) (in Bulgarian).
22
Popchev Zlatko (2010), Voyvodata Dimitar Madzharov [Dimitar Madzharov the Chieftain].
Haskovo: Oponent (in Bulgarian).
Popov Stefan (1930), Narodonaselenieto na Trakia do Balkanskata voyna [The Population of
Thrace up to the Balkan War] in: Trakiyski sbornik, vol. 2. Sofia: Trakiyski nauchen institut
(in Bulgarian).
Rashkova Natalia (2011), Ritualizatsia na rodovia spomen (Po rodnite mesta na bezhantsite ot
Iztochna Trakia) [Ritualising of the Familial Memory (Visiting the Birthplaces of the Refugees
from Eastern Thrace)] in: I. Bokova (ed.) Godishnik na departament Antropologia, Vol. 4.
Kulturni nasledstva – politicheski zalozi i rekonstruirane na teritorii, Sofia: NBU (electronic
edition, forthcoming) (in Bulgarian).
Ricoeur Paul (2000), La mémoire, l’histoire, l’oubli. Paris: Editions du Seuil.
Samo istina [Truth Only] (n.d.), http://samoistina.com/3/traki-natia.htm/last accessed
5 April 2012 (in Bulgarian).
Shishkov Stoyu (1922), Trakia predi i sled Evropeyskata voyna [Thrace before and after the European War], Plovdiv: Hristo G. Danov (in Bulgarian).
Ustav (1990), Ustav na Sayuza na trakiyskite kulturno-prosvetni druzhestva v NR Bulgaria i na
druzhestva Trakia [Statutes of the Union of Thracian Cultural-Educational Societies in the
Republic of Bulgaria and the Trakia Societies]. Sofia: USTB (in Bulgarian).
Vukov Nikolai (2007), Pametnitsi, ‘pametni mesta,’ ‘mesta na pamet’ [Monuments, Memorial
Sites, Memory Sites], “Balgarski folklor” 33 (3), pp. 41–62 (in Bulgarian).
Zlatkova Meglena (2011), „Tam, kudeto Strandzha tseluva moreto”… „Protivorechiyata na
nasledstvoto” na trakiyskite bezhantsi v Tsarevo [“Where Strandzha Kisses the Sea”… “Contradictions of inheritance” of Thracian Refugees in the Town of Tsarevo] in: I. Bokova (ed.)
Godishnik na departament Antropologia. Vol. 4. Kulturni nasledstva – politicheski zalozi i rekonstruirane na teritorii, Sofia: NBU (electronic edition, forthcoming) (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: Dr Valentina Ganeva-Raycheva is Associate Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences. Main field of research: everyday narration; culture identity;
ethnic and religious communities in Bulgaria; local cultures; Bulgarians abroad; migrations, borders and culture memory; intercultural interactions.
Email: [email protected].
Vol. 2/2013
p. 021–036
Zhenya Pimpireva
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies
Ethnicity in Transition: the Karakachans in Bulgaria
Abstract: Two basic periods can be distinguished in the ethno-cultural development of the Karakachans in
Bulgaria up to the 1990s – nomadic and sedentary (after their mass settling down). Transition to sedentarization changed Karakachans’ everyday culture and the boundaries between them and the dominant Bulgarian ethnos, with which they are lastingly bound together. Their transformation into settled down dwellers
occurred under the conditions of communism with all the restrictions concerning property rights and free
expression of ethnic identity. The democratic changes in Bulgaria after 1989 led to radically new conditions in the development of the Karakachan community and to changes in their identity, constructed now
by new institutions. The possibility of association in non-governmental organizations, of studying the
mother tongue, of free expression of identity and faith, of restoration of the connections with Greece, etc.,
have resulted in new trends and directions for the Karakachan ethnicity.
Keywords: ethnicity, identific
ation, nomadic life, sedentarization, ethnicity in post-communist period
The Karakachans are known under different names on the Balkan Peninsula.
They are called Karakachans in Bulgaria and Sarakatsans in Greece. The group identifies itself
by different names: when speaking Karakachan, they call themselves Vlahi (sing. Vlahos),
which they translate into Bulgarian as Karakachani (sing. Karakachanin). Upon mention of the
ethnonym Vlahos, Vlahi, they promptly proceed to stress that they are different from the
Vlachs and have nothing to do with them. Or, as they themselves say, “we are Vlahi in Karakachan, Karakachani in Bulgarian and Sarakatsani in Greek”.
Linguists refer the Karakachan dialect to the group of the northern dialects of modern
Greek. Specifically and to a greater extent than in the other Balkan languages and dialects, in the dialect of Karakachans a substrate ingredient can be identified (Asenova 1978). Communication
with the surrounding populations among which the Karakachans are scattered has determined
knowledge of a second and third language. In the traditional period, Bilingualism was characteristic
only of men, but the trend was to expand the circle and, following the settling down, all Karakachans
became affected. In the foreign language environment, the Karakachan speech has been preserved
and simplified under the influence of Bulgarian (Asenova 1976, 1984). At the same time, the areas
of its usage have been significantly constrained (Asenova 1976, 1984).
In terms of religion, the Karakachans are Orthodox Christians. In the nomadic period their
access to Christian churches and contact with priests was difficult due to the remoteness of their
settlements from other villages and towns. In their traditional culture, we find many pagan beliefs, customs and traditions that are combined in a unique way with the Christian worldview
and holidays. After settling down for life, their contacts with the Orthodox Church became
permanent.
24
Zhenya Pimpireva
Until the middle of the 20th century, the Karakachans were scattered in many parts of
the Balkan Peninsula (Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia), but today they live in
Greece and Bulgaria only. In Bulgaria, compact groups of the populace inhabit areas of the
Balkan Mountain Range (in the city of Sliven, the villages of Samuilovo, Golyamo Chochoveni, Borov Dol, the towns of Kotel and Karnobat, the village of Gorno Sahrane, the towns
of Kazanlak, Karlovo and Sopot, the villages of Enina, Kran, Shipka and elsewhere), Mountain Rila (the towns of Samokov and Dupnitsa), and Northeastern Bulgaria (the towns of
Berkovitsa, Varshets, Montana and Vratsa).
It is difficult to establish the exact number of Karakachans over the years, since they were
dispersed across the Balkan Peninsula and migrated in summer and winter. Besides, they
were often confused with other population groups, especially with the Aromanian Vlachs,
who are also nomadic shepherds. In some cases, politics also contributed to the confusing
statistics. The official data on the number of Karakachans in Bulgaria, according to the censuses, are as follows: in 1905 – 6,128; in 1910 – 7,251; in 1920 – 6,412; in 1956 –2,085; in 1992
– 5,144.1 According to the Cultural and Educational Association of Karakachans in Bulgaria
in 1994, the Karakachans numbered 14,000–15,000 in 1994. A sociological survey from 1992
estimated the Karakachan populace at 12,000 to 15,000 people.
At the start of the 20th century, the Karakachans were typical nomadic shepherds.2 They
grazed their sheep only on natural pastures, which were in different places in the two main
seasons, often at a considerable distance from each other. Horses and sheep were of primary
importance, since they provided almost all the food, clothing, furnishings and transportation. The Karakachan sheep and horse are among the earliest breeds, and are ideally suited
to the nomadic way of life. The main trades of the Karakachans – sheep-breeding and dairyfarming – had several specific characteristics.
Nomadic sheep-breeding left a mark on the entire culture of the Karakachans. They did
not have permanent summer and winter villages and organized temporary settlements. The
Karakachans lived in kalivia – make-shift huts of branches and foliage. The entire belongings
of any family, be it wealthy or poor, could be loaded on several horses. They spent a considerable part of their life on the road. During their movement, every night women would put
up something like a tent – a chatura, a shelter consisting of a rug woven specially for the
purpose, stretched on a simple wooden skeleton. The diet, mostly made of milk and dairy
products, and also the ways of preparing food, also were determined by the Karakachan
livelihood and lifestyle. The same applied to the Karakachan clothing, which was one of the
major distinctive features that immediately set the group apart: the dark male costume and,
in particular, the general silhouette and peculiar elements of the traditional female costume,
such as the characteristic headgear (a dark red woolen kerchief with loose ends), knitted
socks with intricate patterns, a rich underskirt gathered at the waist by a broad belt, with a
small trapezium-shaped apron at the lower end creating the impression of a low waistline.
The specificity of the social and economic life of the Karakachans was best manifested in
the organization of the Karakachans camp (kompania, badzhyo, odzhak). For the Karakachans,
who were scattered among other ethnic groups, camps were the only territorial communities, which were largely independent and isolated from one another, as well as from the
other sedentary ethnic populations. The Karakachan camp was a nomadic community
1
2
Regarding the number of Sarakatsans in Greece in 1950, Hadzhimihali (1957) indicated 10,604 families.
Without going into a detailed bibliographical survey, I feel obliged to mention here several basic works
devoted to the Sarakatsans in Greece, e.g.: Hoeg (1925); Hadzhimihali (1957); Campbell (1974); Kavadias (1965)
etc. On the Karakachans in Bulgaria, see the monograph of V. Marinov (1964), who made his observations at
a time when they were still living as nomads, and Pimpireva’s research (1998) on their transition to a sedentary
life.
25
Photo 1. Reconstruction of a traditional dwelling (chatura) used during the movement of Karakachans
from winter to summer pastures and back, 17th Festival of Karakachans in Bulgaria, July 2008 in area
of Karandila near Sliven. Photo: Zhenya Pimpireva
Photo 2. The Karakachan family. Photo made in
1945 in the town of Berkovitsa. Reproduction:
Zhenya Pimpireva
26
Zhenya Pimpireva
which, regardless of the specific aspects of its temporary existence, variable composition
and specific dependence on the respective territory, bore some resemblance to a local (neighbour) community of a sedentary populace. This nomadic community organized the whole
economic and social life of the Karakachans prior to the establishment of the sedentary lifestyle (Pimpireva 1998: 21–28).
The fall of the Ottoman Empire was followed by substantial changes in the sociopolitical
system on the Balkan Peninsula, which ultimately limited the nomadic way of life of the
Karakachans and led them to the adoption of a partially sedentary lifestyle.3 These tendencies continued and expanded in the further development of the Karakachans. In the period
before the wars of 1912 to 1918,4 however, the Karakachans preserved their typically nomadic way of life and customs almost intactly. Dispersed among the surrounding sedentary
population of a different ethnic identity, they led a very isolated form of life in a camp,
where the entire economic and social life of the Karakachan families was concentrated. Existence outside the camp was impossible, and this ultimately led to the emergence of the
sedentary lifestyle. Contacts with the sedentary population in this period remained confined to the economic sphere and, above all, trade.
This period saw the beginning of the division of the Karakachan ethnic group into two
parts: nomadic Karakachans and sedentary Karakachans, who changed their traditional environment and culture as a result of their new way of life and livelihood.
The changes, begun after Bulgaria’s Liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, intensified, influencing the ethno-cultural development of the Karakachans after World War I.
The Karakachan community changed along with the rest of the Bulgarian society. Differentiation within the Karakachan nomadic community intensified, with new forms of hired
labour appearing, and individual families becoming more independent. The Karakachans
activated and diversified contacts with the sedentary non-Karakachan populace, as a result
of which the different ethnic groups got to know each other better. The intensity of this process varied for the two different parts of the Karakachan group – the nomadic and the sedentary – with the latter eventually dominating in number. As Karakachan children started attending Bulgarian schools, and men began working on Bulgarian farms and serving in the
army, more and more Karakachans got to know Bulgarians and their culture from personal
experience. Mutual familiarization, activation and expansion of the relations narrowed the
gap between the Karakachans and the Bulgarian population, which helped surmount certain prejudices; however, the opposition between “us the Karakachans” and “them, the others, the peasants, the Bulgarians”, remained.
Despite the changes before the 1940s, the majority of Karakachans remained nomads.5
Still, the process of adopting a sedentary lifestyle as a result of the changes in the Karakachan community itself, as well as in the society as a whole, had started already after the Liberation. The Bulgarian state directly interfered after World War II, with the Council of Ministers’ Decree, dated 15 March 1954, binding the Karakachans to settle in a permanent place of
residence. Some of the families settled down and took advantage of certain benefits under
the decree, such as free acquisition of up to 0.4 hectares of land, privileged purchase of
building materials, rent-free tenure of land from the state including forest stock (100
3
On the Karakachans’ transition to a sedentary lifestyle in Bulgaria, see Markowska (1962: 226–239); Marinov (1964: 117-125); Pimpireva (1998: 131–145); in Serbia – Žunić (1958: 100-107); in Greece – Bauermann (1964:
194-214); Kavadias (1965: 397–406).
4
5
Bulgaria fought in the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) and the First World War (1915–1918).
In Greece, the Law of 1933 obliged all nomads to register in settlements chosen by them, with all the ensuing rights and obligations of sedentary dwellers (Hammond 1976: 49; Kavadias 1965: 403; Bauermann 1964:
211).
27
Photo 3. The end of traditional Karakachan wedding with wedding flag flambura and dowry to the
bride. Reproduction of an old photo: Zhenya Pimpireva
Postanovlenie 1954). The 1954 Decree changed the life of just one part of the Karakachans,
while others remained nomads until the end 1950s, when all their sheep were confiscated
under the national policy of abolishing private property in Bulgaria. Deprived of property,
the families had no choice but to settle and look for other jobs. The specificity and problems
associated with the sedentarization of the Karakachans were a consequence of the nationalization and collectivization conducted by the ruling communist party as well as of the relatively stronger pressure from the state.
If during the pre-World War II period the majority of Karakachans settled in the countryside, in the 1960s they started moving into towns. Their motives varied: in most cases it was
reluctance and incompetence to work the land, as well as the opportunity to settle in a group
on the outskirts of towns, thus forming their own neighbourhood; access to better job and
education opportunities etc. were also important (Markowska 1962).
The abandonment of the traditional livelihood and the confiscation of herds destroyed
the former social-professional structure of the Karakachans. New social groups and professions developed in their community. For a certain time after settling down, the Karakachans
sought employment in agriculture for lack of any other training, working mostly in livestock breeding and forestry. At first, women stayed at home, raising children. Karakachan
women were also confined to the family because of the language barrier; however, as they
learnt Bulgarian, the traditional division of labour eventually disappeared, and they started
going to work. The settled way of life tangibly increased opportunities for education and
training, and the range of the professions practiced by the Karakachans expanded.
Becoming a sedentary population coincided with the time when the Communist Party
organized final liquidation of private property in Bulgaria. This instituted the ethno-cultural
and social boundaries within which the ethnic community of the Karakachans was constructed during the socialist period. The transition to a sedentary lifestyle had changed the
28
Zhenya Pimpireva
organization of everyday culture, which interacted and adapted to the patterns of the Bulgarians, settled in the villages and towns. The cabin was replaced with a house, the Karakachan nomadic community with a neighbourhood, the natural environment with urban
structures.
Upon the replacement of the nomadic lifestyle by a sedentary one, the nomadic community was destroyed. In the nomadic period, it played a crucial role in the reproduction of the
ethnic culture. In the changed situation, such reproduction took place only within family
and kinship groups. Simultaneously, the formation of compact Karakachan neighbourhoods
in various cities of Bulgaria became a prerequisite for integration into the local communities.
The Karakachan dialect was used in communication within the community, and above all in
the family, while undergoing influence from Bulgarian in its particular dialects. Bilingualism, known in some social groups in the nomadic period, now became ubiquitous and the
Bulgarian language began to be used in the family environment (Pimpireva 1998: 131-144).
With the transition to the sedentary life, the relationship the Karakachans had with the
dominant ethnic Bulgarians also changed. The intensification and diversification of contacts, which had begun in the nomadic period, began to affect all areas, including social life,
in accordance with the long-lasting connections with Bulgaria. The spatial separateness and
isolation, associated with particular traditional livelihoods and lifestyles, had ended. The
Karakachans became part of a settled community, whether in compact or dispersed settlements. The level of mutual understanding and acceptance between the Karakachans and the
Bulgarians rose.
The ruling Communist Party did not pursue national minority treatment policies with
respect to Karakachans. This fact precluded the establishment and maintenance of a national identity and prompted different individual strategies of coping with the situation,
with most Karakachans not talking about their origin. They were no exception to the policy
of the dominant communist ideology imposed on other ethnicities as well, producing conflicting extremes “from internationalism to nationalism, from protecting and strengthening
of the ethnic (but not the religious) identity of minority communities to gross violations of
their ethnic culture, religion and language” (Kanev 1998: 86).
For the construction of the Karakachan community under socialism, perception of the
border between Bulgaria and Greece was crucial. Behind it, not only relatives of some Karakachans remained, but over there was where the majority of them once lived, as part of the
past nomadic entirety. The new identity involved a distinction between ‘Bulgarian’ and
‘Greek’ Karakachans, who now led very different lives on both sides of the ‘Iron Curtain’,
with almost no opportunities for contact.
Under the communist regime and conditions of the sedentary life, maintenance of the
Karakachan identity required preserving the memory and nostalgia for the nomadic past,
keeping the notion of an undistorted relation to religion (seen as extremely significant given
the restrictions imposed by the totalitarian state), nourishing the traditional family values
and patriarchal spirit even in a situation of socialist modernization and emancipation. Simultaneously, the identity of Karakachans under socialism was associated with their rapid
adaptation to different lifestyles and work, with business initiative carried out outside the
realm of public service, with the pursuit of higher education. Thus at the end of the 1980s,
within the Karakachans’ collective identity three levels could be observed: on defining themselves as Karakachans, they would explain that they had a Greek origin, furthermore identifying themselves as “the most pure Greeks” and then adding that they were “Bulgarian
Karakachans”, because they were living in Bulgaria, where their children were born, they
themselves were born and, often, their ancestors as well.
The changes in Bulgaria after 1989 in terms of human rights, freedom of speech, press
freedom, freedom of assembly and religion rights, created conditions for addressing and
29
solving of the problems of ethnic minorities. The new Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria of 1991 guaranteed the right for everyone to observe their own culture in accordance
with their ethnicity, freedom of religion, and to study and use their own native language
(Article 36, paragraph 2; Article 54, paragraph 1). Removed were the legal and political obstacles to the creation of cultural associations of ethnic communities, which made possible
the registration of organizations of Turks, Armenians, Gypsies, Jews, Vlachos and others.
The guaranteeing of the rights to establish non-political associations of ethnic communities
also provided the opportunity for the Karakachans in Bulgaria to found their cultural and
educational organization in 1990, which became a permanent and determinant factor in
their further ethno-cultural development.
This present work is based on the results of an ethnographic field study of Karakachans
from the settlements in different regions of Bulgaria, where compact groups reside (Sliven,
Kazanlak, Karnobat, Berkovitsa, Varshets, Samokov, Dupnitsa etc.). Of particular importance have been observations of Karakachan gatherings. Each year, Karakachans coming
from different regions of Bulgaria, as well as many guests from Greece, meet together. The
program, the statutes and other documents of the organization of these meetings are outlined in a range of sources. In the period 1998 – 2000, the cultural and educational organization of the Karakachans issued a bulletin “Flambura”6, which listed information and discussed issues related to the development of the Karakachans in Bulgaria as an ethnic
community. Materials from central Bulgarian dailies have also been taken into account here,
as they came out mainly around the time of the gatherings. Sociological data and comments
on some of the problems are provided using the empirical sociological research on the Karakachans in Bulgaria published in 1992 (Kertikov et al. 1992).
At the end of 1990, the cultural and educational association of the Karakachans was created in Bulgaria, with its headquarters in Sliven. Its foundation was followed by the establishment of regional associations in villages where more significant groups of Karakachans
lived (Druzhestvo 1990). Their numbers multiplied, reaching 20 by the end of the 1990s.
Included were most of the Karakachans as well as family members of mixed marriages.
The Karakachans’ Association in Bulgaria declared the following objectives in its program of 1991: establishing contacts among the Karakachans in the country and beyond;
studying and promoting of the historical past, traditions, language and folklore wealth of
the Karakachan community; democratization and humanisation of the civil society and promotion of universal moral values; and, finally, “Going towards a united Europe, a native of
that land, who has acknowledged it as home, regardless of ethnic origin, language, ideas
and religion, is obliged to work for the unity of the Bulgarian nation and to respect the constitutional rights of every citizen” (Programa 1991).
The Karakachan respondents reached in 1992 (Kertikov et. al. 1992) perceived the activities of their organization in several ways. In the first place they would put the activities for
the revival of the ethnic identity, for organizing the study of Greek, providing access to
Greek universities and establishing closer contacts with similar organizations in Greece.
Secondly, the respondents identified the need for the association to support the economic
interests of its members. There were also many people who believed that the association
was required to publish its own newspaper. In 1995, the association was renamed as the
Federation of Cultural and Educational Associations of the Karakachans in Bulgaria
(FCEAK), as it is known today.
Since its inception, the organization of the Karakachans in Bulgaria maintained and developed various contacts with the Sarakatsani Federation of Greece, founded in 1968. Mu-
6
After the name of an important requisite of the wedding ritual – the wedding banner.
30
Zhenya Pimpireva
tual visits to festivals and performances of amateur groups, organization of summer camps
for children in Greece, publication of brochures, books, textbooks and other resources were
just some aspects of the joint activity. The Sarakatsani Federation of Greece was not only
involved in the formation and support of the overall activity of FCEAK in Bulgaria, but set
the pattern in which it was to be built and developed.
In an effort to be remembered and to obtain help to solve the problems of the community
in Bulgaria, FCEAK maintained contacts with representatives of both the Bulgarian and the
Greek central and local government (Bletsov 1998: 1). It initiated Bulgarian-Greek meetings
of women’s organizations, lawyers, journalists and other groups. From the first years of its
existence, the organization also sought to establish in the public domain the image of the
Karakachans as a bridge of cooperation and friendship between the two neighboring Balkan
countries (Konstantinov 1997).
Language is an important marker of ethnic identity, playing a decisive role in the unification of a community and in distinguishing it from others. Its loss is seen as a means of ethnicity change. This idea explains why organizing the study of Greek was a priority for the
Federation of Karakachans in the first years. This activity was possible in the course of democratization of the Bulgarian state and the guaranteed rights to mother tongue education.
The Law on Education and Decrees of the Bulgarian government from 1991 and 1994 regulate that up to 4 hours of mother tongue education can be offered in schools as an optional
subject to children of different ethnic origin from 1st to 8th grade (“Darzhaven vestnik”, Issue
73, 09.09.1994).
The teaching of Greek was introduced in 1993 for the Karakachan children in the Sliven
district “New Village”, in Kazanlаk and other settlements (Karakachani iskat 1994). However, there were problems with “providing accommodation, determining the most appropriate form of education, supplying appropriate textbooks” (Shtereva 1998: 2). The problem
with teachers was solved by making use of who was available. Initially, the task was taken
up by members of the association, regardless of their teaching qualifications, who had mastered one dialectal variant in their family and were then self-educated. Subsequently, with
the assistance of the Greek state and the organization of the Sarakatsani in Greece, the teachers were included in summer seminars and underwent longer-term fellowships in Thessaloniki and Athens, receiving degrees in teaching Greek. Another means of providing language
teaching to children were summer camps in Greece, where, apart from the language, children learned traditional songs, dances and customs. Children also learned and improved
their Greek language during visits to Greece as members of dancing and singing groups,
hosted by Greek families. In the early 1990s, many Karakachans had the desire to learn
Greek, especially spouses from families with mixed marriages and Bulgarians. The reason
often was the opportunity to visit and stay to work in Greece.
The Federation began the language training programme for children at a time when the
use of the Karakachan dialect was severely limited – mainly to the elderly. Language learning, an important part of ethnic socialization, previously carried out only in the family, now
involved the associations; in many cases the language courses were actually the only available option. In contrast with the past, when children were learning the Karakachan speech as
a dialectical variant in the family, they now study the literary variety. Obtaining knowledge
of the Greek language and culture not only strengthens the feeling of belonging to the community of Karakachans, but also promotes the knowledge of Greece as a defined fatherland.
Thus a sense of connection and contact with it is fostered, which in the period of socialism
had been interrupted or severely limited. By providing opportunities for Karakachan girls
and boys to learn Greek for free at Greek universities, an important step has been made.
Among the democratic freedoms which the Karakachans acquired after 1989, there was
the right to religious freedom. Throughout the period of socialism, religion was highly re-
31
stricted and controlled for the entire population of Bulgaria. Despite the restrictions, adherence to the Christian dogma and participation in church rituals before 1989 characterized
a wide range of Karakachans. This behavior, defined as religiosity, was highlighted as
a specific feature of their ethnic identity and self-identification after and especially before
1989. A symptomatic fact in this regard was the initiative of the Federation of Karakachans
in Bulgaria to build a church in the village of Golyamo Chochoveni, a settlement with a predominantly Karakachan population (Karakachani dadoha 1996). The erection of the “St.
George” church was completed thanks to donations by the Karakachans in Bulgaria and
with the support of the Federation of the Sarakatsani in Greece and other Greek NGOs
(Presconferentsia 2000). The sanctification of the temple was a central event of the Ninth
National Festival of the Karakachans in Bulgaria in 2000.
Since 1989, FCEAK has played a very significant role in the process of identity construction. It “owns and rules the new concept of ‘karakachanstvo’, and this power has been exercised through membershp lists: to be a member of the association means to be recognized as
a “‘karakachanin’” (René 2002: 84). Since 1989, the ethnic identity of the Karakachans has
been affacted by the impact of changes in Bulgaria related to the processes of democratization of society and the development of a market economy.
Under the new conditions, the Karakachan identity retains the three levels identified for
the previous period, but a change in priority can be felt. In the first place now comes the
Greek origins, with the Karakachans identifying themselves as descendants of a “very ancient people”, “the oldest nation in Europe”, “the purest and most ancient Greeks” (Karakachanite 1996). In situations of individual contact the options can vary. According to the
definition of M. P. René, “you could only be Bulgarian, Greek or Karakachan, but you could
be all the three simultaneously; different combinations are possible, depending on the degree
of involvement in the association, the place occupied by the individual in the community, his
relationship with figures in the Greek Federation of Sarakatsani, etc.” (René 2002: 84).
The opportunities for permanent connections with Greece, the absorption of the Greek
literature and language by more Karakachans thanks to the organized language training, as
well as the close interaction with the Federation of Sarakatsani in Greece, set a new direction
in constructing the Karakachan identity. More Karakachans learn about different versions of
the origin and historical development of the former nomadic herders. A good illustration of
this new element in the formation of their ethnic identity in the modern times is the statement from the interview with FCEAK’s President for the “Kontinent” newspaper from
09/09/1994: “In the recent years – said the President of FCEAK – when we have had access
to literature, we have found what ‘karakachanin’ means” (Miloev 1994a). This new information does not replace, but adds to the traditional knowledge and explanations of the past
legends, songs, stories and more.
The study and promotion of the past, of the cultural specifics and traditions, and of the
folklore heritage, are essential for the activities of the Karakachan associations because all
this is the capital of the community, which must be stored and used for the construction and
maintenance of the Karakachan identity (Mermekliev 1998; Sedlarska 1993). The interest the
Karakachans show in their origins and historical development has been very strong, even
painful, especially in the first years after 1989. In the first years of the gatherings, conferences were also held with the participation of political and public figures from Bulgaria and
Greece. Regardless of the topics to which these conferences were dedicated (origin, history,
anthropology, modernity, lifestyle), the vision was to present in Bulgaria the Karakachan
community with its culture and ancient history and to explicitly highlight the Karakachans’
relationship with Greece. Not only the talks given but the entire program of the gatherings
aimed at showing the past and training about the past, which is important for maintaining
identity: “The feast serves […] for restoring the foundational past. By referencing the past,
32
Zhenya Pimpireva
the identity of the remembering group is grounded. With the memory of history and by
restoring the founding figures, the group assures its identity” (Assmann 2001: 51).
In the process of society modernization, the Karakachan cultural traditions have been
lost as practice, but preserved as knowledge, and to this aspect particular importance is attached. The associations use traditions as a resource for recovering and moulding ethnicity.
The reconstruction of elements of the traditional culture, representative of the community,
is carried out with the support from the associations and with the help of the community’s
elderly. The restored traditional culture is represented by amateur folk groups, thus demonstrating ‘Karakachan’.7 Any association has at least one amateur group in which children
learn and present traditional songs, dances, and customs. These groups are given special
attention (Angelov 1998: 3). Children’s and youth groups and also adult groups become
something of a calling card of the community and the associations. Their participation is a
must at festivals and other celebrations. The performances demonstrate to Karakachans
themselves, and to the whole Bulgarian society, how ancient and unique the Karakachan
culture is. Professional musicians and choreographers often work with the groups, but in
the recovery of Karakachan traditional songs and dances adults from the community are
also included. Thus amateur art builds a connection between the generations, as the participants, who are usually children and young people, present restored elements of the traditional Karakachan culture. The Karakachan annual fairs are an exceptional incentive for the
folk groups to become engaged. Besides the annual fairs, they stage their performances at
the festival “Flambura”,8 held annually in the town of Sliven. Their local festivals also provide spaces for expression: e.g. Karakachans from Samokov gather in Borovets, those from
Dupnitsa – in the area of Vangelova Cheshma in the Rila mountains, etc. I should note here
the great interest in the performances of the Karakachan amateur groups in the National
Festival of Folklore in Koprivshtitsa in 2005, 2010 as well as at the Festival of Ethnic Groups,
held in Nessebar in 2004.
FCEAK, in Bulgaria and in Sliven, organize fairs annually. They become significant
events in the community. On their occasion, Karakachans from all over the country and
from different generations gather and socialize, together with their guests from Greece
(Sedlarska 1993a; Gencheva 1994; Petkov 1994; Miloev 1994; Nedelcheva 1996). During
each festival, traditional culture of the former nomadic herders is presented and promoted.
This is a time when the Karakachans most intensely attract onto themselves attention of the
Bulgarian society and institutions and also engage the public opinion with the problems
of their ethnic community. The importance of the fairs for FCEAK has been accurately pictured in the statement made at a press conference on the occasion of the 10th anniversary
of the organization: “The role of the fair is much stronger and more important than many
declarations and conventions. Learning about the ancient origin of the Karakachans, about
their great history, contacting their folklore originating from prehistoric times, one cannot
but look in a new way, with respect and admiration, towards these people. Moreover,
the fathers and grandfathers of today’s Karakachans carried through the centuries and
preserved in hard times their language, culture and Greek identity” (Preskonferentsia
2000).
The location known as “Karandila”, near Sliven (a city that has the largest number of
Karakachan residents), is a natural landmark and it offers convenient transportation, hotels
and holiday facilities for accommodating the participants and guests. The original idea was
to organize such gatherings every two years, but since 1994 they have been held annually. In
7
8
On the importance of visualization for maintaining identity, see Dichev (2002: 36–57).
See note 6.
33
Photo 4. Participants in the 17th Festival of Karakachans in Bulgaria, July 2008 in area of Karandila
near Sliven. Photo: Zhenya Pimpireva
search of the optimal variant for the timing of the festival the organizers initially set the days
around August 15 (Feast of St. Mary, a cult of particular importance in the traditional culture
of Karakachans); later that date was changed several times and now the fair takes place in
the first weekend of July.
After the prolonged restriction of the opportunities for expressing their ethnic identity
under the totalitarian state, the Karakachan gathering provides a place for its intense demonstration. The Greek language is comparable to, or even dominant over, the Bulgarian one
during the festival, unlike in the daily life, where the mother tongue is only used in the family, and not by all the members. Translations from and to Greek and Bulgarian accompany
any statement, welcoming address, etc. Outside the formal program, communication is also
primarily ‘Karakachan’.
Karakachan performances of traditional songs and dances and presentations of traditional wedding customs, calendar holidays and nomadic lifestyle, are the most attractive
parts in the program. The impression of having been taken back to another time is reinforced by people walking in traditional Karakachan female and male costumes, often directly taken from dowry bags. The cultural program of the fairs has been changing with
time – in recent years the organizers have to select which of the amateur groups to include
in the program, while at the beginning there were not enough groups. The participation of
folk groups from Greece has increased. According to the information published in the newspaper “Trud”, at the Fifth Festival there were 3,000 attendees, with 1,000 from Greece; of the
nine amateur groups four were from Greece. The original repertoire, which only included
works from the Karakachan traditional folklore, has been expanded with the introduction
of instrumental accompaniment, alien to the tradition, as well as performances of songs and
dances from various regions of Greece.
34
Zhenya Pimpireva
Photo 5. Participants in the 17th Festival of Karakachans in Bulgaria, July 2008 in area of Karandila
near Sliven. Photo: Zhenya Pimpireva
The annual gatherings, when the attention of the Bulgarian and Greek society and media
is focused on Karakachans, become the best place and time to communicate ideas and to
present the problems of the community. The guiding principle of every fair is to demonstrate Karakachans as the bridge of cooperation between Bulgaria and Greece. If in the first
year this idea was mentioned only in the speeches of Karakachans, recently there is no welcoming address by the representatives of the local and central government which does not
include this note. At the 2004 festival, in his welcoming address the foreign minister said:
“Our country has always given Europe an example of ethnic coexistence and one element of
this partnership are you, the Karakachans. You are the living bridge between the two friendly countries – Bulgaria and Greece. You are an integral part of the ethnic diversity, which
counts among the most valuable contributions of Bulgaria in the new Europe”.
Part of the understanding of the identity of the Karakachans in Bulgaria and its transformations was revealed in the economic situation after 1989. In the time of radical economic
changes and the transition to a market economy, the Karakachans experienced many difficulties. The unemployment level among the Karakachan active population, was an indicator
of the impact of the economic crisis on the community. Unfortunately there are no statistics
about its rate at the time. In 1994, in an interview for the newspaper “Kontinent”, the then
President of the Society of Karakachans pointed out that the unemployment rate in the community was 90%. This estimate was probably excessive and the goal was to raise the awareness of the problem rather than to offer accurate information. Most likely, the unemployment rate did not differ from the general indicators for the area, as there were no major
differences in education, training, employment attitude of the Karakachans as compared to
the rest of the population.
35
Among the primary economic problems of the Karakachans was the issue of compensation for the sheep and horses forcibly confiscated during the 1950s, a task that actively engaged FCEAK (Vasileva 1996; Karakachanite iskat 1998; Trifonova 1998). With the help of
older members of authority in the community, the association made lists of owners and
specified the number of cattle taken away in 1958. Approximately 1,050 eligible owners applied for about 176,000 sheep. In the opinion of the Federation there was no single approach
to solving this problem, and it was put in the hands of local officials. The compensation received was assessed only as moral (Preskonferentsia 2000). The agrarian reform after 1989
was associated with the restoration of land ownership, but it also created tension among the
Karakachans. They were not able to obtain land, despite their continuing work at the former
collective farms. Karakachans were not given any real compensation for the confiscated animals. The proposed solution was for municipalities to provide them with farmland free of
charge, as well as to amend the Land Law regarding the use of pasture, fodder, pens and
more.
Looking for a way out of the economic difficulties caused by the ongoing transition to a
market economy, the Karakachans in mass started seeking seasonal work in Greece in the
sphere of agriculture, construction and other industries requiring low-skilled and hard
physical labor. Greece became the № 1 destination of economic emigration (Valchinova
1998: 216; René 2002: 85), and the associations became checkpoints helping to quickly and
securely obtain a Greek visa. Among the Bulgarian citizens applying for a Greek visa in the
early 90s of the 20 century, Karakachans were prioritized because of their declaration of
Greek origin on account their membership in the Karakachan cultural and educational associations. Each organization had selected at a general meeting a person authorized to take
care of the visa documents for its members on the list: “Being a member of the association
means to be recognized as ‘karakachanin’ and being ‘karakachanin’ today means being able
to work in Greece” (René 2002: 84). The situation lasted until 2001, when Bulgaria began
implementing the Schengen agreements and eliminated visa requirements, thus ending the
brokering activities of the associations in this regard.
In the early 90s of the 20 century the labour migration of Karakachans to Greece was a
mass phenomenon and a preferred option. In an interview for the newspaper “Kontinent”
at the festival in 1994, the President of FCEAK provided information that 80% of the Karakachans worked in Greece for a period (Miloev 1994: 3). Today, the Karakachans prefer
seasonal and temporary migration and no longer take advantage of the offers by the Greek
state for them to settle in the border areas of Greek Thrace and take up pastoralism. Staying
there is seen as a temporary option for coping with the economic difficulties caused by the
transition in Bulgaria. But these migrations between the two countries have changed the
organization in families, family circles and even the rhythm of life of the neighborhood
(René 2002: 85). Over time, the number of Karakachans engaged with seasonal labour gradually decreased because of their dissatisfaction with the hard and casual work, often irrelevant to their education and previous work experience. Moreover, it was uncomfortable living away from family and home. At the beginning of the 21 century, the labour migration of
the Karakachans to Greece changed its nature and scope, and continued to play a role in the
construction of their identity.
Studies of the contemporary migration and mobility of the Bulgarian Karakachans were
started in 2011, with Nacho Dimitrov’s doctoral thesis in the Department of Ethnology of
Socialism and Post-Socialism at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The research focuses on the following issues: direction, parameters and methods of organizing labour migration; the role of identifying markers for selecting the direction; assistance in contacts with other communities and generally at work and
at places of residence while living in a foreign environment; the image of the other in the
36
Zhenya Pimpireva
relationships Karakachans – Bulgarians, Karakachans – Greeks, ‘Bulgarian Karakachans’ –
‘Greek Karakachans’; trends in the construction of representative identities in the context of
labour migration; and many other areas.
During the traditional nomadic period, the ethno-cultural development of the Karakachans was linked to the family and to the nomadic community in which the tradition had been
formed, kept and later changed. Being territorially small (with the Karachans such were the
only ones), the commnities played the decisive role in the ethno-stabilizing processes and,
further, in the reproduction of the ethnic culture. With the enclosed and isolated life in the
different Karakachan communities, with them being so broadly spread, and with the lack of
permanent connections, changes in the traditional culture were slow and did not affect the
culture as a system. It was characteristic for their ethnical identity to sharply differentiate
from the population surrounding them. In the two-sided ‘we/they’ relationship, there was a
special meaning to the opposition between nomadic and sedentary, breeders and farmers –
an opposition in which a language barrier and contrastive origins could be summarised.
The permanent restriction of the movement of many Karakachans in Bulgaria at the beginning of the 20th century, the changes in the Bulgarian society, the social-economic development of the Karakachan community itself – all these factors led to a brand new direction
in the Karakachan ethno-cultural development. New trends developed when the system of
the nomadic sheep-breeding was taken down, as a result of which in the 50-60s of the 20th
century the Karakachans became sedentary citizens. The confrontation nomadic vs. sedentary disappeared, mutual acquaintance between Karakachans and Bulgarians increased: in
everyday culture the Karakachan came to accept the models of the sedentary Bulgarian
population in the city аnd in the countryside from the period of the socialism, the Karakachan dialect started to be used only inside the family, with bilingualism spreading
throughout the entire population. Self-identification during this period can be characterized
by 3 steps: Karakachan, Greek in language and origin, Bulgarian Karakachan.
The most recent changes in Bulgaria since 1989 have led to new developments in the
Karakachan community. There has been a direct impact of the policy changes with regard to
the respecting of democratic rights and freedoms, removing of the barriers to religious practices, studying the mother tongue and freely expressing ethnic identities. In socio-economic
terms, the processes have been taking place in the context of radical reforms, economic crisis
and related poverty and unemployment problems, with a need to adapt to the new economic realities. The economic crisis is a factor inducing greater cohesion and a sense of commitment to the ethnic community because in an uncertain environment the Karakachans
look for support in their ethnic environment, among the people connected with a common
origin and historical experience, stereotypes, values, etc. Since its inception in 1990, the
FCEAK association has played a very important role in the ethno-cultural development. The
organization has not only brought together the community, but also actively participated in
the construction of the Karakachan identity under the new conditions. And, in addition to
the family but on another level, it has carried out ethnic socialization. Today, after a long
socialist period of the their identity being hidden (or silent about), the cultural and education associations have made the Karakachans visible as an ethnic community and legitimized them through their activities in both the Bulgarian and the Greek spaces.
Bibliography
100 Postanovlenie (1954), 100 Postanovlenie na MS ot 15.03.1954 otnosno ustanovyavaneto na
karakachanite na postoyanno mestozhitelstvo [Decree No.100 of the Council of Ministers of
March 15, 1954 Concerning the Settling down of the Karakachans at Permanent Domicile],
“Izvestia na Prezidiuma na Narodnoto sаbranie” 25, 26.03.1954, p. 2 (in Bulgarian).
37
Angelov Kosta (1998), Alfata i omegata na kulturno-prosvetnata deynost na druzhestvo Sliven
[The Alpha and Omega of the Cultural-Educational Activity of the Sliven Association], “Flambura” 2, p. 4 (in Bulgarian).
Asenova Petya (1978) Sur les elements autochtones du parler des karakatshans de Bulgarie,
“Balkansko ezikoznanie” 3, pp. 21–30.
Asenova Petya (1976) Les contact linguistique dans le parler des karakatshans de Bulgarie, “Balkansko ezikoznanie” 4, pp. 9–21.
Asenova Petya (1984), Observations sur les interferences entre le Grec et le Bulgare dans le
parler des karakatshans en Bulgarie in: Kulturni i literaturni otnoshenia mezhdu balgari i gartsi ot sredata na XIV do sredata na XIX vek. Vtori Balgaro-gratski simposium 18–22 septemvri 1980, ed. by P. Shterev, Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite,
pp. 160–165.
Assmann Jan (2001), Kulturnata pamet [Cultural Memory] [original title: Das Kulturelle Gedachtnis], Sofia: Planeta–3.
Bauermann Arnold (1967), Fernweidewirtschaft in Südosteuropa, München: Westermann.
Bletsov Jani (1998), Nastoyavame za dialog s darzhavata [We Insist on a Dialogue with the
State], “Flamboura” 1, p. 1 (in Bulgarian).
Campbell John Kennedy (1974), Honour, Family and Patronage, New York: Oxford University Press.
Dichev Ivaylo (2002), Ot prinadlezhnost kаm identichnost [From Affiliation to Identity], Sofia:
Lik (in Bulgarian).
Druzhestvo (1990), Druzhestvo na karakachanite [The Association of the Karakachans],
“Demokratsia” 266, 30–31.12.1990, p. 2 (in Bulgarian).
Gencheva Rumyana (1994), Karakachani se veseliha v Slivenskiya Balkan [Karakachans Enjoyed Themselves in the Sliven Balkan], “Trud”, 05.09.1994, p. 3 (in Bulgarian). Hadzhimichali Angeliki (1957), Sarakatsanei, vol. 1. Мeros A and B, Athens (in Greek).
Hammond Nicholas Geoffrey Lempiere (1976), Migrations and Invasions in Greece and Adjacent Areas, New Jersey: Noyes Press.
Hoeg Carsten (1925), Les Saracatsans: une tribu nomade grecque. Étude linguistique précédée
d’une Notice ethnographique I, Paris: É. Champion & Copenhague: V. Pio – P. Branner.
Kanev Krassimir (1998), Zakonodatelstvo i politika kam ethnicheskite i religioznite maltsinstva
v Bulgaria [Law and Politics on Ethnic and Religious Minorities in Bulgaria] in: A. Krasteva
(ed.) Obshtnosti i identichnosti v Bulgaria, Sofia: Petexon, pp. 67-117 (in Bulgarian).
Karakachani dadoha (1996), Karakachani dadoha pari za tsаrkva [Karakachans Gave Money for
a Church], “Standart”, 27.08.1996, p. 2 (in Bulgarian).
Karakachani iskat (1994), Karakachani iskat detsata im da izuchavat gratski ezik [The Karakachans Want Their Children to Study Greek], “Otechestven vestnik”, 21.02.1994, p. 3 (in
Bulgarian).
Karakachani iskat (1998), Karakachani iskat bonove sreshtu otnetite im ovtse (1998) [The Karakachans Want Bonds for the Sheep Taken Away from Them], “Kontinent”, 13.02.1998, p. 5
(in Bulgarian).
Karakachanite (1996), Karakachanite sa nay-drevnoto naselenie v Evropa [The Karakachans Are
the Most Ancient Population of Europe], “24 chasa”, 02.09.1996, p. 4 (in Bulgarian).
Kavadias Georges B. (1965), Pasteurs-nomades méditerranéens, les Saracatsans de Grèce.
Paris: Gauthier – Villars.
Kertikov Kiril, Тоdorova Еlka, Galabov Antnony & Mitev Svetoslav (1992), Karаkachanite
v usloviyata na demokratizatsia na balgarskoto obshtestvo – empirichno sotsiologichesko izsledvane na Instituta po sotsiologia kam BAN [The Karakachans under the Conditions of Democratization of the Bulgarian Society – Empirical Sociological Study of the Institute of Sociology at
the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences] (in Bulgarian).
Konstantinov Petar (1997), Maltsinstvata – most s dvuposochno dvizhenie [Minorities – a TwoWay Bridge], “Trud”, 3.09.1997, p. 2 (in Bulgarian).
Marinov Vasil (1964), Prinos kam izuchavane na proizhoda, bita i kulturata na karakachanite
v Bulgaria [Contribution to the Study of the Origins, Life and Culture of the Karakachans in
Bulgaria], Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite.
Markowska Danuta (1962), Kilka uwag o procesie zanikania nomadzkich migracji pasterskich
na terenie Bułgarii [Some Notes on the Process of Extinction of Nomadic Pasture Migrations in
the Territory of Bulgaria], “Etnografia Polska” 7, pp. 226–239 (in Polish).
38
Zhenya Pimpireva
Mermekliev Vasil (1998) S kakvo se gordeem nie karakachanite [What Makes us, the Karakachans, Proud], “Flambura” 1, p. 3 (in Bulgarian).
Miloev Velko (1994), Golyamo klane padna predi sabora na karakachanite [A Huge Slaughter
Occurred Before the Karakachan Fair], “Kontinent”, 09.09.1994, p. 7 (in Bulgarian).
Miloev Velko (1994а), Karakachanite v Bulgaria darzhat na gratskiya si proizhod [The Karakachans in Bulgaria Insist on Their Greek Origin], “Kontinent”, 05.09.1994, pp. 3–4 (in Bulgarian).
Nedelcheva Valentina (1996), Nad 3000 karakachani se sabraha na sabor [More Than 3000
Karakachans Gathered at a Fair], “Demokratsia”, 02.09.1996, p. 3 (in Bulgarian).
Petkov Petko (1994), 3000 karakachani se sabraha na sabor [3000 Karakachans Gathered at
a Fair], “Duma”, 05.09.1994, p. 5 (in Bulgarian).
Pimpireva Zhenya (1998), Karakachanite v Bulgaria [The Karakachans in Bulgaria], Sofia:
IMIR.
Preskonferentsia (2000), Preskonferentsia: Karakachanite v Bulgaria – 10-godishno prisastvie
(2000) [Press Conference: the Krakachans in Bulgaria – a 10-year Presence], “Flambura” 5,
pp. 1–6 (in Bulgarian).
Programa 1991, Programa na Kulturno-prosvetnoto druzhestvo na karakachanite v Bulgaria
[Program of the Cultural-Educational Association of the Karakachans in Bulgaria] (in
Bulgarian).
René Mari-Pier (2002), Karakachanite: mezhdu Gartsia i Bulgaria [The Karakachans: Between
Greece and Bulgaria], “Balgarski folklor” 1, pp. 83–87 (in Bulgarian).
Rezultati 1994, Rezultati ot prebroyavaneto na naselenieto, vol. 1, Demografski harakteristiki
[Results of the Census, vol. 1, Demographic Characteristics], Sofia: Natsionalen statisticheski institut (in Bulgarian).
Sedlarska Veselina (1993) Ne iskame da sme v grafata “drugi”, za zlo ili dobro sme karakachani
[We Don’t Want to Be in the Paragraph ‘Others’; for Evil or for Good, We Are Karakachans],
“Standart”, 14.08.1993, p. 5 (in Bulgarian).
Sedlarska Veselina (1993a), Karakachani taguvaha na Karandila [The Karakachans Grieved at
Karandila], “Standart”, 22.08.1993, p. 28 (in Bulgarian).
Shtereva Ganka (1998), Obuchenieto po gratski ezik v KPDK – Kazanlak [Teaching Greek in
CEDAK – Kazanlak], “Flambura” 1, pp. 2–3 (in Bulgarian).
Statisticheski godishnik na Balgarskoto tsarstvo (1909, 1911, 1915, 1925) [Statistical Yearbook of
the Kingdom of Bulgaria], Sofia: Glavna direktsia na statistikata (in Bulgarian).
Statisticheski godishnik na NRB (1959) [Statistical Yearbook of PR of Bulgaria], Sofia: Tsentralno statistichesko upravlenie (in Bulgarian).
Trifonova Pavlina (1998), Karakachanite: Platete ni 1 milion ovtse [The Karakachans: Pay Us for
1 Million Sheep], “24 Chasa”, 20.06.1998, p. 5 (in Bulgarian).
Vasileva Shtilyana (1996), Karakachanite si iskat 1 milion ovtse [The Karakachans Want Back
1 Million Sheep], “Trud”, 02.09.1996, p. 3 (in Bulgarian).
Valchinova Galina (1998), Gartsi [Greeks] in: A. Krasteva (ed.) Obshtnosti i identichnosti
v Bulgaria, Sofia: Petexon, pp. 207–220 (in Bulgarian).
Žunić Leposava (1958) Sarakačani na Goču [Sarakachans in Mountain Goch], “Glasnik Etnografskog institutа” 7, Beograd, pp. 87–107 (in Serbian).
Biographical note: Dr. Zhenya Pimpireva is Associate Professor in Ethnology of Socialism and Post-Socialism Department at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore
Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her major research areas are ethnic communities and intercultural relations, and everyday culture in the socialist and postsocialist period.
Vol. 2/2013
p. 039–056
Veselka Toncheva
The Slavonic Community from the Golo Bardo
Region, Republic of Albania: Traditions, Music,
Identity
Abstract: The text presents the Slavic language group inhabiting the region of Golo Bardo, Albania, focusing on the main parameters and characteristics of the community – history, religion, language, song and
especially identity. The Golobardians have been living as Albanian citizens for 100 years, but have preserved their traditional knowledge and culture, even under present conditions of different influences and
claims about their community.
Keywords: Golo Bardo (Albania), tradition, religion, language, music, identity, Bulgarians abroad, Macedonians abroad
At the time Albania was formed as an independent country in 1912 during the
Balkan war, and – after that – as a result of the Conference of Ambassadors of the Great Powers in London in 1913, a new boundary line was agreed. “Within Albania’s territory, defined
after difficult negotiations among the Great Powers, were included also small parts of the
territory which at that time Bulgaria considered its cultural, historical and ethnical space:
Golo Bardo, Pole, Mala Prespa” (Eldarov 2000: 5). The final borders of Albania were drawn
on December 17th 1913 by the International Diplomatic Conference in Florence (Eldarov
2000: 9).
Golo Bardo – History, Religion, Language
Information about the exact number and population of the Golobardian villages
included in the Albanian territory is different in different sources. According to some authors, the Slavonic villages in East Albania numbered 21, while 6 (or 2) remained on the
territory of the western part of the present-day Republic of Macedonia. The Albanian part of
the region is divided into three municipalities – Trebishta, Golemo Ostreni and Steblevo1 –
and includes the following villages: Steblevo, Ginevets, Klenye, Trebishta, Golemo Ostreni,
Malestreni (Malo Ostreni), Vormitsa, Tuchepi, Pasinki, Radoeshta, Izviri, Ladomerica, Goleishta, Kozhovets, Leshnichani, Orzhanovo, as well as the quarters Trabchanishte, Kamen
and Zaborye, and two villages with mixed population (with Albanian) – Sebishta and Smolnik. As part of this relatively united group, on the territory of today’s Macedonia remain the
1
The names of the municipalities in Albanian are: Trebisht, Ostren and Steblevë.
40
Veselka Toncheva
following villages: Dzhepishta, Otishani, Modrich, Drenok, Yablanitsa, as well as the Lakaytsa quarter, which is inhabited by immigrants from Steblevo (see Milanov 2001: 17–18).
Despite the region’s practically artificial division between the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats
and Slovenes and Albania in 1912–1913, it continued to function as a single area – in both
geographical and cultural sense. Under the term “The city” Golobardians understood and
understand Debar (on the territory of today’s Republic of Macedonia). It is connected to
Golo Bardo with the most direct and shortest route (see also Risteski 2006: 28), and it serves
as a unifying center for the entire region. A. Selishchev (1931: 2) calls it an Albanо-Bulgarian
town. The connection between the territories after the setting of the new border was demonstrated also by very active migratory movements, following the Balkan War and the First
World War, from Golo Bardo to Debar’s Drimkol (Svetieva 2006: 13). In the period between
the two World Wars, during the Zogu dynasty’s rule in Albania, people from both sides of
the border passed through freely and cultivated their land on the other side. There were
times when the borders near Golo Bardo actually changed. L. Risteski (2006: 30) quotes an
interlocutor saying that around World War I (1914–1915) people retained memories of a line
that used to divide the territory in two, running between the villages Steblevo and Klenye
(for one wedding a bride from Klenye was transferred through the border).
In the period between 1913 and the Second World War, Bulgaria’s contacts with the Community of Golo Bardo were relatively active (diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and
Albania date back to 1914). After 1948, however, with the closing of the Albanian borders
during the Enver Hoxha regime, the connections with the community were severed and
information about it was scarce. During “Enver’s times”, as Golobardians say, Albania found
itself in complete isolation, which for the community of Golo Bardo, living in the closest
proximity to the border, was particularly marginalizing in terms of communications, infrastructure and roads. The fate of these people was even harder than that of the Albanians in
the heartland, since they had left in the (then) People’s Republic of Macedonia, part of the
People’s Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (proclaimed in 1944), not only their lands but also
their relatives, with whom they were not able to communicate for years. The border was
heavily guarded – fenced with barbed wire, guard posts etc. – and the general attitude towards the community was exceptionally suspicious. This, according to L. Risteski (2006: 32),
could be attributed to suspicions about the loyalty of Golobardians to the Albanian state in
view of their weak Albanian patriotism.
In Bulgaria, communal and scientific interest in the region was reawakened only after
the democratic changes in Albania (and also in Bulgaria) of the early 1990s. The status of the
Golo Bardo population is not one of a Bulgarian minority, because Albania has not officially
recognized such a minority. According to historical evidence, however, around the end of
the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Golo Bardo was ethnically defined as Bulgarian, although located in the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. According to
population statistics from 1873 (cf. Makedonia and Odrinsko 1873) and V. Kanchov (1900),
these villages “belong the Debar district and are inhabited by Christian Bulgarians and Bulgarian Mohammedans”.2
The religions common among Golobardians are Christianity and Islam, currently the
larger percentage being Muslim. According to some researchers, the process of Islamization
began quite late. N. Limanoski (1993: 258) informs that in 1519 in all Golo Bardo (or Dolgo
Bardo) villages there were only Christian families. He believes that the change of religion
2
The use of the term “Bulgarian Mohammedans’ is in the spirit of the Bulgarian scientific tradition from the
first half of the 20th century and is present here as a cited text. Nowadays, the used term is “Bulgarian
Muslims’.
The Slavonic Community from Golo Bardo Region, Republic of Albania
Photo 1. On the road to the Golo Bardo Region, Albania. Photo by Veselka Toncheva
Photo 2. House in the village of Malestreni, Golo Bardo. Photo by Veselka Toncheva
41
42
Veselka Toncheva
occurred in the second half of the 18th century and even later. Another author, St. Stamatov
(1938: 23), gives a specific reason behind the adoption of Islam – the imposition in 1832
(i.e. quite late) of the military tax bedel only for Christians – “because they [would] not be
soldiers […] This tax scared the Christians and they began turning Turks.” The author argues that this tax proved to be very burdensome, even unbearable, for Christians and the
reason for their adoption of Islam. It is known that at that time the entire Golo Bardo village
of Leshnichani, as well as families from other villages, became Muslim. Active migration
began to Debar and other settlements in the territory of today’s Republic of Macedonia3
(Stamatov 1938: 23). A large number of families settled in the East and the Southeast, in the
present-day territories of Bulgaria and Greece. N. Limanoski reports that the families from
the villages of Golo Bardo that had converted to Islam settled not only in the villages of
Struga’s Drimkol – Yablanitsa, Labunishta, Borovets, Oktisi and Podgortsi – but also farther
away – in Thessaloniki. The families that resettled in Debar are now completely Albanized
but retain knowledge of their origin through their family names – Ostreni, Klenya, Trebishta, Torbachi, Serpetova, etc. (Limanoski 1993: 260).
In the collective conscience, the change from Orthodox Christianity to Islam signifies a
change of ethnic identity: Islamic is viewed as identical with Turkish. It is characteristic of
the inter-community communication of Bulgarians from the Albanian part of Golo Bаrdo to
call the Muslims ‘Turks’ and the Christians – ‘Kaur’. However, knowledge about the common Ottoman past of the region does not invalidate facts about the shared pre-Ottoman
membership in the Christian religion. There is various evidence for the presence of an early
Christian population in the region – the chronicles of the St Jovan Bigor Monastery4 contain
transcripts from 1863 mentioning pilgrims from the villages of Steblevo, Drenok, Otishani,
Djepishta, etc. (Filipovich 1940: 19). Yordan Ivanov (1925: 45) also refers to documents from
that monastery and gives names of villages: “Bulgarian Christian before and now Muslim,
with Bulgarian or Albanian as native language, in the surroundings of Golo Bardo (Albania)”. It should be noted that the main subject of reports of Srеbren Poppetrov, and of other
Heads of the Bulgarian Embassy in Albania until the beginning of the Second World War,
was the provision of support to the Bulgarian Orthodox churches in the region, and the organization of lessons in the “Bulgarian mother language”. According to D. Iliev’s statistical
data from 1929, to the Bulgarian population in Golo Bardo and Pole were assigned priests
from the Orthodox churches in Bulgarian villages in the region (Eldarov 2000: 184). Yet, according to the data from different years, the Muslims outnumbered the Christians.
The open religious activities of Christian and Muslim institutions, as well as the religious practices in Golo Bardo, continued until 1967. This was the year when the official state
ban on religions in the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania entered into force. “Religious
life was extinguished in 1967, when all churches and mosques were closed.” (Limanoski
1992: 32). Religious temples were destroyed in a very aggressive way, becoming cattle-sheds.
The ban on religion affected directly the functioning of religious practices, respectively the
functioning of the holiday calendar. This model of ideological pressure was not an isolated
phenomenon in Albania; during that period similar processes took place in all the countries
with socialist (communist) regimes. The state’s strategy for control involved continuous observation on the part of the authorities. The peripheral, near-the-border location of the Golo-
3
In 1889 Stefan Verkovich (pp. 323–324) noted that in the 70s and 80s of the 19th century, the villages Vichishta and Goleishta were “Bulgarian-Christian”.
4
The Мonastery of St John the Baptist, known as Bigor (after the rock material in the region, also used to
build the monastery – the stone “bigor’), is located between Gostivar and Debar, today Republic of Macedonia.
It was established in 1020.
Photo 3. Christian cross in the village of Steblevo, Golo Bardo. Photo by Veselka Toncheva
Photo 4. Muslim cemetery in the village of Golemo Ostreni, Golo Bardo. Photo by Veselka Toncheva
43
44
Veselka Toncheva
bardian community was sometimes convenient because of the distance from the capital and
major cities – where power was concentrated. In other cases, however, the community was
subjected to more stringent control precisely due to its location in the border zone and the
ethnic composition of the population in the region (though this was a factor of a lesser
importance).
The ‘reconciliation’ of the religions poses some interesting observations. On the one
hand, it might be interpreted as an outcome of the ban and denunciation of religions as an
ideological tool for uniting the Albanian nation. On the other hand, if we listen to the voice
of the Golobardians themselves, the situation cannot be seen as a direct result of E. Hoxha’s
claim “Your religion is Albanian”, but rather as a consequence of the historical fate of this
population – one of cohabitation and of envisioning their community as a whole, which is
evidenced by joint celebration of holidays.
Today, from the distance of decades (over 40 years after the ban on religions, and more
than 20 years after the democratic changes in Albania), it is difficult to speak in a categorical
or generalized way about the nature or degree of religiosity of the Golo Bardo community.
Moreover, the generations born after 1967 had an atheistic upbringing. It is a fact that in
some villages, due to depopulation, the temples were deserted, abandoned or destroyed,
but it is also a fact that in other places after 1991 churches have been restored or new ones
built – for example, in the village of Klenye, with financial assistance from Greece, a new
church has been built on the site of the old “St Petka” church (there is only one Christian
currently living in the village). Similarly, the church of “St Elijah” in the Ginevets village has
been restored (until recently the village was completely depopulated, in the last years there
have been 10 to 15 inhabited houses, all Muslim households). Also, the mosque in the Steblevo village has been restored, while in Trebishta and Golemo Ostreni villages new mosques
have been built, etc.
According to Bulgarian researchers, the language spoken by the Golobardian people,
known as Bulgarian, belongs to the group of the most western Bulgarian-Macedonian dialects (Milanov 2001: 19). This is the language used for communication within the community and in the family, but it is spread only orally. Under the Enver Hoxha regime, the use of
this language in public was considered undesirable, which to a large extent contributed to
its becoming a language for “domestic” use. In the region there are still elderly people who
do not speak Albanian.
In fact, for a very short time in some parts of the region there was education in Serbian,
Bulgarian and Macedonian standard languages, offered at the same time. N. Limanoski
(1992: 33-34) provides the following information: In all the villages in Golo Bardo from 1913
to 1915 in the schools the instruction was done by local teachers in Serbian, from 1915–1916
– in Bulgarian, and from 1916 to 1924 – again in Serbian. From 1924 until now instruction
has been in Albanian, except from 1947 to 19495 (after the proclamation in 1944 of the People’s Republic of Macedonia as part of the People’s Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), when it
was in Macedonian, but only in some of the villages with Christians.
In fact, the information above is not completely accurate – N. Limanoski omitted some
important facts. According to T. Boyadzhiev, the first Albanian Government from 1912 treated quite favorably the Bulgarian origins of the Golo Bardo population and preserved the
Bulgarian schools built during the Ottoman Empire – at that time in the region there were
five such schools. “An important moment in the Bulgarian-Albanian relations in recent times
5
This fact is also mentioned by L. Risteski – in the first years of friendship between Josip Broz Tito and Enver
Hoxha, the people from Golo Bardo had the right to primary education in Macedonian. But this lasted only until
1948; since then Golobardians have been educated solely in Albanian (Risteski 2006: 33).
45
was the Second Balkan Conference of 1932. At the Conference, the Albanian and Bulgarian
national delegations signed a Final Protocol stating that the Albanian delegation was recognizing the existence of a Bulgarian minority in Albania and accepting the obligation to ask
the government to permit the opening of schools in towns and villages where the population was predominantly Bulgarian. In these schools, instruction was to be given in Bulgarian, with compulsory Albanian. Although the Bulgarian-Albanian Protocol was implemented in practice, it is an important legal and public document which clearly supports the
ethnographic and ethnic rights of Bulgaria over the Slavic population in Albania. It expresses the conviction of many prominent Albanian cultural figures and scholars and of the Albanian people, who think that the Slavs in Albania are Bulgarians” (Boyadzhiev 1997: 125).
In 1945, the Albanian-Yugoslav Agreement was signed, under which in some Bulgarian
villages in Albania, including Golo Bardo, “Macedonian” schools were opened, which functioned until 1948 (Tashev 1994: 147–149). N. Limanoski gives different years. T. Boyadzhiev
(1997: 125–126) claims that during these three years there was a Macedonian school only in
the village of Vorbnitsa, which was closed due to lack of interest.
The subjective sense of belonging to a group (Aretov 2001: 13) is asserted by the awareness of being descended from that group and the awareness of the language spoken by the
group. While some interlocutors have called their language Bulgarian – “bugarski’ (which in
several cases is supported by knowledge of history), they apparently have problems understanding the modern standard Bulgarian language and respectively perceive the Macedonian standard language as closer and more understandable for them. But this is logical,
since in the base of the latter, which was created by a political decree of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People’s Liberation of Macedonia on 2 August 1944, issued at the Monastery
of Prohor Pchinski,6 lies the Western Bulgarian speech, widespread both within Bulgaria
and beyond its present-day borders. It is a fact that the Golobardians understand other
Slavic languages as well, which also raises some doubts when ethnic definitions of their
language are given.
Discussions of minority policies mostly focus on the language criterion. Concepts from
two extreme approaches can be applied here – on the one hand, the mechanisms of progressing ‘assimilation’ and, on the other – the requirement of sustainable self-identification,
re-asserting the language of a group or minority (Perchinig 1988: 134).
The dominant importance of the linguistic component in studies of ethnic identity is
supported by the argument that it is exactly this identity that can be seen as a multidimensional concept, whose dimensions and relations are not encompassed completely, in which
language plays a central role (cf. Tselikas 1986: 63). The language of Golobardians, defined
by more than a few of them as Bulgarian, has found itself in a peculiar opposition to the official Albanian (which in the community is called ‘Arnautian’), learnt only at school. In the
pre-school years, the only language spoken is the mother tongue. Simultaneously, there are
opinions in which Albanian is defined as “their” language.
The specific form of existence of the Golobardians’ language as solely an oral one predetermines also the specific pattern of its development. The high degree of its preservation is
due to the relative isolation in which the community has lived. As a result, there are archaic
words and phrases from Old Bulgarian and Middle Bulgarian periods stored in its vocabulary. In today’s Republic of Macedonia the Golobardians’ language is interpreted as Mace6
The most important assembly decisions of this first plenary session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the
People’s Liberation of Macedonia were the proclaiming of the Macedonian nation-state of ethnic Macedonians,
and proclamation of the Macedonian language as the official language of the Macedonian state. The citizens of
Macedonia, regardless of their ethnic affiliation, were guaranteed all civil rights, as well as the right to their
mother tongue and confession of faith (see Bakalov 2007; Daskalov 1989).
46
Veselka Toncheva
donian: “The villages in Golo Bardo are a mecca for linguists, i.e. for those engaged in Macedonian studies, who have the opportunity to hear typical Old Slavonic expressions that
[elsewhere] are already forgotten or unknown” (Limanoski 1992: 34). But Macedonian researchers have as well reported that the preservation of this “Golobardian speech of the
Macedonian language” (Svetieva 2006: 15) comes as a result of the natural isolation of the
area, its location within the state borders of Albania and, within the Albanian environment,
the inability to transform it by written arrangement or through mother tongue education, as
well as of the long prohibition of contact with neighboring villages in the region, on the territory of today’s Republic of Macedonia.
Accepting the use of a language as an essential element of identification is not unconditional, but besides being a communication medium, language can be seen and stylized as a
cultural system of symbols in the contents of ethnicity (see Perchinig 1988: 134). Linguistic
knowledge, in this case defined as Bulgarian or Macedonian, could be used to derive the
group identity of an ethnic community. It is no secret that the Golo Bardo community, in the
process of constructing its modern identity (because “identity is primarily concerned with
processes and mechanisms of development rather than of simple affirmation”, Bokova 1998:
5), has been subject to interests and influences from both the Republic of Macedonia and
Bulgaria. It is a fact, however, that many interlocutors explain their Bulgarian self-identification mostly through language and do not doubt its ethnic characteristics, especially as this
is supported by the inherited knowledge or childhood memories.
The Songs of the Community from Golo Bardo Region
The people of Golo Bardo often define as Bulgarian not only the language, but
also the songs performed within the community in a ritual, festive or everyday context. The
song, as one of the self-determination instruments, is viewed as a convincing sign for ethnic
affiliation. Moreover, since the Albanian songs are not part of the traditional communal ‘inventory’, nowadays knowledge about them is acquired mostly through the media, in particular the radio. At the same time, Bulgarian songs, also heard on the radio, are recognized
as identical with their own. The same goes for songs from the present-day Republic of Macedonia – the concept of the closeness of the Bulgarian and the Macedonian songs is very
common and recognized also by performers. The lack of major difference results not only
from geographic, but also, to a large extent, from musical folklore-dialectic factors. In 1912–
1913 the region of Golo Bardo was divided between Albania and the (then) Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but in the period of 1913–1939 the villages from both sides in
practice communicated freely. Until the closing of the border in 1948, the region functioned
as a unified space also from a cultural point of view. The artificial state and political division
of the territory could not possibly eradicate its original cultural unity, despite the passage of
time. In some cases these preconditions have been responsible for the established resemblance, common variability or identicality of the song samples performed “over the border”
(in the present-day Republic of Macedonia). This leads to uncertainty over the otherwise
definitive Bulgarian ethnic definition of the songs. In this case, the argument called in support is the fact that the song folklore ‘belongs’ to the community – that these are ‘our’ songs.
There is also another line of interpretation – the closeness of the Bulgarian and the Macedonian songs in the community’s repertoire plays the role of a unifying factor through which,
in their own way, the Golobardian songs challenge the Albanian songs, which not only are
in a foreign language, but also differ musically.
The performance of Golobardian repertoire in the Albanian linguistic and cultural environment was not forbidden (even during the Enver Hoxha regime). But the Albanian citizen
47
from Golo Bardo Tsvetan Mazniku (2006: 23) remembers that although folklore groups from
Golo Bardo participated in regional festivals with their own songs, the songs were not sung
in their mother tongue but translated into Albanian.7 The bagpiper Bozhin Filioki from
Klenye (a musician who played at weddings throughout the region) also says that in order
to be allowed to participate in festivals, musicians from Golo Bardo used melodies of Bulgarian songs but performed them in Albanian. This means that the song folklore of these
Bulgarians was functioning as Bulgarian only for their “own use” and existed in the original
only within the framework of the relatively closed everyday and festive system of the community. On its part, this is a sign of the preservation of the ritual song samples from relatively earlier cultural layers.
When it comes to particular musical characteristics of the Golobardian repertoire, one
important clarification should be made – the traditional two-part singing (typical in some
regions of the Balkans) was not practised; likewise in the border villages of the neighboring
Vardar Macedonia, diaphony is not popular. The dialectic musical and folklore unity of the
region thus explains also the lack of two voices in the Albanian Golo Bardo villages.
When trying to categorize the examined song folklore, two layers become distinct – we
will call them, conditionally, an earlier one and a later one. In terms of the musical contents,
a clear line can be drawn between ritual songs (of the calendar year and rites of the life cycle), whose sound is more archaic, and songs which have no ritual function, whose intonation pattern is urban-rural and which pertain to later musical layers. There are songs which,
today, are preserved mainly as sources of knowledge and information and which had lost
their functionality a long time ago – exceptions are wedding songs accompanying the preparation of a pogacha (a round loaf) on Saturday evening. Their ritual function is the prerequisite for their musical characteristics – a narrow ambitus8, specific musical thought, crystallization of several major melodic and rhythmical models on which the entire song repertoire
of the concrete ritual is based.
The main body of the songs refer to the traditional rituals of Gyurgevden (Saint George’s
Day), especially due to the important place this holiday occupies in the festive calendar of
both Christians and Muslims in Golo Bardo. The strong bond of the songs with the particular ceremonial moment is now forgotten, but when looking at the songs described as Gyurgevden songs, we notice their peculiar sound – a simple melodic line in a quart and quint
ambitus and the presence of relatively stable patterns reproduced with variation in different
samples. Marriage ceremonies display similar arrangement of one or more melodic-rhythmic patterns, occurring within this ritual repertoire. The musical component of the wedding
ceremony is an illustration of the preserved ancient layers of the rites of the life cycle.
In the traditional celebrations of the Golo Bardo community, both on Saint George’s Day
and during wedding ceremonies, horo songs are present – until the early 90s of the 20th century in the region there was a horo dance9 performed to the accompaniment of a song, which
along with horo dances with instrumental accompaniment, constituted a part of various celebrations in the village (including weddings). Among horo songs associated with a particular rite (or holiday) we discover samples with a relatively narrow volume of the tone and
a simple structure, illustrating relatively older musical thought. When it comes to intona-
7
The same goes also for the national costumes – no performance in national costumes was allowed. When
making this observation, the author assumes that the language and the costumes were Macedonian.
8
9
The ambitus is the range or the distance between the highest and lowest note of the song.
The horo dance, widespread on the Balkan Peninsula, is a folk dance in which the participants form a circle
or a straight line while holding hands. They perform special step patterns, leaps, crossing of the feet, going forward, going backward, which are repeated according to the musical accompaniment.
48
Veselka Toncheva
tion, some of them are quite similar to the horo songs from Western and Southwestern
Bulgaria.
The major part of the song repertoire performed today consists of samples without clear
functional definition – they are defined by the performers as songs presented in everyday or
festive contexts (ones which do not require strict association with ritual). They are considered universal models, part of the song repertoire of the region (or of a particular village) –
some of them are very popular in the entire Golo Bardo area. Their musical as well as textual
content place them in later layers – this part of the repertoire marks the tendency for an urban-rural type of vocality which is characteristic of the musical and folklore region of Macedonia from the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. As Dimitrina Kaufman (2008: 47–48) explains, we are talking here about “multistageness” of the
folk music culture in the dialect from the Pirin Region, which was formed under the influence of both the natural changes within the region and significant migrations from Vardar
and Aegean Macedonia to the Pirin Region. This resulted in the mixing of polyphonic styles
with monophonic ones; the urban styles prevailing over the rural style; the men taking the
women’s repertoire and vice versa; new styles emerging, based on the old urban styles.
There is also the influence of the rural styles on the Macedonian urban one with its more
open and more vigorous sound production and several elements borrowed from old
ornamentation.
While the community of Golo Bardo was detached from the Albanians in the Republic
of Albania, communication with territories of the present-day Republic of Macedonia has
been significantly more intensive – it takes only several hours to walk the distance between
the villages from both sides of the border. The development of urban musical culture (as
well as its interaction with the traditional rural musical culture) on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia began as early as the second half of the 19th century and the contact of
the people from Golo Bardo with this culture was practically realized long before the division of the area in 1912. This explains the presence of both urban and urban-rural (intonation) samples in the musical repertoire of the ‘Albanian’ villages, and, as a whole, the development of similar musical processes in both communities.
Judging by their formal characteristics, the songs of the community from the Albanian
part of Golo Bardo do not differ from the Bulgarian folk songs on the Bulgarian ethnic territory. It is important to mention that they are not influenced by Albanian music folklore – the
community had lived a relatively isolated life until the beginning of the 1990s and preserved
the local traditional song. It is doubtful that comparison of the song samples from Golo
Bardo, Albania, with their versions from the Republic of Bulgaria or the Republic of Macedonia would indicate the origin of the Golo Bardo inhabitants, because the most important
defining aspect of the examined repertoire is the musical and folklore dialect. The Golo
Bardo songs carry the dialectic characteristics of the ‘Macedonian’ song (following a regional definition – historical, geographic, musical and folklore), but the communal awareness of the Bulgarian origin points at their ethnic definition, which matters to the community
and is obviously stable, independent of the historical circumstances and the policies carried
out on the Balkans and related to these territories since the end of the 19th century and
throughout the 20th century. The Golobardians describe ethnically their song folklore as
“Bulgarian”: how can this view manifest in the signs of specific songs?
Let us take the example of the wedding song of the bride before the wedding night,
when she stands leaning on her trousseau, turned sunward, while the nearby women sing
for her to make her cry – the lyrics of the song are similar to the Bulgarian ritual song performed while the bride is being taken out of her home. The song Ela se vie, previva, moma se
s roda proshtava (“A fir is swaying, a maid is bidding farewell”) is popular throughout the
whole territory of Bulgaria in different musical dialectal versions. The local lyrics in Ste-
49
Photo 5. Women’s costume from the village of Golemo Ostreni, Golo Bardo. Photo by Veselka Toncheva
blevo are: “Oy nevesto, dobre doshla, zashto izostavi mayka si, zashto izostavi tatko si, ne ti
li e zhalno…” (“Welcome, oh bride, why did you leave your mother, why did you leave your
father, don’t you feel sad…”).10
Another example comes from the songs “on grass” that Christian and Muslim women
sing before dawn on St George’s Day on their way to the sacred place Vakuf11, where they
bring flowers and from where they take water to bring back home. The function and content
of these songs are identical to those of the Bulgarian ritual St George’s Day’s songs.
The knowledge about the ‘Bulgarian’ ethnic definition of the Golo Bardo songs is passed
from generation to generation and it is exactly such preservation in the community’s collective memory of the traditional knowledge of the language, origin and, last but not least,
songs, that functions as a core around which the community from Golo Bardo is consolidated in the Albanian linguistic and cultural environment.
The Issue of Golobardians’ Identity
In Albania, official statistics on the population size and self-determination of the
Golobardians are, in fact, rather vague, and as D. Trpeski also notes, they can hardly be con10
Ferit Bushati, born 1940 in Steblevo, Golo Bardo, Albania, woodchopper, rate-setter, has been living in
Tirana since 1994 – recorded on 20 June, 2007, by V. Toncheva and K. Rangochev.
11
Vakuf (Waqf) is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically donating a building or plot of
land or even cash for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. In contemporary Turkish language waqf means
a ‘charitable foundation’.
50
Veselka Toncheva
sidered accurate. The reason is that after the Second World War, during the population
census, no option for self-determination was provided. Even nowadays media report different percentages of Albanians, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Turks, etc. living in Albania, all too
often to serve certain state and/or political interests (see Trpeski 2006: 56). According to the
last official census in 2001, the ethnic composition of the population is as follows: 95% Albanians, 3% Greeks and 2% other (Wallach, Roma, Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians and
Bulgarians). These figures, however, are controversial because, according to T. Mangalakova
(2004: 286–287) the enumerators’ questionnaires did not contain a column for religion, language and nationality. The official data following the census of October 2011 is still not
available. Obviously, the ethnic identity of the Golo Bardo community is problematic, especially in the recent times. In Bulgaria and the present-day Republic of Macedonia the ethnicity of this group is conceived in a different way – in Bulgaria, in academic literature, in the
public space and the media it is referred to as Bulgarian; yet, respectively, as Macedonian in
the Republic of Macedonia.
However, the literature on both sides implies (and even expresses) hesitancy over Golobardians’ ethnic self-determination. Attempts to construct the ethnic identity of the Golo
Bardo population can be dated back to the mid- and late 19th century and the early 20th century, as well as to the emergence of national states in the Balkans. There is often lack of consistency between state and nation, which is illustrated by the presence of many “multinational” states today (Smith 2000: 27). D. Trpeski notes that the Golobardian community has
frequently been, and still is, subjected to the policies of the Balkan countries, while research
about it and about its territory is most often biased and tendentious, aiming to present the
ethnic group as belonging to one Balkan nation or another. According to the author, the
most important role in the last 100–150 years has been played by the Turkish, Serbian, Bulgarian and Albanian propaganda. However, we need to stress Trpeski’s assertion (2006: 58)
that “in recent times, with its independence, the Macedonian state has also been influential
to a certain extent”. The Macedonian ethnologist attributes the fluctuating nature and the
divergence of identity primarily to the historical past, but also to modern mechanisms of
influence from countries in the region; he also does not hide the claims of one of the newest
actors on “the Balkan scene” – the Republic of Macedonia – towards the community of Golo
Bardo.
Theoretical claims related to ethnic identity in Golo Bardo (made by authors in both
Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia) derive from studies carried out in the region, but
each such study involves different places and different social, age, religious, etc. groups.
There is currently no comprehensive study of the community that would involve work in all
the settlements in the region, including migrants to the cities – Tirana, Elbasan, Durres, Fier,
etc. However, records reflect differing attitudes of the local people towards the researchers
and of the researchers towards the community (as a whole) and towards each individual
interlocutor. Therefore, neither the view of Bulgarian authors nor of Macedonian ones alone
could be regarded as completely objective. I will try below to reflect on these problems, in
which scientific accuracy regarding recorded material and interlocutors’ positions necessitate an objective consideration of the full range of possible shades in self-identification and
self-determination.
“If there is anything that distinguishes ethnicity from other collective identities, it is its
orientation towards the past” (Ganeva-Raycheva 2004: 104). This thought could be extended
into an argument that orientation towards the past can be specifically expressed as knowledge or ideas about one’s origin, often mythologized in the collective memory. A great part
of the inhabitants of Golo Bardo declare themselves as Bulgarians, motivating this act of
self-determination exactly with their Bulgarian origin. Life in relative isolation, which is
characteristic of the Golobardians (also, but not only, due to geographical predetermina-
51
tion), has significantly contributed to the preservation of their ethnic consciousness in a relatively stable form (this is especially true of the period before 1991). Closed ethnic communities establish and develop a special kind of ethnic ‘enclave’ due to their isolation from the
foreign environment and an opposition to possible social and cultural influences. Consequences of such relations are reflected in the status of traditional culture, including musical
culture – amidst isolation, the minority ethnicum preserves specific stylistic elements, which
are already lost in the mother country (Horáková 1996: 201-202). The Golo Bardo community recognizes Bulgaria as its “mother” country and this mobilizes the mechanisms of ethnic identity, exactly through markers of origin. In the collective historical memory this
knowledge is obviously an instrument of self-identification.
It is accepted for a group to be associated with a particular region if it has occupied the
respective territory for at least three generations. The traditional knowledge of the origin of
Golo Bardo’s community is expressed through the notion of ‘autochthony’ (for one of the
possible typologies of minorities, see Hemetek 2001: 24), which is also connected with the
Bulgarian origin. The model, which can explain how a community lives on ‘its’ territory,
relates to its ‘staying’ in its native environment. Even more, comparison to other Bulgarian
communities outside Bulgaria, which, however, appeared as a result of migrant movements
(i.e. Bessarabian Bulgarians), confirms the ‘autochthonous’ connection of Golobardians to
the place: “They migrated while we stayed on our land.” Identification as a group associated
with a single environment requires interactions with the continuity of others, but construction of a group identity requires even more perception of one’s own unity, simultaneity and
continuity over time (see Fuchs 1996: 67).
The principle of maximum objectivity requires asking questions related not only to Bulgaria but also to today’s Macedonia, and the ethnic identification of Golobardians as ‘Macedonians’ is one of such questions. According to Macedonian researchers, the Bulgarian
memory, the self-determination as Bulgarians, the Bulgarian language and other communal
features of some Golobardians cannot be interpreted as signs of a Bulgarian identity. Instead, they result from “the mechanisms of skillful Bulgarian propaganda, operating on
several intensive intellectual and social levels for about a century. […] Golobardians have
been exposed to all kinds of politicizations of ethnic identity like other Macedonian minorities in neighboring areas. Global political interests have also contributed to this pressure”
(Svetieva 2006: 16). A. Svetieva specifically argues that the use of the term “Bulgarian” in
reference to their language, especially by older people, is associated with the so-called
‘vreme bugarsko’ (Bulgarian times), when there were Bulgarian soldiers on the territory of
Golo Bardo (around 1928, in the Pasinki village, Bulgarian army headquarters were
situated)12. Such naming, according to the author, is also connected with the “tested mechanisms of Bulgarian propaganda in Macedonia” (Svetieva 2006: 15–16).
Svetieva and Trpeski also explain the emergence of the ‘Bulgarian’ self-determination by
referring it to more contemporary situations (following the democratic changes), when, according to the information received in their study, Golo Bardo was visited by Bulgarian researchers and the state of Bulgaria offered financial assistance for the education of children
and youth in Bulgaria. That offer was particularly attractive, as it was made during the volatile and difficult years immediately following the fall of the regime of Enver Hoxha (Svetieva 2006: 15-16). “An interesting fact confirming the attempts to construct the ethnic identity of the Golo Bardo population is that all too often during visits to Albania high-level
functionaries from Bulgaria show interest in, and inquire about, Bulgarians in Prespa and
12
It should be noted that for the 1928 detail the author refers to a story from a local man, rather than to documents, i.e. it is highly possible that the detail is not historically accurate, but pertains to 1918.
52
Veselka Toncheva
Golo Bardo. These events show that the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria also sees
some interest in the existence, in the Republic of Albania, of people who would identify
themselves as Bulgarian”, writes D. Trpeski (2006: 59). T. Mangalakova (2004: 292) in turn
presents the Bulgarian perspective: “Representatives of non-governmental organizations,
Ministry of Education and Science, Agency of the Bulgarians Abroad and researchers, have
established that Macedonia has been engaged actively with the people from Mala Prespa
and Golo Bardo who travel without visas to Macedonia, while for several years the Macedonian Ambassador in Tirana has been going on tours around Mala Prespa, giving out Macedonian passports”. Each of the two positions is supported by cited interviews with local
people (cf. Trpeski 2006: 58–59; Mangalakova 2004: 284–285).13
This is a convenient place to introduce the Albanian point of view as well – the Albanian
political class would rather not take a definitive position on the ethnic and linguistic identity
of the Golobardians. T. Mangalakova quotes an Albanian NGO representative from Tirana
who states that the population of Golo Bardo is a minority, but it obviously is not completely
consistent in its ethnic self-determination, so that Albanians find it “difficult” to differentiate between ‘Bulgarians’ and ‘Macedonians. “During conversations with politicians from
Albania about the Bulgarian minority, several respondents told the same story – how the
Bulgarian and Macedonian Ambassadors visit Golo Bardo and Mala Prespa and the local
people change their identity as appropriate. The respondents give jokingly the following
advice: that we, Bulgarians and Macedonians, agree between ourselves on the question of
the nationality of the population in these areas” (Mangalakova 2004: 289).
Issues of ethnicity became particularly relevant in the 60s of the 20th century and remain
relevant to the present day. The parameters of the term ‘ethnic identity’ often become
grounds for national policies and turn into problems of self-determination and self-defense. However, research and scientific quests have failed to establish if ethnic identity is to
some extent an ‘initially-given’ reality or something that can be created strategically and
experimentally (see Weigert 1990: 128-129). In this sense, the problem of the formation of
such an identity in the community of Golo Bardo is open, because in the course of a century
(after Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912–1913), the historical circumstances changed repeatedly and created conditions for processes associated with
‘choosing’ an identity. In the case of Golobardians, due to the complex historical course
of events and the new political and state processes in the Balkans, probably we can talk
precisely about a situation of choice. This finds concrete expression, for example, in organizations – cultural and political associations of the Bulgarians in Albania (“Ivan
Vazov”, “Prosperitet Golo Bardo”) and those of the Macedonians in Albania (“Prespa”,
“Bratstvo”, “Gora’), existing and working alongside each other, using similar models and
approaches.
On the other hand, the ‘participation’ of whichever country – Bulgaria or Macedonia – in
the process generates some expectations. For example, A. Svetieva (2006: 17) reports that
during their stay in Golo Bardo, the team experienced unpleasant moments due to frequent
requests and reminders by Golobardians for assistance in the opening of the border crossing
point ‘Na porti’, closed in the early years of the Enver Hoxha regime (1948), which used to
provide the fastest possible connection between the Albanian and the Macedonian villages
in Golo Bardo. Participants of Bulgarian expeditions or other Bulgarian visitors to the region
have been facing similar problems, related to the acquisition of Bulgarian passports by Golo-
13
In Macedonian sources Golobardians talk about Bulgarian propaganda, which often misleads them and
gives unrealistic promises (Bulgarian passports, work at the Bulgarian Embassy in Tirana), and in Bulgarian
sources – about Macedonia, which works with the community more aggressively than Bulgaria.
53
bardians. Thus, self-identification as ‘Bulgarian’ or ‘Macedonian’ is not enough: legitimacy
on the part of the respective state is required.
In the contemporary period of ‘democracy’, yet another, even more distant, definition is
becoming entrenched – Golobardians. The choice of this neutral naming14 reflects change in
the attitude of the Albanian majority towards the Golo Bardo community. On the other
hand, they quite often call themselves ‘Golobardian’ in the urban context of the capital Tirana, where they have migrated. This is symptomatic of other trends – manifestation of the
regional and the local at the expense of the national or the ethnic. The conditions created by
globalization sharpen awareness of regional and local identity. In Tirana, for example, there
is an organization “Za Steblevo” issuing the newspaper “Steblevo”15 in Albanian, with regular monthly appearances in visual Albanian media. Explication of a local origin is obviously
important for the preservation of an awareness of belonging to a place. And in the linguistic
and cultural environment of the Albanian capital, the danger of blurring or losing such
awareness is considerable. Local and regional identities are also widespread, as localism
and regionalism have the ability to unite. However, as A. Smith (2000: 14) notes, regions easily disintegrate into smaller territories, and these territories – into individual settlements.
Taking into consideration all the arguments, all the strong or hesitant positions, it can be
said that ethnic identity is important to the Golo Bardo community; it is the organizing concept, the catalyst of the mechanisms operating within the communal collective self-awareness and expression. Simultaneously, the level of preservation of the traditional knowledge
and culture in Golo Bardo is still quite high, the patriarchal model is still alive, the parameters of calendar and family festivity are fairly well preserved; on the other hand, the ‘opening’ of the community to the world, the influence of the media and the contemporary world
as a whole, as well as the modern migrations and work abroad, living in cities and in foreign
countries, have been responsible for a gradual decline of traditions. This is why observations of the traditional knowledge of the Golobardians are so important – to attempt to
grasp what is still functioning, and to document, capture, preserve, make sense of it, and to
promote it, since it is highly probable that this knowledge will soon turn into merely an inherited memory or a ‘museum exhibit’.
Bibliography
Aretov Nikolay (2001), Balkanski identichnosti v balgarskata kultura ot modernata epoha (XIX
–XX vek). Kam postanovkata na problema [Balkan Identities in the Bulgarian Culture of the
Modern Times (19–20 Century). Towards Clarifying the Problem] in: N. Aretov & N. Chernokozhev (eds.) Balkanski identichnosti v balgarskata kultura ot modernata epoha (XIX–XX
vek), Sofia: Institut za izsledvane na integratsiata, pp. 5–53 (in Bulgarian).
Bakalov Georgi (2007) Istoria na balgarite. Voenna istoria [History of the Bulgarians. A Military
History], vol. 5, Sofia: Znanie (in Bulgarian).
Bokova Irena (1998), Kulturna identichnost – obrazi na otazhdestvyavane i orazlichavane [Cultural Identity – Images of Identicality and Differentiation], “Balgarski folklor” 1–2, pp. 4–21
(in Bulgarian).
Boyadzhiev Todor (1997), Balgarite v Golo Bardo (Albania) [Bulgarians in Golo Bardo, Albania] in: M. Parzulova (ed.) Balgarite izvan Bulgaria. Sbornik s materiali ot mezhdunaroden
simpozium Burgas – yuni 1997, Veliko Tarnovo: Znak’94, pp. 124–127 (in Bulgarian).
Daskalov Georgi (1989), Balgaro-yugoslavskite politicheski otnoshenia 1944–1945 [BulgarianYugoslavian Political Relations 1944–1945], Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment
Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
14
Taking into account the divergence of the ethnic identity of the Golo Bardo inhabitants, in his text the
Macedonian ethnologist E. Trpeski also calls them Golobardians (Trpeski 2006).
15
Another organization publishes the newspaper “Golo Bardo”.
54
Veselka Toncheva
Eldarov Svetlozar (2000), Balgarite v Albania 1913–1939. Izsledvane i dokumenti. [Bulgarians
in Albania 1913–1939. Investigation and Documents], Sofia: Ivray (in Bulgarian).
Filipović Milenko (1940), Golo Brdo. Beleške o naseljima, poreklu stanovništva, narodnom životu
i običajima [Golo Bardo. Notes about the Settlements, Origin of the Population, Folk Live and
Customs], Skoplje: Štamparija Južna Srbija (in Serbian).
Fuchs Bernhard (1996), “Tune Yourself of Your Roots”. Musikalische Identitätsarbeit in:
U. Hemetek (ed.) Echo der Vielfalt / Echoes of Diversity. Traditionelle Musik von Minderheiten/ethnischen Gruppen/Traditional Music of Ethnic Groups/Minorities, Wien: Verlag
Böhlau, pp. 65–76.
Ganeva-Raycheva Valentina (2004), Balgarite v Ungaria – problemi na kulturnata identichnost
[Bulgarians in Hungary – Problems of Cultural Identity], Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo
“Marin Drinov” (in Bulgarian).
Hemetek Ursula (2001), Mosaik der Klänge. Musik der ethnischen und religiösen Minderheiten
in Österreich, “Schriften zur Volksmusik” 20, Wien: Verlag Böhlau.
Horáková Jadranka (1996), Lieder der Kroaten in der Umgebung von Bratislava im Kontext der
westslovakischen Volksliedkultur in: U. Hemetek (ed.) Echo der Vielfalt / Echoes of Diversity.
Traditionelle Musik von Minderheiten/ethnischen Gruppen/Traditional Music of Ethnic
Groups/Minorities, Wien: Verlag Böhlau, pp. 201–213.
Ivanov Yordan (1925), Balgarsko-albanskata etnichna granica [Bulgarian-Albanian Ethnic Border], “Makedonski pregled” 4, pp. 36–48 (in Bulgarian).
Kanchov Vasil (1900), Makedonia. Etnografia i statistika [Macedonia. Ethnography and Statistics], Sofia: Balgarsko knizhovno druzhestvo (in Bulgarian).
Kaufman Dimitrina (2008), Zhenskoto i mazhkoto vаv folklorno-muzikalnata ni kultura [The
Female and Male in Our Folk Musical Culture], “Bаlgarski folklor” 2, pp. 40–49 (in Bulgarian).
Limanoski Niyazi (1992), Etnoloshki motivi i beleshki od Golo Brdo [Ethnological Motifs and
Notes from Golo Bardo Region], “Zbornik. Ethnologija” (nova serija), 1, Skopje: Muzej na
Makedonija, pp. 27–37 (in Macedonian).
Limanoski Niyazi (1993), Islamizatsijata i etnichkite promeni vo Makedonija [Islamization and
Ethnical Changes in Macedonia], Skopje: Makedonska kniga (in Macedonian).
Makedonia i Odrinsko (1995), Makedonia i Odrinsko. Statistika na naselenieto ot 1873. [Macedonia and Odrin Region. Statistics of the Population from 1873], Sofia: Makedonski nauchen
institut (in Bulgarian).
Mangalakova Tanya (2004), Balgarite v Mala Prespa i Golo Bardo [Bulgarians in Mala Prespa
Region and Golo Bardo Region] in: A. Zhelyazkova (ed.) Problemi na multietnichnostta
v Zapadnite Balkani. Terenni prouchvania, Sofia: IMIR, pp. 276–297 (in Bulgarian).
Mazniku Tsvetan (2006), Etnokulturata vo Golo Brdo (Goló-Bordo) (Realnost i problematika)
[Ethnoculture of Golo Bardo (Goló-Bordo) (Reality and Issues)] in: A. Svetieva (ed.) Golo
Brdo. Zhivot na granitsa, Skopje: Institut za etnologija i antropologija, pp. 21–25
(in Macedonian).
Milanov Emil (2001), Balgarite ot Golo Bardo i Gora [Bulgarians from Golo Bardo and Gora] in:
Almanah na “Ognishte” – Kulturno-prosvetna organizatsia, Balgarite v Albania i Kosovo, vol.
1, Sofia: Veritas et Pneuma, pp. 17-26 (in Bulgarian).
Perchinig Bernhard (1992), Europäische Migrationspolitik in: T. Hierl (ed.) Fremde Heimat: Emigranten/Immigranten (= Knappe Güter, Bd. 3), Wien: Verlag Austria Press, pp. 71–79.
Risteski Lyupcho S. (2006), Zhivot na granitsa [Life on the Border] in: A. Svetieva (ed.) Golo
Brdo. Zhivot na granitsa, Skopje: Institut za etnologija i antropologija, pp. 26–34
(in Macedonian).
Selishchev Afanasiy M. (1931), Slavyanskoe naselenie v Albanii [Slavic Population in Albania],
Sofia: Makedonskiy nauchny institut (in Russian).
Smith Adam (2000), Natsionalnata identichnost [original title: National Identity], Sofia: Kralitsa Mab (in Bulgarian).
Stamatov Stefan (1938), Grad Debar i negovoto osnovavane [City of Debar and its Founding],
Parvo prilozhenie na periodichnoto spisanie “Debarski glas”, Sofia: Debarsko blagotvoritelno bratstvo (in Bulgarian).
Svetieva Aneta (2006), Golo (D’lgo) Brdo i golobrdtsi (nashintsi) [Golo (D’lgo) Brdo and Golobordian (Ours)] in: A. Svetieva (ed.) Golo Brdo. Zhivot na granitsa, Skopje: Institut za
etnologijа i antropologijа, pp. 10–18 (in Macedonian).
55
Tashev Spas (1994), Balgarite v Albania (1913–1993) [Bulgarians in Albania (1913–1993)] in:
At. Peykov (ed.) Etnicheskiyat problem i natsionalniyat vapros na balgarite, Plovdiv: Poligrafia, pp. 141–162 (in Bulgarian).
Trpeski Davorin (2006), Divergentnost vo etnichkiot identitet na golobrdtsite od Albanija [Divergence in Ethnic Identity of the Golobardians from Albania] in: A. Svetieva (ed.) Golo Brdo.
Zhivot na granitsa, Skopje: Institut za etnologija i antropologija, pp. 56–60 (in
Macedonian).
Tselikas Elektra I. (1986), Minderheit und soziale Indentität. Soziale Wahrnehmung und Realitätskonstruktion bei Schweizer und Ausländerkindern: Der Ego-ökologische Ansatz und seine
Anwendung, “Hochschulschriften: Sozialwissenschaften” 21, Königstein: Verlag Anton
Hain.
Verkovich Stefan (1889), Topografichesko-etnograficheskiy ocherk Makedonii [Topographic-Ethnographical Article about Macedonia], Sankt-Peterburg: Voennaya tipografia (in Russian).
Weigert Andrew (1990), Vavezhdane na identichnostta v sotsialnata psihologia [Introduction to
Identity in Social Psychology] in: E. Todorova (ed.) Idei v sotsialnata psihologia, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, pp. 104–138 (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: Dr Veselka Toncheva is Associate Professor at the Institute of
Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The topics of her
research are Slavic language groups inhabiting the regions in Albania – Golo Bardo,
Gora, Mala Prespa and the Korcha Region.
E-mail: [email protected]
56
Veselka Toncheva
Vol. 2/2013
p. 057–072
Katya Mihaylova
Labour Migration of Bulgarians to the Czech Lands
and Some Aspects of Their Ethnocultural Identity
Abstract: The article examines Bulgarian labour migration of different professional groups to Czech lands:
gardeners since late 19th century; confectioners in 1920s and 1930s and after the Second World War;
farmers in 1946–1950; industrial workers in 1948–1950 and 1957; computer and IT specialist after
2000; also the student wave since 1860s and 1870s, and particularly after 1960s; as well as individual
migration when contracting a mixed marriage. On the basis of author’s fieldwork research in Brno and its
vicinities, the main markers of ethnic identity among Bulgarian Czechs nowadays are analyzed, e.g. their
organizations and networks, their folklore, language, everyday culture, diet, household items, the noting
of national and calendar holidays, etc. The article points out differences among the generations of migrants, as well as some changes in the self-identification of the new generation of Czech Bulgarians.
Keywords: labour migration; Bulgarians in the Czech Republic; ethnocultural identity; celebration of feasts;
Bulgarian gardeners
This paper examines labour migration of different Bulgarian professional groups
to Czech lands since the end of 19th century, as well as some aspects of the ethnocultural
identity of Bulgarians in the Czech Republic nowadays. The research was focused on the
Bulgarian ethnic community in the second largest town in Czech Republic, Brno, and its
vicinities, where I conducted ethnological-anthropological field studies.1 According to statistical data from the last census of the population in the Czech Republic in 2011, in Brno and
surrounding area, less than 400 people (312 people exactly) declared themselves as the Bulgarians (Sčítání 2011). The census of 2001 shows Bulgarians as being around the same
number (Sčítání 2003), but specialized research report their number as around 500 people
(Pospíšilová & Fischer 2004: 120). In both cases, the statistical data of the census include as
Bulgarians only those with Bulgarian citizenship. Specialized ethnological studies and the
current research include also citizens of Brno and the neighboring areas that are with Czech
citizenship, but with Bulgarian origin. Double citizenship is not acknowledged in Czech
Republic, that is why, a significant number of Bulgarian migrants of periods in the past are
already with Czech citizenship and are not counted in the official statistics. The latter does
not include also children of Bulgarian migrants in earlier migration periods (who were born
1
My first field study in 1993 was sponsored by the Open Society Fund. This study was conducted by the
following international team: Prof. Dr. Zdeněk Urban and Prof. Dr. Miriam Moravcová of the Charles University
in Prague, Senior Research Fellow Dr. Katya Mihaylova and Senior Research Fellow Dr. Vladimir Penchev of the
Institute of Folklore of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Velichko Svetoslavov of the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. This field study served as the basis of a co-authored book, see Pobratim 1994.
For my field materials of this study cf. AIF I, № 444.
58
Katya Mihaylova
in Czech lands, but have preserved their Bulgarian consciousness to a large extent), as well
as children of mixed marriages, part of whom have also got Bulgarian consciousness. The
current cultural and anthropological research includes these groups of Czech Bulgarians,
pointing out distinctions between the different generations.
The most-characteristic Bulgarian labour migrants (not only to the Czech lands, in fact)
were Bulgarian gardeners. Their migration to different parts of Europe, such as Austria,
Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, up to Poland (Kraków, Bielsko-Biała, Poznań),
as well as to France (Bordeau), began already in the 18thcentury and expanded in the end of
the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. This migration included mainly young unmarried men, who settled in villages and suburbs near larger towns. They were seasonal migrants – they worked in rented land during spring, summer and autumn months of the year.
In the winter, they returned to Bulgaria in their native regions, where they used the earned
money to support their families, but also made generous donations for improving the quality of life in their villages, for construction of fountains, churches, monasteries, schools,
cultural centers, etc. They became famous with their work associations of gardeners, which
had traditional structure, strict hierarchy and specific organization of work (based on the
principle of collaboration); with their outstanding industriousness; with the hand processing of agricultural products; with the construction of original networks of irrigation canals
that were supplied naturally from rivers and wells; with the fact that they introduced the
production of several new vegetable sorts; with the abundance of their crops; as well as with
the offering their produce for sale at prices much lower than those of the local producers.
First, there came one member of the family, who then attracted his brothers and other male
relatives. In the beginning, Bulgarian gardeners always returned back to their homeland,
but gradually they more frequently chose to remain, rented larger and larger gardens, and
in the end many of them stayed permanently abroad. About their way of life and about their
role for the development of agriculture in different European countries and for the Europeanization of their native villages in Bulgaria, there has been written a lot by Bulgarian and
foreign scholars, that is why, I will not focus much on this specific issue. As in other European countries, in Czech lands too, from the beginning of the 20th century until the Second
Word War the ethnonym ‘Bulgarian’ was viewed as equivalent to ‘gardener.’ After the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the migration of Bulgarian gardeners to this country strongly
increased. The Bulgarian gardeners, who came to the newly created state, were from the
regions of the towns in Northern Bulgaria – Veliko Tarnovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Lovech,
Pleven, Russe, where gardening was well developed since the second half of the 18th century,
and mainly from the village of Draganovo in Gorna Oryahovitsa region, which was famous
with its old and rich gardening tradition. In 1931 for example, in Czechoslovakia the largest
number of Bulgarian vegetable gardens was in Brno – around 20, in all Moravia – 40, in Bohemia – 20, in Slovakia were much more – over 100. In them, more than 300 Bulgarians
worked in Moravia and over 100 in Bohemia, and in all Czechoslovakia, the seasonal Bulgarian gardeners were 1340 people (Moravcová 1990; Moravcova 1994: 64; Bočková &
Pospíšilová 2006: 117–118).
Together with the Bulgarian gardeners, already in the 1860s and 1870s, a new wave of
Bulgarian migrants to Czech lands emerged – that of Bulgarian students. They studied
mainly in the town of Tábor, but soon also in other Czech towns, such as Prague, Hradec
Králové and Pardubice, because of the high level of these Czech universities and the comparatively cheaper education in comparison to the rest of Europe (Kapitoly z minulosti
2005: 37). The interest of Bulgarian and other South Slavic students in studying in Brno appeared mainly after the founding in 1899 of the Czech polytechnics in this city. Czech researchers point out that in the second half of the 1930s the highest number of Bulgarian
students (more than 900) studied in the Czech and German polytechnics in Brno – a tradi-
59
tion that continued also in the first years after the Second World War (in 1948 they were 522).
After 1953, parallel to the decline in Brno polytechnics, the Bulgarian students in Brno were
enrolled mainly in medicine, and this tendency increased particularly in 1960s. With regards to this, researchers emphasize the good practice of ethnic solidarity and mutual help
that existed in the Bulgarian migrant community in Brno – when, after achieving certain
economic wealth, the Bulgarian gardeners provided financial support for the education
of young people from different parts of Bulgaria (Hejl 1990; Bočková & Pospíšilová
2006: 121).2
In 1920s and 1930s, as well as after the Second World War, in Northwestern, Western and
Central Bohemia, there settled producers of confectionery goods and traders of such sweet
products (Otčenášek 1999: 1). They developed very successful activity mainly in centers of
urban life, as was Brno for example.
In the 1940s, at the initiative of Czechoslovakia, transfer of agricultural workers from
Bulgaria to farms in Bohemia and Moravia started. In those post-war years, Czechoslovakia
had large unpopulated areas that were previously inhabited by Sudeten Germans and it
needed work force to develop its agriculture. In contrast, Bulgaria was not harmed very
much by the Second World War, attained experience in agriculture, and had a surplus of
agricultural workers. In 1946 the two countries signed an agreement for sending Bulgarian
farmers in support of Czechoslovak agriculture mainly in the borderline areas, as a result of
which only in two years (1946–1947), 7,000 Bulgarian workers arrived in the country, and
until 1950 their number reached 11,000. (Moravcovа & Svetoslavov 1994: 80-86). Following
an additional agreement, the agricultural workers that arrived in Czechoslovakia in that
period were later directed from villages to industrial centers and from borderline areas to
other regions in the country, including the cities.
As a result of this conscious re-orientation of Bulgarian farmers to industry, there was
soon created a separate stratum of Bulgarian migrants who came to Czechoslovak Republic
mainly in the years of 1948–1950. These were industrial workers who were hired in construction activities, mining and metallurgy. The group of these Bulgarian labour migrants is
more volatile and heterogeneous, but I will not discuss it here, as it is not typical of Brno.
Migrants from this group settled especially in town of Ostrava, Czech Silesia, and its vicinities. In April 1957, yet another agreement for organized labour migration from Bulgaria to
Czechoslovakia was signed. This agreement targeted mainly industrial workers who started
work in the large industrial centers of Moravia and Bohemia.
The Czechoslovak and especially the Bulgarian state considered the labour migration of
agricultural and of industrial workers in 1946–1950 as a temporary, short-term stay of Bulgarians in Czechoslovak territory. Although many people remained to live and work for
longer periods or permanently, most of these labour migrants did return to Bulgaria afterwards. Some of the young people, who arrived within the agricultural agreement, worked
for one year in agriculture, after which they studied in Czech universities, mostly in Brno.
In the end of the 1950 and the beginning of 1951 only 21.13 % of the Bulgarians that had arrived in those five years remained, the large percentage of them having been involved to
work in industry (Moravcovа & Svetoslavov 1994: 85-86). A large part of the industrial
workers who arrived in Czechoslovakia within the agreement of 1957 returned to Bulgaria
one year afterwards.
2
Except for supporting the education of their co-nationals, this had other reasons too – immediately after
the Second World War, Czechoslovakia imposed regulations that limited and prevented the free flow of financial
resources to foreign countries. This touched at the very core the seasonal and long years’ stay of Bulgarian gardeners in Czechoslovakia and that is why the financing of Bulgarian students turned out as a solution in this
situation. Cf. Bočková & Pospíšilová 2006: 121–122.
60
Katya Mihaylova
Since 1957, there has not been organized labour migration of Bulgarian workers to
Czechoslovakia. Between 1960s and 1980s, migration of Bulgarians to Brno and its vicinities
was only at personal initiative and was mainly for educational or family purposes. Here are
meant the so called love migrants (people who emigrated because of love reasons)3 – mainly
men who met their Czech wives at the Bulgarian seaside, entered into so-called beach
marriages,4 and settled in Czechoslovak Republic. Throughout the entire socialist period, the
Bulgarian Black Sea coast was one of the most popular tourist destinations for the countries
of the former socialist camp. Part of the Bulgarian love migrants from the 1960s to the 1980s
comprises also Bulgarians who met their future spouses at university in Brno and settled
also in Czechoslovakia.
After 1990 labour migration of Bulgarians to Czech Republic continued. In contrast to
previous migrants who originated mainly from villages, the economic migrants nowadays
are mainly from cities (Otčenášek 1999: 2-3). They are young and highly educated people,
mostly men, with university education received in Bulgaria – they came to Czech Republic
in search for highly qualified and better paid jobs. After 2000, there started a Bulgarian migrant wave to Brno that involved computer and IT specialists. This was connected with the
opening on 31 May 2001 of the Global Services Delivery Centre (GSDC) of the International
Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in Technological Park in Brno.5 The number of the
Bulgarian specialists that started work in this center has significantly increased since 2005
(Knapková 2010: 9). Some blogs on the Internet offer instructions for newly arriving specialists from Bulgaria – with plentiful details about job application, accommodation, transportation to and within Brno, setting formalities related to the stay, and about everyday life in
Brno (Ivanov 2010). This group of new Bulgarian migrants includes also other highly qualified specialists, who start work in other enterprises and firms in the city. These immigrants
often create families in Czech Republic, by either marrying Czech women or having their
wives and children coming later with them to Czech Republic.
Except for the labour migration of highly educated specialists in Czech Republic (mainly
Prague and Brno) since 1990s, there is also migration of people with low education and even
marginal or criminal profile. Their migration to the Czech Republic is often connected also
with illegal hiring for work. Their presence is reflected negatively in Czech media because
of the car thefts that they often committed in the first half of 1990s. Pick-pocketing is what
made notorious Bulgarian Roma in Prague too. For a period of time, this created a negative
collective image of Bulgarians in Czech Republic and specifically in Brno, thus casting a
shadow to the previous widely spread in Czech society of 1920s and 1930s, and very steady
so far entirely positive image of the industrious Bulgarians – an image that was once created
by the generation of Bulgarian gardeners.
Nowadays the Bulgarian ethnic group comprises social subgroups that differ by occupation and mentality. Nevertheless, the majority of Bulgarian migrants in Brno and its vicinities (and the elderly generation, in particular) form a single ethnocultural community even
though they came from different parts of Bulgaria. The community of Bulgarian immigrants
might be small but it is particularly interesting for cultural anthropologists, because its
members have a strong sense of ethnic and cultural identity.
3
The term is used in the cultural anthropological research of Prof. Urszula Kaczmarek (1993: 87; 2002: 202)
from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, as well as in Bulgarian studies on Polish immigration in Bulgaria
or on Bulgarian immigration in Poland (cf. Michajłowa 2003: 321; 2003а: 115; 2007: 176).
4
The term was introduced for the first time by Ryszard Wolak (1989) and is currently used in Bulgarian
ethnological and cultural anthropological literature to identify this type of Polish, Czech or Slovak immigration
in Bulgaria and of Bulgarian immigration in Poland, Czech Republic or Slovakia. Cf. Michajłowa 2003: 321;
2003а: 115; Penchev 2008: 221–222.
5
Cf. http://www.manpower.cz/en-o-ibm.php/ last accessed on 21 June 2013.
61
From a cultural anthropological perspective, the criteria for an ethnic community, ethnic
group or subgroup are associated with community of mental forms with a specific cultural
content. Notably, however, “culture is a configuration of mental forms, but only insofar as
they are objectified – in language, in rituals, in the objective environment” (Stoyanova-Boneva 1991: 28). The individual identifies with a particular culture – s/he is an exponent and
interpreter of this culture only when s/he is involved in concrete relationships with intercommunicating human groups. In other words, to be an exponent of the culture in question,
the individual must “have the techniques” of preserving his or her culture (Ibid.). Social
psychologists studying Bulgarian ethnic communities in a foreign ethnic environment have
identified several main socio-psychological techniques of preserving the Bulgarian cultural
identity in immigration:
1) Constant interaction between the individual and members of the same culture in the
context of established intra-group relations;
2) Verbal communication – use of the native language within the community;
3) Communication via the specific objective environment (Ibid.).
The latter is particularly important in preserving and reproducing an immigrant’s cultural world of his or her own, and includes everyday lifestyle, food, rituals, etc.
The application of those three principal mechanisms of preserving an immigrant’s culture in a foreign ethnic environment is an indicator of the immigrant’s ethnic identification,
since “ethnicity is conceptualized through culture or through the social-structural dimension of the community” (Balikci & Stojanova-Boneva 1993: 23).
The preservation of the ethnic identity of Bulgarians in Brno and its vicinities depends
foremost on the availability of Bulgarian organizations and centers of communication,
where specific Bulgarian cultural forms can be passed on from one generation to another.
These centers of communication are common for all Bulgarians in Brno regardless of their
occupational or other social status. Here I will regard them as having been constantly present
in the life of the Bulgarian ethnic group, since some of them have died out in the past ten
years. At the place of those that disappeared, new ones have appeared instead. Among the
formal organizations and centers of communication of the Bulgarians in Brno are the Bulgarian Club; the Bulgarian School; the Bulgarian Canteen; the Bulgarian Restaurant; Bulgarian folk dance groups; the Orthodox Church.
The first Bulgarian organization in Brno was Druzhestvo “Sv. Georgi” (St George Association), which was created by Bulgarian gardeners in 1930s. Such gardeners’ associations were
created in different European countries where Bulgarian gardeners did seasonal work. Bulgarian gardeners working abroad were obliged by a law of 1935 to join gardeners’ associations that acted as collective members of the Balgarski gradinarski sayuz (Bulgarian Gardeners’ Union). After the Second World War – in 1945, only in Czechoslovakia, the gardeners’
associations were around 500 with 3800 members (Vassileva 1991: 231). In the Statute of the
Brno Gardeners’ Association, except for the specific gardening issues, there were listed also
educational activities of its members, such as general educational lectures, social and cultural activities, etc. In 1951, however, the activity of the association was forcefully interrupted and its successor became Balgarska kulturno-prosvetna organizatsia “Georgi Dimitrov”
(Georgi Dimitrov Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Association). The latter was created
in 1948, but it did not have professional character and, except for gardeners, it included as
members also the Bulgarian students, the agricultural workers and other Bulgarians (Vassileva 1991: 246; Moravcovа & Svetoslavov 1994: 79-80; Bočková & Pospíšilová 2006:
122–123).
Whereas during the interwar period, special popularity in Brno was attained by Balgarska studentska menza (Bulgarian Students’ Canteen); after the Second World War the key
meeting point for Bulgarian youth was Balgarsko studentsko druzhestvo “Hristo Botev” (Hristo
62
Katya Mihaylova
Botev Bulgarian Students’ Society), which numbered around 400 members in 1947. It supported poor students, developed diverse cultural activities, and initiated the creation of
45-members’ artistic ensemble, which held concerts all around Czechoslovakia (Hejl 1990).
In 1957 Bulharský kulturnĕ osvĕtový klub (Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Club) was
created and it remains today as the longest existing organization of all Bulgarians in Brno
and its vicinities. The Bulgarian Club has played a particularly important role in the preservation of ethnic identity for more than 55 years, as it has constantly reproduced elements of
Bulgarian culture, as well as Bulgarian relationships and core behavioural models. In 1970s
and 1980s, it was the largest club of Bulgarians in Czechoslovakia and it was located in the
spacious hall on 9 Česká Street. In 1990s it possessed one of the biggest libraries of Bulgarian
writers in Czechoslovakia (over 1500 volumes), Bulgarian films were screened there, concerts of Bulgarian performers were held, and folklore groups from Bulgaria paid guest visits. Its activity was supported financially by the Municipality of Brno and the Regional
Government of Southern Moravian district. Bulgarians gather in the club both for holidays
and for various family and other everyday reasons.6 The need of a Bulgarian Club is explained by respondents as follows: “[…] when a Bulgarian dies, there’s no way we Bulgarians could gather and give him at least a decent funeral” (Penchev & Mihaylova 1994: 268).
The milieu in the Bulgarian Club, as well as in the other Bulgarian centers of communication, is also psychologically necessary for the adequate self-identification of Czech
Bulgarians.
The amateur art companies at the Bulgarian Club – choirs (large and small) and a literary
workshop – were very much alive in the 1980s and 1990s and played a special role in the
reproduction of Bulgarian cultural forms. The parties and balls usually organized by the
Hristo Botev Bulgarian Society on Bulgarian official holidays were other centers of communication. The female and male ‘working bees’ in the Bulgarian Club were a very popular
form of cultural communication among Bulgarians in Brno until 2000. They were held from
October well until summer. The women met in the Club every other Thursday and the men
– every other Friday.
Due to financial reasons, the Bulgarian Club was pressed first to leave its spacious building in 1997 and to hold its meetings in the little pub called Ropotamo (bearing the name of
a river in Bulgaria) on 17 Srbská Street, and in 2002 its existence was cancelled. At its place,
on 22 February 2002 a new organization was founded – Bulharské Kulturnĕ Osvĕtové Sdružení
(Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Society), which was registered officially on 19 November 2002.7 The organization continued the tradition of the Bulgarian Club to organize different cultural events with the ambition to bring Bulgarians together and to maintain their
ethnocultural identity. So far, the Club does not have a building of its own, but by tradition
Bulgarians continue to hold regular meetings – every Wednesday at the local confectionary
U Rudolfa (Rudolf’s confectionary), and on official Bulgarian holidays they organize festive
dinners at hotel Kozák (Cossack) in the city.
The groups for folk dances have been particularly popular among Bulgarians after 2000.
In 2001, a folk dance group Kytka (Bunch of Flowers) was created at the Bulgarian Cultural
and Educational Society and it started organizing courses for folk dances. The group soon
became very popular and it took part in various festivities, celebrations, and festivals in the
town, in Southern Moravia, and in all Czech Republic. The other also very popular group
for Bulgarian folk dances, named Pirin,8 functions as affiliated with the other association of
6
Cf. http://www.bkos.cz/last accessed 20 April 2013 (in Czech).
http://www.bkos.cz/ last accessed 27 May 2013 (in Czech).
8
Pirin is the name of a high mountain in South-West Bulgaria.
7
63
Bulgarians in Brno that bears the same name.9 It also organizes seminars for Bulgarian folk
dances (open already for the wide public in the town) and delivers concerts around the
Czech Republic, as well as at festivals abroad (Bulharská 2006).10 Folklore has always been
an important factor of self-identification for Bulgarians abroad. In recent years, both in Bulgaria and among Bulgarians outside the country, one can observe a sharp increase in the
number of newly created clubs for folk dances as sites enabling the preservation of Bulgarian traditions.
Language has also been an important identification factor for ethnic groups in foreign
environment. Most Bulgarian do their best to maintain their native language, by practicing it
mainly with fellow nationals during the meetings at the Bulgarian Cultural and Educational
Society, in the clubs for folk dances, at informal meetings with friends and peers, or with relatives in Bulgaria. In their families – if the two spouses are Bulgarians, they speak Bulgarian,
and in the cases of mixed marriages, the main language is Czech, although there are numerous cases when the Czech wife learns and speaks Bulgarian fluently (Knapková 2010: 19, 30).
The children of mixed marriages speak mainly Czech, but if the mother is Bulgarian, she usually speaks to them in Bulgarian and does her best that they learn at least the basic vocabulary
in Bulgarian too. A Bulgarian School has existed in Prague since 1948. In recent years, the
Bulgarians in Brno strongly aspired to have such an institution in their city and in 2012 they
declared an initiative to open Balgarsko nedelno uchilishte (Bulgarian Sunday School). At present,
the school has a webpage on Facebook and it gathers pupils for the following school year.
The Bulgarians in Brno also gather together on an informal basis, in most cases in groups
of friends. Those groups were very popular in the 1990s and were known by comic names
such as Balkan (the Group of those that originate from the Balkan mountain), and Grupata na
Sharo (Sharo’s Group, i.e. the Group of dog-owners). They were formed on the basis of members’ origin – by geographical region. For instance, the Balkan Group was made up mostly
of people from towns of Lovech and Pleven, even though there were odd members from
Burgas and Sofia too. Another group has been formed on the basis of the proximity of weekend houses and gardens in the vicinities of Brno; a third, on the basis of the performance of
particular household chores (e.g. preparing pickles and winter preserves), etc.
The Bulgarians in Brno manifest their ethnicity in their everyday culture too: in their
diet, choice of food, leisure, entertainment, relationships with family members and other
behavioural models (the typical Bulgarian hospitality, openness, close relations between
neighbours, etc.). A frequent identification marker for Bulgarians abroad is the practice of
identifying themselves with a Bulgarian football or other sports team at international matches, including such between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic (Knapková 2010: 31). All this
refers to what anthropologists call primary, primordial character of ethnic solidarity, or even
– as ethnicity’s innate nature (Schneider 1976: 197-220). Whilst for the older generation of
Bulgarian migrants, ethnicity is a conscious and rational feeling, for the younger generation
of people – born in Czech Republic, this is usually an unconscious, intuitive and irrational
“primary sense” (Balikci & Stoyanova-Boneva 1993: 25, see also De Vos 1983: 90-113).
The Bulgarian Cultural and Educational Society organizes also Obchod s balkánskými specialitami (Market with Balkan Specialties) for Czech citizens.11 Parallel to folklore, cuisine is
another significant identification marker for Bulgarians abroad – the Bulgarians in Brno
have a Bulgarian restaurant named Varna and organize a regular Bulgarian culinary evening
there for all fellow nationals and for their Czech relatives and friends.12 At home Bulgarian
http://www.pirin.cz/ last accessed 20 April 2013 (in Czech).
Cf. also http://www.aba.government.org.bg/?country=79/ last accessed 23 April 2013 (in Bulgarian).
11
Cf. details in: http://www.bkos.cz/last accessed 20 April 2013 (in Czech).
9
10
12
Cf. Minulé akce [Past Events], http://www.bkos.cz/ last accessed 20 April 2013 (in Czech).
64
Katya Mihaylova
women cook almost exclusively Bulgarian dishes – stuffed peppers, musaka (stewed potatoes and minced meat with yoghourt and egg covering), banitsa (pastry with cheese, spinach
or other filling). They learn to cook Czech meals too, but they prepare them in some kind of
Bulgarian way. They supply themselves with aromatic spices from Bulgaria, such as chubritsa (savory) or samardala. Some of the Bulgarians regularly bring to the Czech Republic Bulgarian sheep cheese, sunflower oil, brandy and wine from their home country (Knapková
2010: 28, 37). All Czech Bulgarians give advantage to Bulgarian cuisine in comparison to the
Czech one, because of the use of much more vegetables and of stronger spices. Preparing
Bulgarian dishes can be observed among Bulgarian men in Czech Republic too – something
that they rarely did in their home country. In fact, this is a characteristic moment with other
Bulgarian men who are immigrants abroad.
The objects of everyday life and in the household are also markers of ethnic and cultural
identity. In the houses of Bulgarians in Brno, one can always see some objects from Bulgaria
– wooden poker-work souvenirs, tablecloths with Bulgarian embroidery, or colourful Bulgarian ceramics (Knapková 2010: 25). As a rule, almost every Bulgarian home has books and
journals from Bulgaria.
The most typical manifestations of Bulgarian ethnicity in the Czech ethnic environment
are to be found in Bulgarian festive culture. Viewed as a cultural fact, feasts and festivals
have very rich cultural connotations, and offer insights into behaviour models, mentality
and ethnopsychology. They have become an expression and symbol of Bulgarian ethnicity.
Indicatively, the Bulgarians in Brno celebrate regularly the official Bulgarian holidays: Bulgaria’s Liberation from Ottoman rule (March 3);13 the anniversary of the hanging of the national hero Vassil Levski, known also as ‘Apostle of Liberty’ (February 19);14 the anniversary
of Hristo Botev’s death (June 2).15 These holidays are celebrated in the Bulgarian Club and
with recitals of poems by poets Hristo Botev and Ivan Vazov, and National Revival songs.
13
On 3 March 1876 a contract between the Russian and the Ottoman Empires was signed in San Stefano
(nowadays, the neighbourhood Yeşilkyoy – 10 km away from the historical center of Istanbul). The contract put
an end to the Russian-Ottoman War of 1877–1878 and regulated, albeit temporarily, the formation of the Third
Bulgarian State after almost five centuries of Ottoman rule in Bulgarian lands. With a decision of the National
Assembly in 1990, the date 3 March was declared a national holiday of Bulgaria.
14
Vassil Levski (1837–1873) – pseudonym (Levski derives from the Bulgarian word for ‘lion’) of Vassil
Ivanov Kunchev, a revolutionary, ideologue and creator in 1869 of the Balgarski revolyutsionen tsentralen komitet
(Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee) for the preparation of a national uprising against the Ottoman
rule. He was named as ‘Apostle of Liberty’ due to the organization and working out of the strategy of the
Bulgarian national revolution for the liberation of Bulgaria. Levski promoted the idea of ‘clear and sacred
republic,’ in which all people would have equal rights, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation. He was
captured by the Turks, sentenced to death and hanged on 6 February 1873 (18 February, according to the new
Gregorian calendar). Levski is venerated as a national hero. In 2007, after a national inquiry organized by the
Bulgarian National TV, he was outlined as the first one on the list of the greatest Bulgarians of all times.
15
Hristo Botev (1848–1876) – a revolutionary, poet, publicist, journalist, and translator, born in Kalofer and
one of the Bulgarian national heroes. He continued the deed of Vassil Levski and headed the Bulgarian
Revolutionary Central Committee that was created by the latter. Botev supported the idea of the revolution as
the only radical means of solving the national question during the Ottoman rule in Bulgarian lands. His poetry
is considered as an apogee of the Bulgarian poetry of the National Revival period (18th – 19th century), and his
publicist heritage offers an outlined version of Bulgarian national mentality and philosophy. His works have
been translated in many languages. In 1876 Botev organized an armed group consisting of Bulgarian emigrants
abroad, which aimed to support the uprising against the Ottoman rule that was planed to take place in April.
The rebels under Botev’s leadership overtook the Austrian passenger steamship Radetsky and landed on the
Bulgarian side of the Danube River near the village of Kozloduy. They had uneven fights with the Ottoman
army, during which on 2 June (new calendar) Hristo Botev was killed. Every year, the date of 2 June is
commemorated soberly in memory of Hristo Botev and the members of his troop, as well as in memory of all
who died for the freedom and independence of Bulgaria.
65
Outlined festivity surrounds the celebration of May 24 – the Day of Sts Cyril and Methodius,
of Bulgarian education, culture and the Slavonic script.16 Тhe Bulgarian Club is sometimes
decorated with flowers and posters, just as the Bulgarians in Bulgaria once decorated their
schools back home. Last but not least, there are the regular May 24 trips to Mikulčice,17
a place associated with Sts Cyril and Methodius, where Bulgarians from the Bulgarian clubs
in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Romania meet on that day. Particularly
festive was the celebration in 2013, when there was noted 1150 years after the arrival to
Great Moravia of Sts Cyril and Methodius, declared by Pope John Paul II as co-patrons of
Europe.18
Of the calendar feasts, the typical Bulgarian folk festivals remain the most important
ones — Baba Marta (March 1), Gergyovden (St George’s Day, May 6) and Trifon Zarezan
(St Tryphon’s Day, February 14), which are not typical of Czech folk culture. Following an
ancient Bulgarian custom, on the Day of Baba Marta, relatives and friends exchange the so
called martenitsa – a small decoration prepared of white and red woolen or cotton threads,
which is hung on the lapel or is tied at the hand, as well as is put on the necks of livestock
and animals in the house. The white colour symbolizes beauty and happiness, and the red
colour – health and vitality. By tradition, martenitsas are prepared by the eldest woman in
the family. Nowadays, Bulgarians abroad often receive martenitsas from relatives in Bulgaria. Martenitsa became a symbol of Bulgarian identity for many Bulgarians living abroad.
Around the world, one can recently observe the decoration of trees that Bulgarians do with
the red and white symbol on March 1. According to old beliefs, martenitsa has to be worn
until the arrival of the first stork that is perceived as a herald of spring. Then martenitsa is
tied at a blossoming fruit tree or is placed under a stone. A month after this, people can make
foretelling about the future – if an ant-hill has appeared under the stone, there would be
fertility throughout the year. The Bulgarian Culture and Educational Society in Brno organizes a celebration for children, at which a woman masked as Baba Marta (Granny Marta)
ties martenitsas around their wrists as a symbol against ‘evil eye’ or bad omen. Gergyovden is
celebrated in Bulgaria as a Day of the sheep and is a holiday of shepherds, farmers, and
agricultual workers. For this feast day, in Bulgarian villages, people decorate the fences and
16
The Day of Sts Cyril and Methodius, creators of the Slavic script, is celebrated as a church and secular holiday all around the Bulgarian lands on 11 May (according to the Julian calendar) until 1916. With the introduction
in 1916 of the Gregorian calendar this holiday – noted by both church and state – was celebrated on 24 May.
After 1969 there was carried out an artificial secularization through the separation of the church liturgic and
official state calendar, that is why today there are two holidays – a church one on 11 May, and a secular one on
24 May. The secular holiday on 24 May is a holdiay of the Bulgarian education and culture and the Slavic
alphabet. It has been celebrated ever since the 1850s during the Bulgarian National Revival, and it was declared
as an official holiday of Bulgaria with a decision of the National Assembly on 30 March 1990.
17
Mikulčice is a municipality in the Czech Republic, situated 7 km south of Hodonín, near the Slovak border. From the sixth until the tenth century, a Slavic fortified settlement existed 3 km away from the modern village. The settlement was one of the main centers of the Great Moravian Empire, plausibly its capital city. In the
9th century, the head of the church in Great Moravia was the archbishop St Methodius, who held religious
services in the Slavic language. Remains from buildings and temples, as well as of what is believed as the main
Great Moravian church of Byzantine type are still preserved from those times. According to one of the hypotheses
– supported by his vitae and by contemporary archaeological excavations in Mikulčice, St Methodius was buried
in the Great Moravian cathedral after his death in 885. In 1972, the Bulgarian State placed a memorial plaque and
in 2009 it unveiled a monument to Sts Cyril and Methodius there. For many years on, Bulgarians from
Czechoslovakia gather here on 24 May, and since 2007, a Festive meeting has been held for Bulgarians in Central
Europe, where Bulgarian people from the Czech Republic and its neighbouring countries pay visits. At the
meeting, a liturgy for Sts Cyril and Methodius and a cultural program is held, which is attended by representatives
of the religious and secular institutions in Bulgaria and in the Czech Republic.
18
See http://www.bkos.cz/ Mikulčice 2013/ last accessed 27 June 2013 (in Czech).
66
Katya Mihaylova
the gates of their houses, as well as the livestock with green branches and wild geranium; a
lamb is sacrificed; and in the past, young men used to tie swings at the trees in the morning
and swang the maidens for health. Then there were made large round dances, so called horo,
in the center of the village. By tradition, Bulgarians in Brno nowadays gather together for a
festive lunch with lamb meal. Back into the past, the gardeners in the vicinities of Brno observed the tradition for decorating the fences with greenery and going out to the meadows
early in the morning to wash with dew for health – customs that were regarded with astonishment by Czech neighbours. Swinging with swings was also observed until 1940s (Mihaylova 1994: 116). Trifon Zarezan is a holiday of the vine-growers, wine-makers, inn-keepers, and gardeners – on this day in Bulgaria was held a ritual of ‘cutting’ the vines. Every
vine-grower went to his vineyard, turned to the sunrise and made a cross three times. Then
he cut three branches from a vine, poured the place with red wine and sprinkled ash that
had been preserved from the fireplace on Christmas Eve. The vines were sprinkled with
holy water and were blessed for fertility and prosperity. A ‘King of Vineyards’ was chosen
for the respective year – usually a wealthy man. After that a common feast was made in the
vineyard or in his house. In Moravia, the Bulgarian gardeners also ‘cut’ the vines and poured
them with vine, but in recent years the feast is very rarely celebrated (Mihaylova 1997: 53).
The narratives of elderly Bulgarian gardeners from the 1990s show that Christmas and
Easter were usually celebrated in both the Bulgarian and the Czech tradition – with mixed
Bulgarian and Czech ritual practices. The changes that occurred in the calendar rituals were
related mainly to differences in the religious affiliation and in the ritual food. The changes
were largely conditioned by the family milieu of the migrants. Women gardeners that migrated from the village of Draganovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa region, explained that in the first
years of their migration to Moravia they celebrated Christmas (Koleda) following the old
Julian calendar (January 7), by preparing a feast table for Christmas Eve (Badni vecher) including meatless food entirely in accordance to the Bulgarian tradition: bean soup, stuffed
vine leaves, boiled dried fruit, etc. Later, when their Moravia-born children grew up, they
started celebrating also the Catholic Christmas in Czech tradition – with fish soup, fried fish,
and potato salad. They explained that in such a way: “It was not considered very appropriate to celebrate differently, as, you see, children had vacation for the Czech Christmas” (Mihaylova 1997: 52). In the past, as well as nowadays, on Christmas Eve both in Bulgarian
families and in mixed Bulgarian-Czech marriages, a special pastry with wishes (banitsa s
kasmeti) is being prepared according to the Bulgarian tradition – on pieces of paper people
write different wishes, which they put in the pastry and after cutting it in pieces they watch
who gets what wish – this is considered to be the luck of the person for the whole year that
follows. In some families, people put a whole coin in the pastry, so that to have more money
over the year (Knapková 2010: 28).
An even greater blending of customs is observed in the celebrations of Easter (Velikden).
For instance, Easter is celebrated in 1990s in Brno in the following Bulgarian-Czech manner:
they go to church on the Orthodox Easter, and celebrate the Czech Easter at home with Bulgarian Easter cake (kozunak) and the Bulgarian custom of cracking coloured eggs, but with
the Czech Easter custom of mrskání on Easter Monday which corresponds to the Bulgarian
New Year custom of survakane19 (Mihaylova 1994: 115-116). The coloring of eggs takes place
19
Survakane – a custom, which is performed by boys at the age of 4 to 12 years or by unmarried men. The
custom takes place early in the morning on the first day of the New Year, the so-called Surva. The participants go
around the houses and beat symbolically at the back all members of the family, by pronouncing spell-like formulae and wishes, and bless them for health and happiness. The symbolic beats are done with a specially made
survachka – a cornel stick, at whose end there are tied colourful ribbons, popcorns and dried fruit. Each person in
the house is pronounced a different blessing.
67
only for the Catholic Easter, because “children come only on the Czech Easter. We celebrate
it with them, you cannot separate yourself. Personally, I am closely linked with Czech people […]. Well, we became mixed and that is how we celebrate – half in the Czech way and
half in Bulgarian” (Mihaylova 1997: 52-53).
Over the last years, Bulgarians in Brno gather regularly in the Bulgarian Culture and
Educational Society for the Orthodox holiday Nikulden (St Nicholas’ Day, December 6) and
they note it ‘publicly’ with a festive evening including folklore program and a Bulgarian
traditional dinner in the restaurant of the local hotel Slovan (Slav).20 Nikulden is an important
holiday in Bulgarian folk ritual year and is celebrated differently from the Czech Svatý Mikuláš and generally from the Catholic St Nicholas. In Bulgaria, for the feast table it is obligatory to prepare carp that is stuffed with nuts. In Czech Republic this tradition is observed
nowadays by few Bulgarians, but generally all of them try to eat fish and something meatless on this day. Often fish is cooked in the Czech way. The Catholic tradition of giving gifts
to children on St Nicholas is not known in Bulgaria, but it is practiced in the mixed Bulgarian-Czech families.
As noted above, ethnicity is manifested through culture, and we should therefore identify the cultural content reproduced by the Bulgarian immigrants in Brno through the cultural themes that are topical among them. According to M. E. Opler, one of the most vehement supporters of the themes’ concept, themes are cultural ideals which control behaviour
or stimulate certain kinds of activity (1945: 198–206). Citing the different interpretations of
the term in cultural anthropology, B. Stoyanova-Boneva modifies it a bit in her ethnopsychological study Americans in the Bulgarian Way, or Bulgarians in the American Way (1991), by interpreting themes in the context of the historical and social facts in migrants’ lives. Such an
approach is particularly effective in the case of the cultural themes typical among Bulgarians
in the Czech ethnic environment.
The main themes of the Bulgarian ethnic community in Brno are reproduced in conversation, but also in oral folk genres such as proverbs, sayings and anecdotes at celebrations
and other parties, as well as in various everyday objects and activities. The main themes are
usually from several universal spheres of public life – culture, religion, economy, or the
sphere of Bulgarian history and the individual’s past in the homeland. The image of the
home town or village, complete with Bulgarian realia, is a particularly recurrent theme.
In this respect, we should draw a distinction between the first, oldest generation of immigrants (especially the gardeners), on the one hand, and the second and third generations,
on the other. First-generation Bulgarian gardeners, who migrated to Brno and its vicinities
in the 1920s and 1930s, are an ethnically consolidated and endogamous, insular group which
has preserved its cultural specificity. As M. Moravcova notes in her studies of Bulgarian
gardeners on Czech lands, they regard their sojourn there as temporary and deliberately
refuse to adapt – they withdraw within their own group and national traditions, and preserve their language, lifestyle, rituals, everyday way of life, diet, way of work, work relations (1990: 111-153; 1994: 61-75). They do not intermarry with Czechs, even though quite a
few of them have eventually settled in the Czech Republic. The most commonplace theme
here is that of the native village and native traditions. This applies particularly to the gardeners from the village of Draganovo, near the town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, who outnumber
the other Bulgarian gardeners in Brno and on Czech territory in general. The way of life,
work, customs, holidays, relations with family and fellow villagers in Bulgaria — this is the
microcosm which each immigrant from Draganovo preserves in the Czech Republic, the
model of reproduction in a Czech ethnic environment too. Draganovo is present in the “epi-
20
http://www.bkos.cz/ Nikuldenska večerinka 2012/ last accessed 27 June 2013 (in Czech).
68
Katya Mihaylova
sodic memory” of immigrant gardeners with its fields, its farming school, its chitalishte (community culture club) and parties, the two village churches, the big festival on St Elija’s Day
when gardeners working in Slovakia, Bohemia, Hungary and Germany would gather in
their native village, with the working bees, horo chain folk dances and songs, the swings on
St George’s Day, the partying and serenades (Penchev & Mihaylova 1994: 233-235). The
above mentioned and the other main themes have a specific cultural content and as lasting
ideals, beliefs or values serve as a consolidating factor for this type of Bulgarian immigrants
in Brno. During my first fieldwork research in Moravia in 1993, this generation was presented already with many of its members, who were also my main respondents. Now in
2013 almost no representative has remained of this most elderly generation of Bulgarian
migrants, but mainly their children and grandchildren, some of whom have also inherited
the gardening profession in the past.
The situation is somewhat similar in the case of the agricultural workers who arrived
between 1946 and 1950. While living and working in Czechoslovakia, they too have had a
rather isolated way of life and have preserved their specific ethnic identity.
In the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, Bulgarian producers and dealers of confectionery goods in
Brno and other Czech towns also comprised a distinct professional group with specific cultural, social and local features. Contrary to the gardeners, however, they settled with their
whole families in Czech lands, founded virtual professional ‘dynasties’ and developed business not in the outskirts, but in the very centre of towns (Moravcova & Svetoslavov 1994:
78). Only few representatives of this generation of Bulgarian migrants have remained until
nowadays.
I am particularly interested in individual emigration between 1960s and 1980s – part of
the Bulgarian engineering, medical and film students who settled in the country upon
graduation. They, as well as most children of immigrants from the older generation, have
been undergoing what M. Moravcova calls an “ethnic metamorphosis” (1994а: 91). As a result of permanent masculinization (the 1991 census found that 64 per cents of the Bulgarian
ethnic community were males) more recent immigrants intermarried and subsequently
brought up their children as Czechs. Yet the second- and third-generation descendants of
pure Bulgarian families have also undergone the same ethnic metamorphosis as field studies conducted in 1993 established.
In this case, we should consider the psychological aspects of ethnic identity and examine
the psychological adjustment in the course of individual mobility from one culture to another, or we should see “what’s going on in people’s minds.” To quote a Bulgarian from Brno
(a doctor born in Brno in 1946, who took his degree in medicine in the Czech Republic): “[…]
My heart is Bulgarian, I’ve been brought up as a Bulgarian and will die a Bulgarian – there’s
no doubt about that. But from a pragmatic point of view I grew up here in the Czechoslovak
Republic, I started a family here, that’s my ‘home,’ so to speak, and my ties with Bulgaria
have been minimized. It is clear that some day my children will be wholly assimilated and
that will be it… That’s how I bring them up, I tell them: ‘You’re half Bulgarian, but you live
here, in the Czech Republic’” (Penchev & Mihaylova 1994: 256–257).
In the past twenty years, there have been processes of acculturation among the younger
and the youngest generation of Bulgarians, who were born in Bulgarian or in mixed families
in Brno (as well as in the other cities in the Czech Republic). Bulgarian holidays are observed
only if the young people are with their parents; otherwise those holidays are not observed
and are forgotten. Czech holidays, however, are celebrated regularly. Born and brought up
in the Czech Republic, with Czech friends and spouses, this generation of Czech Bulgarians
is less and less fluent in Bulgarian and has been increasingly adopting Czech culture, Czech
food and Czech behavioural models. From the first stage of acculturation, the cultural
change is gradually evolving into the second stage — cultural diffusion (Redfield, Linton &
69
Herkovits 1936: 149-152). If the symbols of Bulgarian identity (national holidays), of Bulgarian nationalism (the anniversaries of Vassil Levski and Hristo Botev) and of Bulgarian lifestyle have been a consolidating factor of ethnic and cultural identity for the older generation
of Bulgarian immigrants in Brno (especially until the 1990s), for a part of the youngest generation of Czech Bulgarians who were born in Czech Republic, there comes forth a conscious or unconscious forgetting of the Bulgarian identity. The third generation is often entirely identified with the Czech nationality, although it searches for and is interested in its
Bulgarian roots (Avramová 2009: 3).
The new labour migrants after 1990 and especially after 2000, who were born and received their education in Bulgaria as computer specialists, have quickly adjusted to the conditions of life and work in Czech Republic. The tendency of the prevalence of men to women
among these migrants is preserved. Although most of them are inclined to maintain their
Bulgarian traditions, they integrate most quickly to the Czech society, without getting assimilated. The majority remain ‘citizens of the world’ – some of them do not learn even
Czech language, as their work is in international companies and does not require this language skill. Some of them use the experience of their work in foreign firms in Brno as a
‘plunge-board’ for further possibility to work in countries of Western Europe or USA.
The cultural anthropological and social psychological study of Bulgarians in Brno provides rich information about their ethnic identity, since the latter is reproduced and may be
preserved only within and through the group, through group relations. That is why this
paper focused on the organizations of the Bulgarian community in Brno, on the behavioral
models in the community’s everyday and festive culture, and on some ethnopsychological
changes under way among the youngest generation of Czech Bulgarians.
Bibliography
AIF – Archive of Institute of Folklore of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Avramová Lucie (2009), Imigrace Bulharů do Čech [Emigration of Bulgarians to Czech Lands],
“AntropoWebzin” 2-3, pp. 3–12 (in Czech).
Balikci Asen & Stojanova-Boneva Bonka (1993), Balkanski biznesmeni v Kanada (Balgaromakedonskata etnicheska grupa v Toronto kam sredata na veka) [Balkan Businessmen in Canada (Bulgarian-Macedonian Ethnic Group in Toronto around Mid-twentieth Century)], Sofia:
LIK (in Bulgarian).
Bočková Helena & Pospíšilová Jana (2006), Bulhaři v Brně: Proměny profesní a etnické minority [Bulgarians in Brno – Changes of the Professional and Ethnic], “Český lid” 93, No. 2,
pp. 126–130 (in Czech).
Bulharská (2006), Bulharská národnostní menšina [Bulgarian Ethnic Minority] in: Vláda České
republiky, Národnostní menšiny, 11.04.2006, http://www.vlada.cz/scripts/detail.php?
id=16103/last accessed 22 April 2013 (in Czech).
De Vos George A. (1983), Ethnic Identity and Minority Status: Some Psycho-Cultural Considerations in: A. Jacobson-Widding (ed.) Identity: Personal and Socio-Cultural, Uppsala:
Academiae Upsaliensis, pp. 90–113.
Georgieva Rumyana (2011), Bulhaři v Čechách. Kulturní charakteristiky, imigrační proces
a společenská integrace v současné době [Bulgarians in Czech Lands: Cultural Characteristics,
Integration Processes and Social Integration Nowadays], Praha: Fakulta humanitních studií
Univerzity Karlovy (in Czech).
Hejl František (1990), Bulharští studenti na brnĕnských vysokých školách po roce 1945 [Bulgarian Students in Brno Universities after 1945] in: S. Bartůšková (ed.), Československo-bulharské kulturní vztahy. Tradice a perspektivy bádání. Brno: Ústav slavistiky ČSAV, pp.
359–374 (in Czech).
Ivanov Asen (2010), Bez panika ili kratak narachnik na inostranetsa v Barno [No Panic, or a
Short Guide for Foreigners in Brno], http://bystrc.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-post.html/
last accessed 20 April 2013 (in Bulgarian).
70
Katya Mihaylova
Kaczmarek Urszula (1993), Dzieje Polaków na ziemiach bułgarskich [History of Poles in Bulgarian Lands], Poznań: ARS NOVA (in Polish).
Kaczmarek Urszula (2002), Spod znaku Warneńczyka [Under the Sign of Warneńczyk],
Poznań: ARS NOVA (in Polish).
Kapitoly z minulosti (2005), Kapitoly z minulosti česko-bulharských kulturních vztahů. Antologie komentovaných textů. První část. Od nejstarších dob do osvobození Bulharska z osmanské nadvlády roku 1878 [Pages from the Past of Czech-Bulgarian Cultural Ties. An Anthology
of Texts and Commentaries. First Part: From Old Times till the Liberation of Bulgaria from
Ottoman Rule in 1878], eds. M. Manolova-Motejlová, E. Mandažieva et al., in collaboration with D. Hronková, Praha–Sofia: Avangard Prima (in Czech).
Knapková Kristýna (2010), Bulhaři v Brně. Sonda do životních příběhů imigrantů a jejich potomků [Bulgarians in Brno – a Preliminary Study of Life Histories of Immigrants and their
Descendants], Bakalářská diplomová práce, Vedoucí práce Roman Doušek, Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Filozofická fakulta, Ústav evropské etnologie, is.muni.cz/th/264122/
ff_b/ last accessed 20 June 2013 (in Czech).
Michajłowa Katia (2003),“Mała ojczyzna to my” czyli o tożsamości etnicznej i kulturowej Polaków w Bułgarii [“The Little Fatherland: that’s Us” or on the Ethnic and Cultural Identity of
Poles in Bulgaria] in: Ich małe ojczyzny – lokalność, korzenie i tożsamość w warunkach przemian, ed. M. Trojan, Wrocław: Uniwersytet Wrocławski, Katedra Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej, pp. 321–330 (in Polish).
Michajłowa Katia (2003a), Pewne cechy polskiego stereotypu Bułgara [Some Aspects of the
Polish Stereotype of a Bulgarian], “Etnolingwistyka. Problemy języka i kultury” 15,
pp. 111–127 (in Polish).
Michajłowa Katia (2007), Opozycja ‘swój/obcy’ w krztałtowaniu stereotypu Polaka wśród Bułgarów zamieszkałych w Polsce [The Opposition “Us–Them” in Shaping the Stereotype of Poles
among Poland-based Bulgarians], “Etnolingwistyka. Problemy języka i kultury” 19,
pp. 175–190 (in Polish).
Mihaylova Katya (1994), Folklor na balgarskite gradinari v Chehia [Folklore of Bulgarian Gardeners in Czech Lands], “Balgarski folklor” 20, No. 1, pp. 115–116 (in Bulgarian).
Mihaylova Katya (1997), Za praznuvaneto na nyakoi kalendarni obichai ot balgarskite gradinari
v Chehia [About the Celebration of Some Calendar Customs by Bulgarian Gardeners in Czech
Lands] in: Práce z dějin slavistiky a česko-jinoslovanských vztahů, t. 18, vĕd. red. L. Řeháček
& Z. Urban, Praha: Univerzita Karlova, pp. 49-54 (in Bulgarian).
Moravcová Miriam (1990), Počátky působení bulharských zahradníků v českých zemích [The
Beginning of the Activities of Bulgarian Gardeners in Czech Lands], “Les Études Balkaniques Tschécoslovaques” 8, pp. 111–153 (in Czech).
Moravcova Miriam (1994), Probivat na balgarskite gradinari [The Break-Through of Bulgarian
Gardeners] in: Pobratim, Balgari po cheshkite zemi, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv.
Kliment Ohridski”, pp. 61–75 (in Bulgarian).
Moravcova Miriam (1994a), Bаlgarite dnes [Bulgarians Nowadays] in: Pobratim, Balgari po
cheshkite zemi, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, pp. 89–113 (in
Bulgarian).
Moravcovа Miriam & Svetoslavov Velichko (1994), Sreshti-nesreshti ili nemili i nedragi
[Meetings and Non-Meetings, or Homeless and Friendless] in: Pobratim, Balgari po cheshkite
zemi, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, pp. 77–88 (in Bulgarian).
Opler Morris Edward (1945), Themes as Dynamic Forces in Culture, “American Journal of
Sociology” 51 (3), pp. 198-206.
Otčenášek Jaroslav (1999), Imigranti z Bulharska v ČR (po roce 1990) [Immigrants from Bulgaria to the Czech Republic (after 1990)], Praha: Výzkumná zpráva Ministerstva vnitra ČR
(in Czech).
Penchev Vladimir (2008), Etnokulturna identichnost na etnichnite obshnosti v drugoetnichna
sreda (Bulgari v Slovakia i slovatsi v Bulgaria) [Ethnocultural Identity of Ethnic Communities
in Foreign Ethnic Environment (Bulgarians in Slovakia and Slovaks in Bulgaria)] in: Slavyanska filologia, Vol. 24, Dokladi i statii za XIV kongres na slavistite, eds.: T. Boyadzhiev,
S. Nikolova, P. Karagyozov, R. Kuncheva, V. Balevski, Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo
“Prof. Marin Drinov”, pp. 218–231 (in Bulgarian).
71
Penchev Vladimir & Mihaylova Katya (1994), Epizodichnata pamet na zaselnitsite [The Episodic Memory of the Immigrants] in: Pobratim, Balgari po cheshkite zemi, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, pp. 225–337 (in Bulgarian).
Penčev Vladimír (2006), Sociálněpsychologické pohnutky k emigraci v období přechodu (čtyřícátá a devadesátá léta XX. století) aneb О „českých” Bulharech [Social-Psychological Views on
Emigration in Periods of Transition (1940s and 1990s), or about the “Czech” Bulgarians] in:
L. Lenk, M. Svoboda, M. Jakoubek, K. Kučerová (eds.), Argonauti za obzorem západu,
Plzeň: Vydavatelství a nakladatelství Vlasty Králové, pp. 173–176 (in Czech).
Pobratim (1994), Balgari po cheshkite zemi [Bulgarians in Czech Lands], co-authored by: Miriam Moravcova, Zdenek Urban, Katya Mihaylova, Vladimir Penchev, Velichko Svetoslavov, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Pospíšilová Jana & Fischer Gero (2004), Nástin etnické situace v Brnĕ po roce 1989 [An Overview of the Ethnic Situation in Brno after 1989] in: D. Luther & P. Salner (eds.), Menšiny
v meste. Premeny etnických a náboženských identít v 20. storočí, Bratislava: Ústav etnológie
SAV, pp. 115-132 (in Czech).
Redfield Robert, Linton Ralph & Herkovits Melville J. (1936), Memorandum for the Study of
Acculturation, “American Anthropologist” 38, pp. 149-152.
Schneider David M. (1976), Notes toward a Theory of Culture in: K. H. Basso & H. A. Selby
(eds.) Meaning in Anthropology, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,
pp. 197–220.
Sčítání (2003), Sčítání lidu, bytů a domů 2001. Okres Brno-mĕsto [Census of the Population,
Houses and Households 2001. Brno District], Praha: Český statistický úřad (in Czech).
Sčítání (2011), Výsledky sčítání lidu, domů a bytů 2011. Jihomoravský kraj [Results of the Census
of the Population, Houses and Households 2011. Southern Moravia District], Praha: Český
statistický úřad (in Czech).
Stoyanova-Boneva Bonka (1991), Amerikantsi po balgarski ili balgari po amerikanski. Etnopsichologichesko izsledvane na balgarski imigranti v SASHT [Americans in the Bulgarian Way,
or Bulgarians in the American Way. Ethnopsychological Study of Bulgarian Immigrants in
USA], Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Vassileva Boyka (1991), Migratsionni protsesi v Bulgaria sled Vtorata svetovna voyna [Migrational Processes in Bulgaria after the Second World War], Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo
“Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Wolak Ryszard (1989), Pod egidą polskiego króla (Od naszego korespondenta z Sofii) [Under the
Aegis of the Polish King (From Our Correspondent in Sofia)], “Sztandar Ludu” 21, 21.05.1989
(in Polish).
Biographical note: Dr Katya Mihaylova is Associate Professor at the Department of
Comparative Folklore Studies at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with
Ethnographic Museum – the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Main fields of research:
religious folklore and problems of popular Christianity; Slavic mythology; epic performance and itinerant mendicant singers; calendar feasts; ethnic stereotypes; cultural and religious identity of Bulgarians in Central Europe and Poles in Bulgaria.
Email: [email protected]
72
Katya Mihaylova
Vol. 2/2013
p. 073–088
Religious Cults and Rituals
Vihra Baeva
A Local Cult, a Universal Symbol: The Golden Apple
in Gorni Voden, Southern Bulgaria
Abstract: In this article I present a contemporary local cult from Southern Bulgaria, popularly known as the
‘Golden Apple’, which combines elements of official Orthodox Christianity with peculiarities of local culture and folklore. It represents a specific form of Marian devotion with idiosyncratic ritual practices for
conception and childbirth. I dwell on the apple as a key symbol in the system of the local cult and analyze
its meanings in Christian tradition and in folk culture. On this basis I discuss the interaction of the universal
and the local as sources for the formation of religious culture, and, more generally, the mechanisms of its
formation and functioning. In my view, the example of this concrete symbol is indicative of the mechanisms of formation and functioning of religious cultures in general: a constant process of exchange, opposition and adaptation between the universal and the local, the official and the folkloric, continuity and
change.
Keywords: religious culture, local cult, symbolism, the Golden Apple, rituals for childbirth, Southern
Bulgaria
Introduction
In this article I present a contemporary local cult from Southern Bulgaria, popularly known as the ‘Golden Apple’, which combines, in an idiosyncratic way, elements of
official Orthodox Christianity with peculiarities of local culture and folklore. It represents
a specific form of Marian1 devotion, in which ritual practices for curing female infertility
play a central part. I dwell on the apple as a key symbol in the system of the local cult and
analyze its meanings in Christian tradition and in folk culture. On this basis I discuss interaction of the universal and the local as sources for the formation of a religious culture, and,
more generally, the mechanisms of its formation and functioning.
I draw on the concept of religious culture, which has been suggested and used in the last
years to replace the structuralist binaries applied in earlier research. Such a binary opposition, for example, is the one juxtaposing popular religion vs the religion of the elites, or the
binary of official Christianity vs paganism and local folklore. In the post-modern times,
when rigid dichotomies are being intensely questioned and debated, scholars are more and
more interested in ‘mixtures and margins’, as historian Natalie Zemon Davis (1992: 1409)
puts it, or speak about ‘hybrids, fuzzy thinking and incoherence’, in the terms of social an-
1
Here, for the sake of brevity and convenience, I apply the denomination ‘Mary’ which is widely used in
English language anthropological discourse to render the Bulgarian Bogoroditsa (‘the one who gave birth to
God’, Theotokos).
74
Vihra Baeva
Photo 1. The village of Gorni Voden with the church of the Dormition of Mary (The Golden Apple). Photo:
Vladimir Machokov, 2010
thropologist John Eade (forthcoming)2. So the concept of religious culture is proposed to
overcome binary thinking and introduce a sphere of interaction and exchange between different social actors coming from different strata of society and between different worldviews, ideas and cultural systems.
The presentation of the Golden Apple cult follows the classical ethnographic procedure,
established in anthropology, ethnology and folklore studies. It is a result of my fieldwork
observations and interviews from the period 1997–1999, and a later return to the field in
2008–2010. The description and discussion of this particular case are based on the general
understanding that each local cult represents a complex system, including a set of interrelated
elements: 1) a patron saint (or another sacred entity which is the object of devotion); 2) a sacred site (church, chapel, monastery, etc.); 3) sacred time (feast); 4) religious images (miracleworking icons, murals, etc.); 5) relics (though these are not so typical of the Orthodox tradition, their role often performed by miracle-working icons); 6) specific rituals; 7) religious
narratives.3 The analysis of the apple as a symbol relies on the methodology of the semiotic
approach (as set up by Yuri Lotman and his followers) and also on the resources of symbolic
anthropology (manifested in the works of Victor Turner, Clifford Geertz, Mary Douglas, etc.)
Despite the differences between these two schools, they share the common understanding
of culture as a text which should be read and interpreted, and focus their attention on the
symbol (‘sign’ or ‘code”, in the terms of semiotics) as the main structural unit of analysis.
The symbol’s multiple layers of meaning can be revealed by placing and analyzing it in various contexts.
2
3
I am obliged to Prof. John Eade for the possibility to use the manuscript of his text.
My understanding of the local cult is based on William Christian’s concept of local religion (cf. Christian
1989: 3). Here I also add narratives as an imminent part of the cult because of their role in explaining the meaning
of the other elements and motivating continuity of the tradition (cf. Baeva 2001; Georgieva A. 2012).
A Local Cult, a Universal Symbol: The Golden Apple in Gorni Voden, Southern Bulgaria
75
The Golden Apple in Gorni Voden
The cult of the Golden Apple is registered in only one place on the territory of
Bulgaria – the former village of Gorni Voden, which a few decades ago became a quarter of
the nearby town of Asenovgrad. The village is not far from the city of Plovdiv, the most important commercial, political and cultural center of South Bulgaria. Over the course of several centuries, Gorni Voden remained under the influence of the nearby Bachkovo Monastery (built 1083), the second largest devotional site in Bulgaria after that of Rila. A circumstance
of major impact on the cultural specificity of Gorni Voden is that it used to be inhabited by
Greeks4 and be a part of a large and influential Greek community known as ‘the Small Hellas’, including also the near settlements of Stenimachos (later Asenovgrad) and Kuklen. The
Greeks were forced to leave the region after the Bulgarian-Greek repatriation agreements
(signed 1923–1927) and ethnic Bulgarian immigrants arrived in their place from Eastern
Thrace and Macedonia. During that period Gorni Voden’s original population was completely replaced by the immigrants.5
In the discourse of the local people, ‘the Golden apple’ is a specific term, which may refer
to the church under the same name, to the miracle-working icon, to the feast and to the ritual
practices associated with it. It is also used as an epithet of the Virgin, expressing in this way
the idea of a particular hypostasis – Mary the Golden Apple or Mary with the Golden Apple.
In this way the temple, the feast, the holy image and the saintly figure are bound in one
Photo 2. The author in front of the church of the Dormition of Mary (The Golden Apple) in Gorni Voden. Photo:
Vladimir Machokov, 2010
4
There are still arguments among historians (especially Greeks and Bulgarians) about whether this population – or part of it – was ethnically Greek or whether, being ethnically Bulgarian, it chose the Greek identity as
the more prestigious and economically profitable. There also existed an intermediate group, derogatively called
‘langeri’ – ethnical Bulgarians who identified themselves as Greeks.
5
On the history of Gorni Voden and the region, see: Filipov (1996); Kisyov (1990); Marinova (1996); Valchinova (2006); Baeva (2012) and cit. lit.
76
Vihra Baeva
synergetic sacred entity which is the object of veneration and whose help and protection
people pray for. This type of syncretism is not an exception, but is rather typical of popular
levels of Orthodox religiosity, which remains close to the characteristics if a mythological
way of thinking.
The church of Mary the Golden Apple, officially named after the Dormition of Mary, was
built in 1830 (Entsiklopedia Bulgaria 1981: 137) on the site of an older shrine, on the property
of the nearby Sts. Cyricus and Yulitta Monastery,6 which had a convent in the village. The
external inscription on the dome shows that it was sanctified in 1896. The church was used
by monks from the monastery and pilgrims, as well as by the lay inhabitants of the village,
but at present functions only as a parish church, since the monastery is no longer active. In
the last few years it has also emerged as a pilgrimage center attracting more and more worshippers because of the special fertility rituals performed there and the growing popularity
of its miracle-working icon.
The miracle-working icon of Mary is of the Hodegetria type (literally ‘She Who Shows the
Way’); it is dated approximately to the 16th–17th century and is notable for its elaborate and
skillfully crafted silver cover. The icon is to be found on the bottom tier of the iconostasis, to
the left of the Beautiful Gates, the established place of the main Marian icon in the structure
of the Orthodox temple. In the past, on Mid-Pentecost (25 days after Easter, always on
Wednesday) it was carried to the monastery of Sts. Cyricus and Yulitta with a festive procession and then returned to its ‘home church’ – a tradition which is characteristic of the religious culture in the region of Asenovgrad and Bachkovo. After a long interruption, the
procession to the monastery was restored in 2003 by Father Zhivko Nikolov, the parish
Photo 3. The image of Mary with a golden
apple and Archangel Gabriel from the
church of the Dormition of Mary (The Golden Apple). Photo: Vihra Baeva, 2008
6
On the history, architecture and art of Sts. Cyricus and Yulitta Monastery, see: Bakalova (1992); Filipov
(1996).
77
priest of Gorni Voden since 1999. So far the participants are few since the much more popular procession from Asenovgrad to Bachkovo on the same day attracts the main body of
worshippers.7 As mentioned before, the icon is popularly known under the name of Mary
the Golden Apple, though recently a new title for it has appeared in the official discourse:
Bogoroditsa Blagodatna (‘Mary who gives blessing and happiness’). It is possible that this
name, unknown so far, is meant to replace the popular ‘Golden Apple’, which is considered
too ‘vernacular’ and non-canonical by some church circles.
Apart from the miracle-working icon, in the church of Gorni Voden there are two images
of the Annunciation, which the locals consider to be icons, but which obviously do not correspond to the Orthodox canon and look of rather ‘amateur’ making. The two images are
quite uniform but vary in size. In both of them Virgin Mary is depicted with a golden apple
in her hands. The larger painting contains also the image of an angel, obviously Archangel
Gabriel, set in the background. According to one of the narratives I recorded, the icon was
brought from Jerusalem following a dream of clairvoyant Granny Lena from Asenovgrad.
Actually, the images illustrate the local legend that Virgin Mary conceived after eating an
apple which Archangel Gabriel gave her on the Annunciation Day. Thus, they support the
cult of the ‘Golden apple’ and in a symbolic way ‘explain’ the ritual practices for childbirth
performed on its feast day.
The Feast
Another ‘attraction’ of the temple, even more famous than the miracle-working
icon, is the unique feast of the Golden Apple, which is pointed out by the locals as a kind of
emblem of the place. It is even more popular than the patron saint’s day (the Dormition of
Mary on August 15). The Golden Apple is celebrated on the day of the Akathist – a moveable
feast observed on the fifth Saturday of Great Lent, fifteen days before Easter. The Akathist to
Mary is the most popular praising and thanksgiving hymn dedicated to the Virgin. Its authorship is controversial and according to one hypothesis, it originated on the occasion of
Constantinople’s deliverance from the Avar siege in 1626 (Kozhuharov 1992: 19; see also
Akathist8). Another supposition is that it was created for the feast of the Annunciation and
was performed on that day (Kuyumdzhieva 2010: 203–205). Over time, the Akathist developed an entire service which is performed on different days. In modern church practice, the
Akathist is divided into four parts which are read during the evening services on the first
four Fridays of Great Lent, while the complete Akathist is read on the fifth Friday’s evening
as well as on the next morning, during the liturgy on the fifth Saturday of Great Lent. This
Saturday is celebrated as the Akathist to Virgin Mary,9 and in Gorni Voden and its neighborhood it is known as the Golden Apple.
When interviewed, local people unanimously claim that the feast and the ritual activities
on that day are of Greek origin. These statements seem to be true, since such a feast has not
been documented for the Bulgarian tradition. To what extent it is characteristic of Greek
7
For more details about the ritual processions with icons in the region, see: Baeva (2000, 2001: 45-54, 64–76);
Bakalova (2001, 2006); Baeva & Valchinova (2009); Georgieva А. (2012: 190–191).
8
The title refers to the article from Wikipedia which is listed in the bibliography. I use the same citing principle for other Internet-based references without an author and date of publication.
9
For more information on the Akathist to Virgin Mary as a hymnographic work, see: Kozhuharov (1992),
Кuyumdzhieva (2010) and cit. lit. Elka Bakalova (2001) pays attention to the visualization of verbal text in church
painting.
78
Vihra Baeva
religious culture, is a question which requires further study. However, it is a fact that the
Bulgarian migrants have willingly adopted the custom and have maintained it for about
ninety years so far. They recognize it as a local landmark and a source of pride for their
community.
In the overall scheme of the feast, one can distinguish two types of ritual activities and,
respectively, two groups of participants that are comparatively distinct. On the one hand,
the residents of Gorni Voden and the people from the surrounding villages and the town of
Asenovgrad, celebrate it in honor of the Virgin and with the traditional motivation ‘for
health’. For them this is a feast similar to the ‘sabor’ (fair of the settlement), which demonstrates devotion to the patron saint, and simultaneously consolidates the community and its
local identity.10 On the other hand, on this particular day many childless women or married
couples come here who perform special ritual actions for conceiving and giving birth. These
include the reading of a special prayer ‘for childbirth’ by the priest, incubation in the church on
the eve of the holiday (Friday to Saturday), knitting a thread belt, and the ritual eating of (communion with) an apple, divided equally between the spouses.11 It is thought that these practices can be performed at any other time of the year, but they are more powerful on the very
day of the Golden Apple.
During my first observations of the feast in 1997–1999, the worshippers were mostly
from Asenovgrad and the nearby settlements, as most often the childless women came alone
or accompanied by their mothers or mothers-in-law; i.e. the ritual had a rather female character. Nowadays there are two trends of evolution in the composition of the participants: a
growing number of worshippers coming from afar and a growing number of married (or
not married) couples coming to spend the night in the church and to perform the ritual practices together. The popularity of the Golden Apple has been growing in the recent years:
from a little known local feast it has come to be a regional and even national event, covered
by both printed and broadcasting media (newspapers, magazines, television, internet sites).
Another recent tendency is a more active participation of the clergy: in the period 1997–1999
there was no full-time priest in the village and some local old women were in charge of
meeting the visitors and helping them perform the fertility rituals. With the arrival of Father
Zhivko this pattern changed.
The attitude of the clergy towards the ‘non-canonical’ fertility rituals could be defined as
dubious. As the parish priest’s wife put it in a private conversation, “[i]t is not allowed, but
it is not forbidden either, so we do it”. The local clergy realize the ‘pagan’ character of the
practices, but they also see their potential as a powerful resource for gaining prestige and
authority, and also, economic profit. In fact, the parish priest not only tolerates the rituals,
but also takes an active part in them along with his whole family. In his turn, the current
bishop of the Plovdiv Eparchy, Nikolay, undertakes deliberate efforts to use the local cult of
the Golden Apple as a symbolic capital for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and, in particular, for the bishopric he runs as well as for his own prestige. During my visits in 2008–2010,
he was present at the feast and held the festive service personally, accompanied by a group
of priests and singers from Asenovgrad. Along with that, in the last few years, on his initiative, the miracle-working icon of the Virgin from the Gorni Voden church started going ‘on
tours’, visiting a number of cities and towns in the region. This idea is received with mixed
feelings by the locals, who are used to the presence of ‘their’ icon and miss it while it is on
travel. On the other hand, the church officials try to ‘retouch’ the folkloric elements of the
10
11
cit. lit.
On the issues of the ‘sabor’ and its social functions, refer to Hristov (2004) and cit. lit.
I dwell in detail on the other practices, paying special attention to the fertility belt, in Baeva (2012); see also
79
Photo 4. Women praying in front of the miracle-working icon of Mary decorated with apples on the feast of the
Golden Apple. Photo: Vladimir Machokov, 2010
cult and give it a more proper “Christian’ look. This process is visible in the growing role of
the priests in the organization and performance of the rituals, in the new title of the icon,
already mentioned, in the appearance of official narratives about the origin of the feast, etc.
The Apple Communion
A characteristic element of the feast is the ritual decoration of the temple: as early
as the beginning of Great Lent, when the reading of the Akathist to Mary starts, the miracleworking icon is decorated with wreaths of apples and green branches; a great number of
single apples are hung in front of it, attached by threads or by small nets, specially knitted
with a crochet-hook. When the reading of the Akathist is over, these apples are distributed
among those who want to have a child. In recent years this practice has spread to other temples in Asenovgrad and the Plovdiv region, so it is not unique for Gorni Voden, but people
from the village are certain that it originated exactly at their church.
On Saturday morning, after the end of the festive liturgy, large vessels (baskets and basins) full of sliced consecrated apples are taken from the altar; the slices are distributed
among the attendees along with consecrated bread with the universal motivation ‘for health’.
In the end there is a communal kurban12, prepared at the expense of the church, and some
residents of Gorni Voden, mostly women, also take part with ingredients and volunteer labor. Sometimes there are also private kurbans, given in gratitude to Virgin Mary for the re12
Kurban is a ritual meal given as a votive offering on big Christian holidays. It is usually made of boiled
meat (most often lamb or sheep), but if the feast is during a fasting period, the kurban is of boiled beans. Such is
the case with the Golden Apple, which is always during Great Lent.
80
Vihra Baeva
ceived help.
The apple communion for childbirth in Gorni Voden follows a specific order of instructions and requirements. It is necessary to observe the whole Great Lent or at least fast for a
few days and the apple must be eaten on an empty stomach when it is divided between the
two spouses:
“Those who don’t have kids, we give them a whole apple every year. […] And we give them a
whole apple, which is sliced in two; the man and the woman eat it along with the pips. On an
empty stomach in the morning. If it has a stalk, then it must be put in a plant pot and not be
thrown on the ground. Because it’s not good to throw it – neither in fire, nor on the ground”.13
The sacral qualities of the apple, consecrated in – the altar or in front of the miracle-working icon, determine the requirement that the fruit should be eaten completely and the
stalk be put on a ‘pure’ place in order not to be desecrated. It is also possible that the eating
of the pips has a symbolic fertilization function.
The Narrative Tradition
Local religious culture has its own narrative aspect, connecting and making sense
of its other elements – feast, holy site, sacral images or relics, ritual practices etc. Narratives
about the Golden Apple play an important role in the narrative repertory of Gorni Voden.
The origin of the holiday and the meaning of the ritual practices are the subject of different
narratives and variations. Some of the stories could be qualified as universal narratives since
they refer to events and characters from the New Testament, for example the legend that
when Archangel Gabriel appeared before Virgin Mary on the Annunciation Day, he gave
her an apple; the Virgin took a bite of it and conceived.14 In other versions Mary picked up
the apple from a tree, quite like Eve, or even took the apple from the church in Gorni
Voden:
“She, the Holy Virgin Mary, had a bite of an apple, and conceived on the same day. [VB: And
where did she take the apple from?] From here, from the church. And everybody who doesn’t
have children, today they try to take from these apples and have a bit.”
According to another narrative, Virgin Mary herself was immaculately conceived, even
though Orthodoxy rejects this idea in principle, unlike Catholicism. Virgin Mary’s parents,
Joachim and Anna, did not have children for a long time and after fervent prayers an angel
appeared before them and gave them a golden apple. After the spouses ate the apple, Anna
conceived and gave birth to Mary.
There are also local narratives which claim that the feast originated in memory of a local
miracle: a young woman wanted to pray for a child, but was very ill and bed-ridden so she
gave money to relatives of hers to light candles for her health, and an apple as a gift for Virgin Mary. Soon, the woman regained her health and conceived with the help of the Mother
of God.15 A few years ago ‘an official version’ about the origin of the holiday also occurred;
it was fixed in a Sinaxar written by the abbot of Sts. Cyricus and Yulitta Monastery – Ananiy
13
The quotations used in the article are from my interviews with local people recorded in Gorni Voden during fieldwork (1997–1999, 2008–2010).
14
15
On a similar legend, recorded by the Bulgarians in Tauria (Ukraine), refer to Badalanova (ed. 1993: 78).
I have analyzed this type of narratives in more details in Baeva (2001: 86–94).
81
Photo 5. A father has come to the feast of the Golden Apple to express his gratitude for the birth of his two children. Photo: Vladimir Machokov, 2010
Klinis.16 The particular date of the miracle has been marked: 1765. A childless woman was
late for the festive service in the church of Gorni Voden and could not get communion
bread. Considering that a bad sign, she started crying bitterly and the touched priest gave
her an apple, left in front of the miracle-working icon of Virgin Mary. Soon after that the
woman became pregnant and gave birth; in acknowledgement, she ordered for a golden
apple be forged and gave it as a gift to the icon. We are about to see whether over time the
official version, suggested (or imposed) by the clergy on the basis of a competent written
source, will prevail and ‘swallow’ the varied verbal variations, or whether it will continue
existing along with them.
As is usual for religious culture, there is also a diversity of personal narratives testifying
to miracles performed by Mary the Golden Apple. The key motif in them is a miraculous
conception, related as a personal experience or that of friends and relatives. With utmost
concreteness the authors seem to put out of any doubt the reality of the miracle and verify
its authenticity.
“It was five years ago probably. Exactly, five years ago my cousin got married and they waited for
a child quite a long time, but she didn’t have one. She couldn’t get pregnant. And after a while
they found out about the Golden Apple and my mother took a belt and an apple. The next year
my cousin got pregnant, gave birth and now has a boy. […] Our church is very famous for kids.
Those who don’t have children, everybody comes here. There are people from Germany, from
Greece…”
16
Currently, the Sinaxar is kept in Greece. After getting in touch with the Greek Church authorities, Father
Zhivko received a copy of the passage, discussing the miracle in Gorni Voden. Translated into Bulgarian, this
passage was hung on the church gates to be read by the worshippers. In 2009, special booklets were already
prepared which presented the history of the church and the miracle with the childless woman.
82
Vihra Baeva
Despite differences in the plots and characters, all the types of narratives are focused on
conception and childbirth viewed as a miracle, a result of an intervention of sacred powers.
In the plot the apple plays a central part as an intermediary making possible the contact
between the world of people and the world of the sacred entities: as a sign and instrument
of divine help. It emerges as a symbol of conception and motherhood, of the child given as
a blessing from Heaven.17
The Christian Context
The symbol of the apple has a significant role in the Christian culture and in folklore, in the Bulgarian, Balkan and, more broadly, European milieu. Its potential and ability
to generate meanings, texts and practices in diverse social and cultural contexts is remarkable. In Christianity, the apple is most commonly related to the temptation of Adam and Eve
and the original sin. However, in actual fact, the apple is not mentioned in the biblical text
according to which the first humans, seduced by the snake, ate from the forbidden fruit of
‘the tree of knowledge of good and evil’, and then they were banished from Eden (Genesis
2: 16, 2: 17; 3). The old Hebraic texts give different propositions about the kind of the forbidden fruit: grapes (or wine), fig, walnut, palm, orange, pomegranate, grain (Tree of Knowledge; Prieur 1982; Shapiro 1978). In an apocryphal text known as the Apocalypse of Baruch,
which was widespread across Bulgarian lands, the tree of sin is the vine (Petkanova 2000:
116). The apple actually does not grow in the lands between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates,
where the hypothetical location of the Garden of Eden was; most probably, it appears in the
context of European culture under the influence of folklore. The identification of the apple
as the forbidden fruit, fixed in the folklore of different European peoples, was reflected in
European religious art (in Catholic as well as in Orthodox one) and eventually accepted and
established permanently in Christian culture. However, the issue of as to when and how this
identification took place has so far been insufficiently studied.
There are suppositions that the reasons for this are purely linguistic. According to one
hypothesis, it could be a mistake of the translator, who confused the Latin ‘pomum’ (fruit)
with the French ‘pomme’ (apple) (Prieur 1982). Many authors point out the homophony of
the Latin words ‘malus’ and ‘malum’, respectively meaning ‘an apple’ and ‘evil’ – an association which would connect the apple with the original sin (Prieur 1982; Apple (Symbolism); Shapiro 1978). Meyer Shapiro assumes that the apple is associated with the fruit of the
tree of knowledge under the influence of ancient Greek mythology and folklore, where the
apple is a ritual object in wedding ceremonies; it is associated with Aphrodite and, as a
whole, has an erotic meaning. The author also makes a connection with the apple tree of the
Hesperides,18 guarded by a snake encircled around it, as for instance presented on a vase
painting from Naples (Shapiro 1978; for the same assumptions, see Prieur 1982). A similar
image can be seen in a mosaic from Llíria, Spain, from the third century.
The interpretation of the apple as the forbidden fruit in Christian doctrine is related to
the gradual merging of the original sin with the carnal sin. As Jacques Le Goff (1985) notes,
17
For a detailed analysis of the narratives about the Golden Apple, see Baeva (2001: 86-94). The full texts of
the interviews are published in Baeva (2012: 224–266).
18
According to an ancient Greek myth, the goddess of the earth, Gaia, gave Hera on the occasion of her wedding with Zeus a gift of twigs with golden apples. Hera planted them in her garden in the western end of the
world and ordered three nymphs, the Hesperides, to guard them. Since she did not trust them entirely, she put
on guard the dragon Ladon. On his eleventh labor, Heracles killed the dragon or stole with guile the apples
which are believed to bring immortality (Gislon & Palazzi 1997; Hesperides).
83
in Genesis the original sin is a sin of the spirit, expressed in the thirst for knowledge and
disobedience to God. Clement of Alexandria was the first to associate the original sin with
sexual intercourse, and later St Augustine of Hipo ‘once and for all’ connected the original
sin with sexuality mediated by lust. This, in turn stimulated the development of a widespread movement towards honoring chastity: both in theory and in practice. In this context,
the apple, with its erotic connotations, turned out to be especially suitable to take the place
of the fruit of sin.
The apple also became a symbol of Eve, the first woman, who, due to her weakness and
depravity, yielded to the snake’s temptation and caused the fall of mankind. In this respect,
the images of Eve, the apple and the snake joined in a common plot about the original guilt,
with which women are charged by Christian theological discourse (certainly a fact which
feminist movements never miss to bring forward19). In the New Testament, the figure of
Virgin Mary emerges as a counterpoint of sinful femininity; she is ‘the new Eve’ who made
the redemption and salvation of mankind possible. The comparison of Mary with Eve enjoys special attention in patristic tradition. According to John of Damascus’ interpretation,
the first Eve committed a crime against the Creator, yielding to the seduction of the snake;
through her, death entered the world. Mary, obedient to God’s will, deceived the snake which
had once deceived mankind, and brought immortality to the world (see Ivanov 2002: 494).
Returning to the case of Gorni Voden, we can see how the metaphor of Virgin Mary as
‘the new Eve’ is literalized in the image of the apple which the Virgin received on the Annunciation day. Just like Eve, Mary ate the apple, given by the angel (not by the snake this
time) and redeemed the original sin by giving birth to the Savior of mankind. On the other
hand, the ritual of eating the apple by the spouses symbolically repeats the story of the fall
of man but with the opposite meaning: not as disobedience to God’s will and a sin, but as a
sacred act in which the man and the woman create new life. The ‘rehabilitation’ of the apple
from sinful to sacred is complemented by the fact that it is sanctified by its contact with the
space of the temple and with the miracle-working icon. Through the apple, the act of love
(which is implicitly supposed to follow the ritual) and respectively ‘the fruit’ of this act, the
expected child, are consecrated, too.
Traditional Culture and Folklore
In the traditional culture of the patriarchal village, in Bulgaria and on the Balkans, fertility (of land, cattle and woman) is a prime value, a basic goal and concern of the
community. In such a context, the apple does not bear meanings of sinfulness and guilt, but
fits as a key symbol of love, eroticism and marriage, of fertility and offspring. These semantic connotations are attested by its ritual use. According to ethnographers, “[w]hen two people like
each other, they exchange apples – the greatest sign of love. Its meaning in wedding rituals
is the same: the young couple eat an apple in order to have children” (Georgieva Iv. 1993:
46). The apple, red or gilded (i.e. golden) is present in traditional weddings in the decoration
of ritual objects, such as the wedding tree, the wedding flag and the wedding ram (for instance, see Angelova 1985: 346–347; Marinov 1994: 91–92; Ivanova 1984: 186–187, 193). It
occurs as a symbolic equivalent of the bloodstained bride’s smock which should demonstrate her virginity after the wedding night. When the bride proved to be ‘honest’ (i. e. virgin), the apple was displayed instead of the smock and the wedding-guests stuck coins into
it (Georgieva Iv. 1993: 46 and ill. 32).
19
For instance, see Roll (1998) and cit. lit.
84
Vihra Baeva
The apple was also used in the rites at childbirth and baptism, as well as in the magical
practice for providing health and beauty of the expected baby: “If a pregnant woman wants
her baby to have red cheeks, she must go under an apple tree after sunset and look at the
tree, if it is winter; and at the fruit, if it is summer” (Marinov 1994: 91-92). The apple as
a symbol is also associated with the world of the dead. It is a widespread conviction that
Archangel Michael takes the souls of righteous people and children, luring them with an
apple.20 The apple is also present in funerary rituals, for instance in the practice of putting
a sack of apples in the deceased man’s coffin so that he could carry them to his relatives in
the beyond world (Georgieva Iv. 1993: 46).
In folkloric legends about Adam and Eve, eating the forbidden apple is often interpreted
as a symbolic equivalent of sexual intercourse (Badalanova ed. 1993: 80-81).21 The apple as a
marital and sexual symbol occurs also in tales, of which the most popular example is the
plot of The Three Brothers and the Golden Apple, where finding the stolen golden apple
happens simultaneously with finding a wife.22 Another indicative plot is that about the miraculous birth of an ‘unborn maiden’ from an apple sliced into two.23 The apple is present
with similar semantics in a series of folk song lyrics, where it often appears as an equivalent
of the maiden, and where shaking off the fruit from the apple tree has sexual implications.
Below is an example of a Christmas song, recorded in Gorni Voden, where the erotic symbolism of the apple is unambiguously read:
“A tree has grown, oh, Christmas,
An apple tree, oh, Christmas
On maiden’s flat yard, oh, Christmas,
Twice tall, oh, Christmas, three times crotched,
So it bore fruit, oh, Christmas, on two branches,
On two branches, oh, Christmas, three apples.
Where he came from, oh, Christmas, a young madcap,
A young madcap, oh, Christmas, with a shepherd’s crook,
And he shook off, oh, Christmas, three apples.
He didn’t shake off, oh, Christmas, three apples,
But he hit, oh, Christmas, little maiden,
Little maiden, oh, Christmas, in her thin waist.
Little maiden, oh, Christmas, cried out:
Oh, little maiden’s, oh, Christmas, nine brothers,
Nine brothers, oh, Christmas, and cousins,
Why are you standing, oh, Christmas, and watching?
Come on, go, oh, Christmas, to the flat field,
And catch, oh, Christmas, the young madcap,
Then bring him to me, oh, Christmas,
Not tied, oh, Christmas, not punished,
Not punished, oh, Christmas, not beaten.
Maiden, oh, Christmas, will tie him,
With her, oh, Christmas, blonde hair.
Maiden, oh, Christmas, will punish him
20
This motif is developed in a series of song lyrics where Archangel Michael, or more rarely, the personified
Plague, takes the soul of a maiden or of a widow with small kids using a golden apple – see № 495–503 in the
collection of Bulgarian folk ballads, part 1 (Baladi 1993).
21
The appearance of the apple as a ‘code’ in folklore legends about the original sin is discussed in Petkova
(1994).
22
1994).
23
This motif is listed in the Catalogue of Bulgarian folktales under № 301 (see Daskalova-Perkovska et al.
See № 408 in: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. (1994).
85
With her, oh, Christmas, white face.
Maiden, oh, Christmas, will beat him
With her, oh, Christmas, white hands”.24
This song, recorded by ‘the newcomers’ to Gorni Voden, Bulgarian emigrants from
Aegean Macedonia, offers a key to the understanding of how the cult of the Golden Apple
was inherited despite the change of the population. Even though it was Greek in origin, the
feast of the Golden Apple as a cultural text was comprehensible for the settlers; they understood its sense and shared its meanings. It was this closeness and shared values that made
it possible for the feast and the cult in general to be assimilated and inherited by the newly
arrived Bulgarian population; and thus continuity of the local religious culture was
provided.
In some song lyrics the image of the golden apple is directly associated with the motif of
childlessness and miraculous childbirth. For example, when the angry husband wants to
murder or abandon his wife because she has not given him a child for nine years, she mentions the golden apple which grows in their ‘upper garden’:
“In our upper garden
We have an apple tree,
It blossomed for nine years,
It blossomed but it didn’t bear fruit,
This year is the tenth,
It blossomed and it gave
One golden apple.”
The bearing of the golden apple appears as an omen: it turns out that the childless woman has also conceived and bears in her womb ‘a boy with a golden forelock’.25 In another
version of the plot, the woman who has not had children for twenty years points out that the
golden apple in their garden has born two fruits and asks her husband to build a monastery
for her. After he summons the workers and quickly fulfills her behest, the woman gives birth
to male twins.26 Recorded in different ends of Bulgaria, these song lyrics indicate the existence of a steady semantic connection between the golden apple, the bearing of a child and
the temple in Bulgarian folklore culture. Manifestation of this steady relation is also present
in the ritual communion with sanctified apples in the church of Mary the Golden Apple in
Gorni Voden.
Conclusion
Analysis of the Golden Apple in Gorni Voden confirms the idea that the local cult
is a complex system including a set of elements which connect to each other and interact on
different levels: the patron saint, the holy site, the feast and rituals, images and narratives.
The interrelatedness of the separate elements is also visible in the fact that in local popular
discourse they are often designated by one and the same name, as in the case of the Golden
Apple, referring simultaneously to the temple, the feast, the ritual activities, the holy images
and Virgin Mary herself. The concept of the local cult as a system determines the procedure
24
25
26
The song was recorded in 1984 by local ethnographer and historian Nikola Filipov (1996: 149–150).
The whole text is published under № 796 in the collection of Bulgarian folk ballads, part 2 (Baladi 1994).
See № 800 in Baladi (1994).
86
Vihra Baeva
of its analysis: delineating all the separate elements and studying their mutual relations and
influences.
At the same time, the cult should be regarded as a process which changes in the course
of time, reflecting a general social, cultural and also economic context. It forms as a result of
the interactions, oppositions or collaborations of different social actors: representatives of
the clergy at different levels in the hierarchy, local people, visitors and pilgrims, the media,
etc. Though they were not mentioned in this text, I should also add scholars (folklorists,
anthropologists, etc.) who work in the field and publish results of their research in academic
publications or in more popular formats. Each one of these groups participates in its own
way in the general discourse about the local cult, and brings about the formation of its pattern and its development and transformation in the long run.
Viewing the local cult as a phenomenon of culture allows the researcher to interpret it as
a text, or rather, as an ensemble of texts (in the terminology of Clifford Geertz): verbal, visual
or ritual ones. Here the symbol plays a central part as the main bearer of meaning and the
basic unit of analysis. The symbol of the apple, which has been the focus of attention here,
seems to be quite controversial. As a universal Christian symbol it has negative connotations connected to the original sin, the fall of man and Eve’s primordial guilt. However, in
the case of the Golden Apple from Gorni Voden, it acquires new meanings, obviously under
the influence of traditional culture and folklore, where it refers to basic values such as fertility, marriage and offspring. Thus the symbol of the apple comes to be re-interpreted in the
local religious culture: it is attached to the sacred figure of Virgin Mary; it is included in images and stories of the Annunciation; it participates in narratives of miraculous conception
as a sign of divine intervention and in the ritual for conceiving and giving birth taking place
in the church. Ultimately, the meanings of the symbol turn out to be a result of the interaction and exchange of universal Christian imagery and the resources of local culture and
tradition. In my view, the example of this specific symbol is indicative of the mechanisms of
formation and functioning of religious cultures in general – a constant process of exchange,
opposition and adaptation between the universal and the local, between the official and the
folkloric, and between continuity and change.
Bibliography
Akathist, http://orthodoxwiki.org/Akathis/last accessed 22 March 2013.
Angelova Rositsa (1985), Obredni predmeti [Ritual Objects] in: Etnografia na Bulgaria, vol. 3,
Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite (in Bulgarian).
Apple (Symbolism), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_%28symbolism%29/last accessed
14 February 2013.
Badalanova Florentina (ed.) (1993), Folkloren erotikon [Folkloric Eroticon], vol. 1, Sofia: ROD
(in Bulgarian).
Baeva Vihra (2000), Miracle in the Context of Local Religion (The Village of Bachkovo, Plovdiv
Region, Bulgaria in: Kontsept chuda v slavyanskoy i evreyskoy kul’turnoy traditsii. Sbornik
statey [The Concept of Miracle in Slavic and Jewish Cultural Traditions. Collection of Articles],
Moskva: Akademicheskaya seria 7, pp. 243–262.
Baeva Vihra (2001), Razkazi za chudesa. Lokalna traditsia i lichen opit [Miracle Stories. Local
Tradition and Personal Experience], Sofia: Dios (in Bulgarian).
Baeva Vihra (2012), Nishkata na zhivota. Mezhdu kolancheto za rozhba i Bogorodichnia poyas
[The Therad of Life. Between the Fertility Belt and the Girdle of Mary], Sofia: Akademichno
izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov” (in Bulgarian).
Baeva Vihra & Valchinova Galina (2009), A Women’s Religious Organization in Southern
Bulgaria – From Miracle Stories to History, “History and Anthropology” 20, No 3,
pp. 317–338.
Bakalova Elka (1991), Aspekti na saotnoshenieto slovesen tekst – izobrazhenie v balgarskoto
srednovekovie (pesenno-poetichna obraznost – vizualni saotvetstvia) [Aspects of the Relation
87
Verbal Text – Image in Bulgarian Middle Ages (Song Poetic Imagery – Visual Counterparts],
“Problemi na izkustvoto” 1, pp. 3–21 (in Bulgarian).
Bakalova Elka (1992), Gornovodenski manastir [Gorni Voden Monastery] in: Prashkov Lyuben at al. Manastirite v Bulgaria. Sofia: Spektar, pp. 272–276 (in Bulgarian).
Bakalova Elka (2001), La vènèration des icones miraculeuse en Bulgarie: aspects historiques et
contemporains d’un pèlerinage, “Ethnologie française” 2, pp. 261–275.
Bakalova Elka (2006), V tarsene na chudoto: poklonnichestvo pri chudotvorni ikoni. Istoricheski
aspekti i savremenni praktiki [In Search of the Miracle: Pilgrimage to Miracle-Working Icons.
Historical Aspects and Contemporary Practices] in: M. Prashkova (ed.), Lyuben Prashkov –
restavrator i izkustvoved, Sofia, pp. 40–55 (in Bulgarian).
Baladi (1993), Balgarski narodni baladi s miticheski i legendarni motivi [Bulgarian Folk Ballads
with Mythical and Legendary Motifs], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia”, vol. 60, part 1
(in Bulgarian).
Baladi (1994), Balgarski narodni baladi s miticheski i legendarni motivi [Bulgarian Folk Ballads
with Mythical and Legendary Motifs], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia”, vol. 60, part 2
(in Bulgarian).
Christian William (1989), Local Religion in Sixteenth-Century Spain, Princeton, New Jersey:
Princeton University Press.
Daskalova-Perkovska Lilyana, Dobreva Dorotea, Kotseva Yordanka & Mitseva Evgenia
(1994), Balgarski folklorni prikazki. Katalog [Bulgarian Folktales. Catalogue], Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sveti Kliment Ohridski”.
Davis Natalie Zemon (1992), Towards Mixtures and Margins, “The American Historical
Review” 97, No 5, pp. 1409-1416, http://www.jstor.org/pss/2165943/ last accessed
21 March 2013.
Eade John (forthcoming), Beyond Binaries in: Di Giovine Michael & Singh Rana P. B. (eds.)
Sites of Pilgrimage, Sites of Heritage: Exploring the Interface between Religion and Heritage
in Tourist Destinations. Special issue of “The International Journal of Tourism
Anthropology”.
Entsiklopedia Bulgaria [Encyclopedia Bulgaria] (1981), vol. 2, Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata academia na naukite (in Bulgarian).
Filipov Nikola (1996), Voden prez vekovete. Za istoriyata na Gorni i Dolni Voden i manastira
“Sveti Kirik” [Voden through Centuries. The History of Gorni and Dolni Voden and of the Sts.
Cyricus and Yulitta Monastery], Asenovgrad: Ekobelan (in Bulgarian).
Georgieva Albena (2012), Folklorni izmerenia na hristiyanstvoto [Folkloric Dimensions of
Christianity], Sofia: Prosveta (in Bulgarian).
Georgieva Ivanichka (1993), Balgarska narodna mitologia [Bulgarian Folk Mythology], Sofia:
Nauka i izkustvo (in Bulgarian).
Gislon Mary & Palazzi Rosetta (1997), Dizionario di mitologia e dell’antichità classica. Bologna: Zanichelli (in Italian).
Hesperides, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperides/last accessed 14 February 2013.
Hristov Petko (2004), Obshtnosti i praznitsi. Sluzhbi, slavi, sabori v yuzhnoslavynskoto selo prez
parvata polovina na XX vek [Communities and Feasts. Patron Saints’ Days in the SouthernSlavic Village in the First Half of the 20th Century], Sofia: Etnografski institut s muzey (in
Bulgarian).
Ivanov, M. (2002), Dogmaticheskoe uchenie o Deve Marii [Dogmatic Teaching about Virgin
Mary] in: Pravoslavnaya entsiklopedia, vol. 5, Moskva: Tserkovno-nauchniy tsentr “Pravoslavnaya entsiklopedia”, pp. 492–499 (in Russian).
Kisyov Slavcho (1990), Bachkovski manastir [The Bachkovo Monastery], Sofia (in Bulgarian).
Kozhuharov Stefan (1992), Akatist [Akathist] in: Petkanova Donka (ed.) Starobalgarska literatura. Entsiklopedichen rechnik, Sofia: Petar Beron, pp. 19–20 (in Bulgarian).
Kuyumdzhieva Svetlana (2010), Belezhki varhu Bogorodichnia akatist po muzikalni rakopisi
[Notes on the Akathist to Bogoroditsa in Musical Manuscripts] in: Santova Mila et al. (eds.)
Ot Chestnia poyas na Bogoroditsa do kolancheto za rozhba, Sofia: Agata A, pp. 202–211 (in
Bulgarian).
Marinov Dimitar (1994), Narodna vyara i religiozni narodni obichai [Folk Belief and Religious
Folk Traditions], Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite (first edition
1914) (in Bulgarian).
88
Vihra Baeva
Marinova Ganka (1996), Kalendarni praznitsi ot Asenovgrad [Calendar Feasts from Asenovgrad], Asenovgrad: Ekobelan (in Bulgarian).
Petkanova Donka (2000), Srednovekovna literaturna simvolika [Medieval Literary Symbolism],
Sofia: Vreme (in Bulgarian).
Petkova Borislava (2004), Starozavetniyat ray – folklorna interpretatsia na rastitelnite kodove
[The Garden of Eden in the Old Testament – Folkloric Interpretation of Vegetation Codes],
“Balgarski folklor” 4, pp. 34–44 (in Bulgarian).
Prieur Jean (1982), Les symbols universels, Paris: Éditions Fernand Lanore.
Roll Susan (1998), Blessing the Apple: a Rite of Transformation, “Catholic Theological Society
of America. Ottawa conference, June”, https://www2.bc.edu/~morrilb/Roll.pdf/last accessed 26 July 2011.
Shapiro Мeyer (1978), Selected Papers 1931–1973. New York: George Braziller, Inc.
Publishers.
Valchinova Galina (2006), Balkanski yasnovidki i prorochitsi ot XX vek [Balkan Visionaries and
Prophetesses in the 20th Century], Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sveti Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: Dr Vihra Baeva is Associate Professor in the Institute of Ethnology
and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia. Her main research interests are in the field of religious cultures in the Balkans, Orthodox Christianity and
folklore, oral narratives, symbolism and ritual, etc.
Vol. 2/2013
p. 089–106
Ruzha Neykova
Nestinarstvo: Evidence from South-East Bulgaria
Abstract: Nestinarstvo is a Palaeo-Balkan substratum of the solar ideology of the Dionysian-Sabazian fire
rites that existed in the Thrace-Phrygian contact zone (the Balkans together with ancient Anatolia/Asia
Minor). Significant elements of the ancient mysteries of Sabazios have been preserved as a folk tradition
in the so-called nestinarstvo/Greek anastenaria among the population in the Mount Strandzha area (Southeaster Bulgaria) and among the descendants of nestinar families in some settlements in Northern Greece.
In the Mount Strandzha area, nestinarstvo is a part of the folkloric system of the so-called panagyri (sing.
panagyr) – major village-festivals in honour of various saints. The nestinari (sing. nestinar) themselves are
leaders of the ritual act through which the saints express their “orders”. They have the following distinctive features: contact with the saint (through inner vision, in a state of trance); predictions of communitywide importance; treading on embers (spread in a large circle in the village square). In to the tradition of
the panagyr of Sts. Kostadin and Elena (the village of Bulgari), four instrumental melodies had to sound,
played on bagpipes and big two-headed skin drums.
Keywords: nestinarstvo, panagyr, predictions, agiasma, embers, sacrifice
Nestinarstvo is an old, remarkable phenomenon, known in Strandza region (nowadays Southeast Bulgaria) until the end of 60-ies of 20 century.1 The nestinari (pl.; sing., m.,
nestinar; fem. nestinarka; gr. pl. anastenari) were men and women of different age and social
origin, who were considered as devoted people, delivering messages ‘from above’. They
have the following distinctive features:
Contact with the saint, with ancestors (through inner vision, in a state of trance or, as the
local people call it, prihvashtane (possession).
Treading down embers and prophesying in trance, suffered and endured as a painful
gift. A specific symptom of possession was the fall of the body temperature, which turned to
normal after some time they acted on the embers. The first ‘going into the fire’ was preceded
by the so-called nestinar disease – an indefinite period (about a year) of clairvoyance, dreams
and physical suffering2, which was ‘healed’ by the embers. To the words of the local people,
“this is not a real disease, it’s not that she is ill, there must be some force within… there must
be something inside”.
The article is based on my 19 year (since 1994) field research in the region of Strandza – Ruzha Neykova
(hereinafter R.N.). My annually staying and investigations in the village of Bulgari/Urgari resulted in many articles, monograph (Fol Valeria & Neykova Ruzha. 2000., Ogan i muzika [Fire and Music], Second part) and a authorship of the documentary movie on the nestinarstvo – The chosen ones (2010). The field materials are available
in the Archive of IEFEM – BAS.
2
Possession as a pain, the induction/initiation of God, spirits, saints into humans is a ritual universal. It takes
similar psychosomatic forms but has different ethno-cultural contents and motivations. For the differences between possession and obsession in ritual and in the “global, official” religions” (see Rouget 1985: 23, 126).
1
90
Ruzha Neykova
Many of the nestinari’ predictions - of personal but mostly of community-wide importance (about the fate of the village or the country) were omens like: “Fellow-villagers,
this year St Constantine wants a barren cow, otherwise the plague will come […] Our children will die; all male children below the age of 10 will die if the sacred place is not repaired
[…] A strong hailstorm will hit the village, if we don’t honour St Constantine for three days…
If you don’t make an icon and if you don’t put silver on it, you’ll become lame.” In 1933 they
predicted the king’s death in 1943 (Boris III), the bad fate of His family, and the forthcoming
of the Second World War. An old nestinarka, born at the end of 18 century in the village
Urgari said, that a day would come, when “the people will fly to the sky”, etc. (Arnaudov
1934: 638).
In the past people often turned to nestinari for help and advice, they gave oracles, ‘healed’
and practically ruled the village.
However, to comprehend the nestinarstvo itself, we have to approach the milieu and the
context of the rite system it belonged to.
The panagyrs in Strandza region
In the Mount Strandza area, nestinarstvo is a part of the folklore system of the
so-called panagyri (sing. panagyr)3, major village-rites in honour of patron saints, ensuring
the well-being and fertility of the people. They belong to the ‘family’ of the votive rites, all
of similar contents and structures in the ethnic territory of the Bulgarians and on the Balkans. That still living tradition, honouring a definite divine power, preserves the traces of
old pagan beliefs, personified in the late folk heritage by saints.4 To the folk beliefs, they either help or harm people – the worshipped one brings luck and abundance and vice versa
– can cause disasters, diseases, even death (Fol V. & Neykova 2000: 147-154).
Once the panagyrs were hold on the days of some winter and summer saints-patrons,
celebrated more days up to whole week (St Elias, Holy Trinity, St Athanasius, St Constantine
and Helen [vernacular “Kostadin and Elena”], St Pantaleon/Panteleimon, Virgin Mary’s
Day, St Marina, Ascension Day, Midsummer Day St Euthymios, etc.).
The most popular patrons of the nestinari are Sts. Kostadin and Elena, considered by the
local people as brother and sister, mother and son, husband and wife. The nestinari were
spiritual and physical leaders of the ritual act, through whom the saints express their wishes
and ‘orders’. They used to say that the greatest strength comes from St Kostadin. In village
of Bulgari (old name Urgari), the saints and the panagyr of the same name are still kept in a
high honour.
A brief description of the panagyr of Sts. Kostadin and Elena
(on 3–4th of June) in the village of Bulgari (old name Urgari)
Every panagyr has a leading figure, called by the locals’ vicilin or epitrope (warden). His duty is to organise and guard the tradition, to look after the sacred buildings and
3
A Bulgarism of new Gr. panegiri – rites in honour of different Saints in Southeast Thrace and Northern
Greece (Neykova 1996; Fol V. & Neykova 2000: 271, 268–322, with a detail description).
4
No matter that, Bulgarians had officially converted to Christianity in 864, in the following times the foreChristian system of beliefs proved exclusively stable and vital. Practically, the days/and names of Christian
saints still cover many old folk rites and contents (see Popov 1991).
Nestinarstvo: On Мaterials of South-East Bulgaria
91
Fig. 1. The konak of St Kostadin in Bulgari. Photo: R. Neykova, 2004.
the holly spring, to take care of the musicians and who is to carry the icons of the saints, of
distribution of the sacrificial meat among the people of the village, etc.
In the early morning on 3th of June, the Day of St Kostadin, the epitrope opens the
konak of the saint and light a candle. The konak is old, no large sacred village building with
fireplace and altar place for the icons, a residence of the saint. It is not a church. The people
visited the konak only on the days of the panagyr, when the saint is believed to come
there.5
About 9–10 a.m. the people gather into and around the konak, and from that time on the
following actions are taking place:
The epitrope brings the three icons of Sts. Kostadin and Elena from the church and
‘dresses’ them in the konak – in red silk ‘shirts’, decorated with silver coins and votive
objects.
A procession in a definite order, headed by epitrope (as well by the nestinari in the past),
followed by three holy icons,6 the musicians/bagpipes and drums, the people from the village, guests starts for the agiazma (Gr.) – the holy spring of the saint, which is opened only
on that very day. There is still living memory that no fruit may be picked or eaten from
there, that no firewood should be gathered (as well from the cemetery and from the yards of
There could be one to three and more konaks of different saints in one village and its surroundings. Good
omens for the wellbeing of the people were more agiazmas (Gr. holly springs) on the territory, more young men
carrying the icons, more sacrifices, more bagpipe-players and drummers, and the longest dancing on the embers
showed who the first nestinar was.
6
At every panagyr, the epitrope chooses three 10–12-year old boys, who carry the icons of the saints-patrons;
they are made of solid wood with a handle on the lower side (see Fol V. & Neykova 2000: 30–38, 86–110).
5
92
Ruzha Neykova
Fig. 2. The agiasma of St Kostadin in Bulgari. Photo: R. Neykova, 2004.
the konaks). Here, near the agiazma the icons are left to ‘rest’ on a special wooden construction (called odar – Photo 3), so they could observe the ritual (lighting of candles, drinking
water and washing, dancing and singing). Once the icons also were sprinkled with and
washed at the agiazma.
At the return to the konak, there is a sacrifice (kurban) in the backyard, offered by different people to the saint - mostly rams (1 to 3 years-old) or lambs. As a rule there had to be
sacrificed a bull for the well-being of the village; the local people say it gives force to the saint
and makes him strong. Nowadays that happens very rarely. The animal is turned to the east,
a candle is lit on its right horn, and it is slaughtered. A piece of the meat (usually a shoulder)
always is left for the evening table at the konak; the rest is cut into small pieces, which are
taken to as many houses as possible. The sacrificed meat is not washed before cooking, but
cleaned by hand only. In the past, it is tasted/licked raw before it is cooked. As a rule, no one
can eat his own kurban but only the meat that was given to him by the others.
In the late afternoon, a mass of firewood is set on fire at the village square, which turns
to embers in five, six hours. Latter on it is spread in a large circle and the nestinari treaded
underfoot the live coals from half to hour and more – always at dark, at night. They delivered the will of the saints, holding their icons and prophesied the future.
The old evidences say that the nestinari was normal people, living the same live as the
others. Their psychosomatic condition changes when the Day of St Constantine approached
and became normal when the panagyr is over. About a month earlier, they start to be nervous, to feel ill and feverous.
The Second Day (4th of June) – the Day of St Elena is running till noon in a similar way
(with the gathering at the konak, procession to Her holy spring, followed by sacrifice in the
yard of female animals (a sheep or a heifer). In the past, in front of the konak, the single
93
Fig. 3. The agiasma of St Elena – the old nestinarka Zlata at the oder with the holy icons. Photo from the 1950s
from the Archive of the village of Bulgari.
combats were taking place along with the sacrifices; nowadays, that happens in afternoon
on, at the end of the village for amusement.
In the afternoon, until year 1997 the panagyr procession, headed by the epitrope, was
going all over the village houses till late in the evening. The boys carrying the icons changed
three times at special houses designated in advance. Once, if there was a sign from the
saints, the nestinari „enter into the fire” on the night of St Elena too, and even on more evenings in succession. Late in the evening, a table is taking place in the konak.
The procession with the icons of St Constantine and St Helena started around the village
also on the Day of St Euthymios, (vernacular ”Ichtima”, on 20 of January). The both, winter
and the summer processions are going all over the village houses, accompanied by nestinars’ possession and prophesying, by the same instrumental tunes, by visiting and gathering in the konak of the St Kostadin. They divide the calendar year and act as a ‘split version’
of one the same origin and essence (in details, see Fol V. & Neykova 2000: 147–154).
In principle the contents of the summer and winter hypostasis of the saints in the Bulgarian folklore possess typical demonic, i. e. meditative dual nature and ‘symmetrical’ features: the
double age transformation (old and young; ‘big’ and ‘little’), solar and chthonian mythological symbolism, etc. (the latter, expressed by their connection with diseases, death, ancestors,
see Popov 1991).
The Sacred Musical Instruments
The musical instruments sounding in every panagyr – bagpipe (gaida) and big
two-headed skin drum (Bulg. tupan/Gr. daouli) are widely spread in Bulgarian folk tradition.
94
Ruzha Neykova
Fig. 4. Left: The sacred drum in the konak of St Kostadin (Photo: R.Neykova, 1998). Right: One of the holy
icons of St Kostadin (Photo: R. Neykova, 2007)
Fig. 5. Nestinarka on embers. Photo from the late 1950s from the Archive of the village of Bulgari
95
In the region of Strandza they were and still are at the head of the panagyr’ procession (following the epitrop). Since the middle of 19 century, the written sources reported mostly for
two bagpipes and two drums. To the oldest people, once, when the village was rich of musicians, all of them went out to the panagyr, obtaining to play in unison and to beat the Right
Rhythm.
The corpus of the big drums usually was made by connecting of two sieves (for winnowing chaff from grain). The sacred drum of St Kostadin (“an old piece”) is kept in the sanctuary/konak, hanging on the wall opposite to the icons. It is small and is made from a solid alder or beech hollow tree.
Similar are the sacred drum in the other saint’s konaks. Usually, these was made and
given as a votive to the saints by the musicians themselves. Once, the very first beat on the
Day of St. Kostadin was given by that old drum; the legend says that on the morning, its
own beat always gave the sign to start.
There are ‘real stories’ and ‘eyewitnesses’ in the village, telling how the drum “sometimes
was banging alone” in the konak of St Kostadin:        … – a metaphor of the coming
saint as a rhythmic (idiophonic, membranephonic) principle. According to belief, the saint is
incarnated in all sacred objects, parameters and in the nestinari themselves. An analogical
‘instruments–mediators’ are the metal/silver votive objects on the nestinars’ icons, shaken
sometimes over the ember, over a sick person, when the possession was going round the village. The Greek anastenari call these attributes of small coins, little bells, ‘palms/hands’, etc.
“the bells of old man Kostadin”. The ancient idea of reincarnation of a deity in sound and instrument is preserved also in the belief, that “if you beat the tupan/drum on St Kostadin’s Day,
you will find a cure!” and that the sacred tupan “is beaten by the man who has pledged during
the year to St Kostadin and this is done to cure fever and sick animals” (Rusev 1891: 226).
In the village of Bulgari, there is no memory for keeping a bagpipe in the sanctuary of
the saint, but in the words of a hereditary player, the instrument had to stay there for the
night to the ritual. The Greek anastenari in Langada (descendants of Strandza region) still do
keep the bagpipe in the konak of St Kostadin (Fol V. & Neykova 2000: 325). A few old evidences from the neighbour to Bulgari village of Kosti – for keeping the bagpipe in the konak
along with the drum and the icons, suggests for an abandoned tradition (Arnaudov 1917:
50, with references). By an old tradition too, the bagpipe had to be made from the skin, bones and
horns of a sacrificed animal (lamb or goat). Within the Northern Greek anastenari, that concerns
also the drum. In the past, the gaida/bagpipe had a bone whistle and horn drone; animal
bones fit its different parts.7 In last years, there were some gaida-players in Strandza, who
prefer the bones, not the metal/silver for connecting some parts of the instrument.
In a word, the instruments and the music resounds the background mythological meanings in the ritual along with the specific psychosomatic behaviour of the nestinari.
Nestinar’/Panagyr’ Instrumental Melodies
It is well known, that in the days of the Sts. Kostadin and Elena the trance were
provoked by the intensive and ‘thundering’ sound of bagpipes and drums, and it was identical in the duration of the music. The playing was part of the becoming, and the instrumental
melodies were a synonym of the action. Here, I see the line of the sacred, ‘drawn out’ as an old
heritage in the panagyr/nestinar’ melodies. The unity of sound and act, the integrity of possession and music is shown also in speeding up the musical tempo and the frequency of
7
About structure, wide spreading and regional styles of the bagpipe within Bulgarians, see Kachulev 1965.
96
Ruzha Neykova
rhythm on prompting of the very nestinari (in the konak, on the road) – in the Speed as a
symbol of the Other psychophysical and ritual dimension.
The instrumental melodies, which had to sound by the tradition of the “the big Order of
the panagyr” are four. The people say the three of them are nestinars “because the nestinari
danced to them”: 1. Skopos, 2. Into the fire, 3. Nestinarsko horo, 4. On sacrifice/At the single combat. These panagyr melodies are spread all over Strandza region but the players from different villages say they origin “from Urgari/Bulgari.”
The melodies are examples of the East-Thracian folk instrumental style in Phrygian
modus. In the four playing the bagpipe is interpreting ‘chained’ musical motifs (motifformed structure) that undergo some insignificant changes in the repetitions. In the course
of their sequence, there may be added some connecting intonation links – up to one to three
measures. Each melody could stop at any time of the performance, depending how long the
action is running on.
The earlier notations and records of the melodies (played by musicians, born at the end
of 19 and in the beginning of 20 century in the same village) and those from latter days show
some insignificant changes in the tunes and in the drumbeats. According to the conservative
transmission of the rite melodies – keeping to the ‘model’ of the folk tradition as rhythm,
tempo, intonation contents, way and place of performance, the very instruments, among
generations of musicians, among different villages – it is quite sure, that almost the same
musical contents sounded in the panagyrs in 19 century and earlier. Even nowadays, for all
the changes of the old tradition, they are strictly determined to certain moments of the panagyr; they are taken for granted and the way they sound is not a subject to comments.
1) The Skopos8 “on start” is the most frequently played melody (Notation 1).9 It resounds
the triple circling of the ember just before “into the fire” and the route of the procession at
every panagyr in Strandza region. This is the only nestinar melody in an uneven metre (7/16
a    ). In the Bulgarian folk tradition, there are many examples for the unity of the uneven
rhythmic pulsation and specific motion/body behaviour (including a dance) through the
‘obsession’ of the road in. As an acoustic phenomenon, the uneven pulsation shapes the
space and the passing time into Beginning and End, creates a support and says ‘yes’ at every
step on the ground. Slowly evenness, ‘thinking’ and measuring off evenly (in tone and
rhythm) symbolizes the Other Order, which ‘crossing’ into the funeral rite for example, is
figured also in the isophony and isochrony of the clapper or the bell.
The uneven pulsation of the Skopos (7/16:   |   |    |  ), the consequence of short and
long beats, resounded in principle by the drum all aver the panagyr is acting as a sacred code,
I should say as St Kostadin’s “rhythmic image” (Neykova 1998).
In the past, typical of the panagyr’ procession was the speed of the motion, the speed of
the musical playing and rhythm. Some old descriptions tell how “the icon-bearers walked
ahead, almost running, followed by the musicians, and then the nestinari – running and
dancing to the agiazma groaning ‘Vakh, vakh, vakh’ [...] The nestinari ran ahead, because
they were possessed”, and “in the state of trance they was running ahead all along the road,
and dancing vigorously at definite places”. On the same melody, The Skopos, they danced
in the konak of St Kostadin with “brisk, energetic movements, crazy fast, imbued with pain
[…]” (Arnaudov 1934: 623–624, with references).
The intensity, the volume of the sound and the growing tempo demanded by the nestinari
themselves modelled the time and the ethos of the environment in another tonality, I would
say, the environment as exceptional and unique.
8
9
From new Gr. skopós – aim, intention, plan.
Notation of the musical examples – R.N.
97
Notation 1
2) Nestinarsko horo (Notation 2) is a circle dance led by the epitrop (and the nestinari
next to him) after the consecrations of St Kostadin’s and St Elena’s holy springs (on 3th and
4th of June) and in the evenings around the ashes of the trampled ember. This horo led the
way for the following so-called all common horo dances of the panagyr (nowadays mostly
instrumental). Usually the musicians merge nestinarsko horo with the next instrumental playing without interruption. In the early 20th century, the observers describe this horo as a brisk
and vigorous, going forward, and then back, squatting and pulling the human chain; nowadays it is rather a moderate one. The contemporary notation shows no difference to the one,
made in 1927 (Stoin 1939: № 1684).
3) “The music drives you to go into the fire”.
As a conceptual focus of the rite the ember is emphasized by the musical triad – sounding before (The Skopos), during (In the Fire), and after its trampling (Nestinarsko horo). The
melody Into the fire (Notation 3) resounds the nestinars’ dancing on the live coals – once
and nowadays too. It begins with a long interpretation of an initial melodic motif, searching
in length the fifth tone of the scale (measure 2-27 with repetitions). Similar introduction is
available in all, earlier and later on records of the playing, but it is not typical of Strandza’s
instrumental performances in general. I consider it as a kind of symbolic ‘transcendental’
suggestion and entering into the whole situation at all.
Once the area of the ember was about 12-16 m2 – as a “threshing-floor” and a span and
even more deep (Arnaudov 1917: 53–54, 58, with references). The nestinari say they were
tramping not coals but gold; or they follow St Kostadin’s steps, who extinguished the fire
with a pitcher in hand.
In the words of the old people, just running or crossing the ember is no good; the coals
had to be completely extinguished and turned into ashes, because that “burns out the evil
98
Ruzha Neykova
Notation 2
and all diseases in the village…Then, a horo could be danced there” (Arnaudov 1917: 58).
This, namely “trampling out”, categorically distinguishes the nestinarstvo from the various forms of fire-walking (passing across embers) in the rest of the world. Being a specific
relict of Thracian antiquity (see below), this rite illustrates the fundamental difference between some prima facie similar ritual practices in different ethno-cultural zones and ritual
situations. Here, I would like to stress too, that the trampling on the ember was not permanent component of the nestinarstvo. It happened, they did not “enter into the fire” if there
was no a sigh from “above”. Due to the saint’s wills too, the nestinari could be possessed and
predict on another saint’ panagyrs, when there was not fire lit. Actually, that was the contact
with the “power” (following their words) and the predictions that joint them in the so-called
‘nestinar society’.
In principle the nestinar’ specific psychosomatic behaviour could be determined as a
‘dance’ (as usually it is done in some publications) only under conditions. In the state of trance
their actions was not organized as a chain of definite ‘motional movements’, i. e. as a system;10
they were extemporaneous, improvised, depending on the inner spiritual condition. “By the
time of the brisk music... possessed, with hands on stomach, up or stretched aside… suddenly they started moving wildly, groaning and stamping around in the narrow konak…
10
According to the definition of dance by ethnological point of view – Shtarbanova 1995: 69.
99
Notation 3
The other nestinari, jumping briskly in different directions were screaming, swinging hands
from below upwards and out as if going to fly; striking hysterically their front hips, they
were dancing back and forth, barefooted, with eyes half-closed, rapt, very pale [...] Looking
like half-dead, they could hear everything but could not speak until the time of release”
(Arnaudov 1934: 646; Arnaudov 1917: 54-55, with references).
The old descriptions as well as the words of the old Urgari’ generation deliver the interaction of two ‘bodies’ with their different motion-idiosyncrasies – that of the flight, in the
upper part of the body – “with squeezed eyes, hands up like bird’s wings and head cocked
on the right side [...]” (Arnaudov 1917: 59) and its opposite (male) extension, in depth and
down the earth – as trampling and treading.
4) The playing On single Combat/On Sacrifice (Notation 4) resounded the same name
moments – the combats on the Day of St Elena (4th of June) and during the sacrifices in the
both days. A specific of bagpipe’s tune is the sound resemblance to the acts and motion of
the combat. Such a like association is suggested by the melodic line, ‘writing’ peak and fall,
100
Ruzha Neykova
Notation 4
high and low, moving on levels within the musical range.11 Within numerous and different
in length performances (adequate to the time of combat and sacrifice) these motifs may happen in different parts of the playing.
In 19 and the first decades of 20 century, the single combat tune was played on the Day
of St Kostadin, when the people of Urgari were meeting near the village the nestinari from
the neighbour village of Kosti. At that, so called “meeting of the icons… the two saints combat”: two nestinari – from Urgari and Kosti close up their icons face to face and pressed them
hard until the weaker one gave way. The belief says, “St. Kostadin helped more to the village-winner” (Rusev 1891: 226; Arnaudov 1912: 8–9).
In Strandza region, there are two parallel notions of the sacrifice: as a wrestling with
the animal and as a requirement for non-violence over it (or the idea for the “voluntary selfsacrifice”). The non-violence over the sacrificial animal corresponds to the voluntary victim,
described by old literary sources and chiselled with the head down in archaic stone reliefs.
The village tells some ‘real’ stories about bulls, pledged to be sacrificed to the saints, which
came alone.
The musicians themselves say to play “on single combat” during sacrifice according to
an old tradition, which means “to fight with a healthy animal, big and strong, let’s say with
a bull […] to defeat it […] to bring it down to the earth and to kill it”. Once the person,
slaughtering the bull had be left-handed and named Kostadin. The association of St Constantine with a bull has been repeatedly claimed in the clairvoyance of the nestinari. Literally:
“St Constantine wants blood, we need to sacrifice a bull, one of its jaws is down, on the
threshold, the other one is up, gaping for blood” (Fol V. & Neykova 2000: 151-152). It is prob-
11
over.
In the old folk tradition, the winner is the one, who uproots his antagonist from the ground and raises him
101
ably not by chance that the rope used to tie the sacrificial bull hung next to the drum on the
wall in St Constantine’s konak.
It is considered a good omen if the animal still moves after being sacrificed. They say the
slaughter has a skilful hand. Probably that is the background idea about the ‘blurred’ boundary between ‘this’ world and the world ‘beyond’, and respectively, the painless passage of
the animal.
Until the middle of 20th century, the single combat and the sacrifice took place simultaneously – in front of, and in the yard of St Kostadin’s konak. During that double combat
(man – man /man – bull) the drum and the bagpipe (made from the victim’s skin) resound
the notion of ‘transfer’/intermediary, underlying on principle in the offerings, musical instruments, nestinari, icons… in the panagyr at all. The local people – and this is very important – speak about these contests as a kind of passion and possession.
The Ancient Background of Nestinarstvo
The Territory. (Following Fol V. 2005: 53–54; Fol V. & Neykova 2000: 30–38). The
region of Strandzha Mountain belongs to the ancient Thrace-Phrygian ethno-cultural territory (the later Constantinople chora/territory). In the late 5th, early 4th century BC it was a part
of the powerful Thracian Kingdom of the Odrysae. Latter on and till 2nd century AD, the
region was subordinated to the independent Thracian king of strategy Astika. The strategy
was liquidated by the Roman administration of Emperor Hadrian (2nd AD), but in times
before and after it was not urbanized. A Thracian population survived in the closed mountain territory to and after the beginning of the Middle Ages.
The Byzantine Greek and the Bulgarian languages penetrated consequently in the region (since 6th century) as the mountain turned into a boundary land between states and
often changed rulers. The substrata population gradually became bilingual but preserved
its own mentality and rite-system. During the Ottoman empire (14–19 century) the mountain was declared producing-tax area and Turks were not settled in at all. The process of inner
re-grouping of the people in ‘Greek’ and ‘Bulgarian’ and the question of ‘the ethnic origin’
arose from the middle of the 19th century From this time onwards, the nestinarstvo and the
folk tradition in Strandza region has been a subject to descriptions and investigations by the
Bulgarian observers. At the beginning of the 20th century, 18 nestinars’ villages (7 Greek and
11 Bulgarian villages) were known.
Since earliest (Slaveykov 1866; 1884) and later on data, the villagers of Bulgari and the
neighbourly Greek-speaking Kosti celebrated together the panagyr of St Constantine and St
Helena. According to a legend, the saints “Kostadins” and their icons in the both villages
were brothers. During the 20ies of the twentieth century, under the Treaty of Neuilly after
World War I, the Greek lingual population was forced to leave Bulgaria and their homes;
they settled in different villages and small towns in Northern Greece (the regions of Drama
and Thessalonica). Since then the panagyr of Sts. Kostadin and Elena took on two different
ways of existence.12
The religious background of nestinarstvo goes to the Thracian Orphism – a pre-Hellenic oral doctrine of Thrace-Pelasgian and Thrace-Phrygian early class societies on the Balkans with ancient Anatolia/Asia Minor, before and after the Trojan War.13 It is precisely in
12
13
About musical performances of the descendants of nestinar stock in Northern Greece, see Neykova 2000.
The data for Thracian Orphism refers to Aleksandar Fol (1986; 1991: 15, 225; 1994; 1997: 157, 122, 373; 2002:
102
Ruzha Neykova
these lands that we find various types of sources (Hellenistic, Roman, Late Ancient ages),
which best reveal the essence of Orphism. In the more advanced state organizations in
Southern Thrace during and after the fifth century BC, it was practised by members of kingpriest families and later on in Hellenic communities – in the northern part of Hellas, in Thessaly, Boeotia, Phocis, including Delphi and the Parnassus Mountains ().
Thracian Orphism is a kingship ideology, connected with the status of the king as high
priest and his divinity and immortality (? not to be confused with metempsychosis – R.N.).
The basic concept of the faith is the mystery of the sacred marriage of the Great Mother Goddess (known in the Greek times as Cibella, Demetra, Arthemis) and her Son – the Sun/Fire
(known by the Thrace-Phrygian name Zagreus/Sabazios). In the sacrificial rituals, the Son
(usually in the form of a bull14) “unites his blood with the powerful womb of the Earth” and
is reborn (Fol A. 1986; 2002: 44, 242). The Orphic king himself is believed as an incarnation
of the Son, of the dying and resurrecting Orphic God. A system of rites and sacrifices provided the annual renovation and ritual rebirth of the king and consequently of the socium
under his rule. After his death, he turns into an anthropodaimon (into a divine, doctrinally initiated “mediator between man and God…” (Fol A. 2002: 19, 45–46, 63, 268).
The Son, the supreme Orphic God was dual by nature, both solar and chthonic. The rising sun was believed as Zagreus, who died and because of hierogram was reborn as Sabazius. After the eighth century BC, in the period of mass Hellenization Thraco-Pelasgian beliefs
in solar and chthonic energies were personified in ancient Greek as Apollo and Dionysos.
These two cosmogonic ideas correspond to different ritual acts. At the Orphic esoteric (aristocratic) mysteries, the immortality is attained in a state of ékstasis (raising up to the Son/
God); at the exoteric/collective Orphic-Bacchus mysteries, held at night – through enthusiasmys (introducing in the Son into the believers – Fol A. 2002: 242).
Dionysos was a chthonic God, giving the divine knowledge only in a state of mania; he
was believed to incarnate in his Bacchi during the orgia.15 These enthusiasmic states were painful
and led to insanity the prophets – as noted in the poems of Orpheus himself, a “poet and
seer” (according to Philochorus, Schol. in Eur. Alk. 968). “Dionysos is a prophet, because Bacchanalia outrage and madness have a great prophetic power” (Schol. in Euripid. Hek. 1267).
In the first century BC, Strabo describes the temple of the Great Mother Goddess/Artemis at Castabala, where the priestesses “walk with naked feet on hot embers without
pain”. In mysteries too, the initiated “carried things through fire” – sacred objects-mediators
or the image of Sabazios himself (Strab. XII 2. 7).
In a magic papyrus from Late Antiquity “the guardian of the threshing-floor, the threeheaded and ox-eyed [wide-eyed] Persephone, walks quickly through the fire” (Fol V. &
Neykova 2000: 140).
At the beginning of the 4th century AD, Iamblichus reports that there are many who
possess divine mantic, tell the future through enthusiasmós and theophory; introduce and
carry God into themselves; “[…] They initiate God into themselves […] and got close to the
fire without burning […]” (Iambl. De myst. III. 4).
Archeologically, these ancient rites are situated in the mountain’ sanctuaries through the
whole Thrace-Phrygian contact zone (Fol A. 1997: 351–353; Fol V. 2000: 133).
In the Thracian and ancient Greek tradition, the musicians and the most musical instruments are of divine or semi-divine origin as well attributes of the Gods. The musical instru44; 2002: Porozhanov 1998: 188), basing on the old Greek and Latin sources.
14
In the East Mediterranean region (including Egypt), in the Thracian and ancient Greek cultural-linguistic
communities, the God-Bull is one of the strongest identifications of God. Eating raw, bloody meat was believed
to induce possession, i.e. His entry into believers.
15
Very often orgia is misinterpreted as “ecstatic form of worship”.
103
ment of Orphic mysteries was Thrace-Phrygian double/two pipes aulos/auloi (Aeschil.
Edonoi. Fr. 71. = Strabo. Geograph. Х 3, 16; Kallias. Ped. Fr. 18). To Plato auloses are divine
and “touching Gods” (Charm. Minos. 318a). Aristotle thinks over the close correspondence
of aulos and the Phrygian modus (Polit. 1342a 33–35 – 1342b: 109; see also Rouget 1985: 226).
The aulos is typical of the iconography of Dionysos and for the God himself (Strabo. Geograph. Х 3, 16). Sabazios is aulos-player (Aristophanes. Ornites. Schol. ad 874).
One of the certain and repeatedly noted links is that between the Great Mother Goddess
and the reed wind instruments in Thrace-Phrygian Orphic mysteries: “Box-tree flutes (aulos) [...] are nothing […] but Phrygian [...] Each of the flutes has a straight tip and plays for
the Phrygian goddess” (Kallias. Ped. Fr. 18; Aeschil. Edonoi. Fr. 71. = Strabo Х 3, 16).
The same reed instrument (aulos) sounded as a mediator in Thracian lamentations (Aeschil. Per. Schol. ad 938). In Thrace, “Mariandynus made famous the playing of laments on
the flute (aulos) [...] There are also Mariandynian flutes (auloi) which are specially designed
for laments” (Aeschil. Per. Schol. ad 938). A similar use of the reed instrument subalo (double
aulos) – in sacrificial and burial rites is known from Etruscan finds and representations
(6th – 7th century BC) and of the Roman tibia/tubia duplex. According to Plutarch, the tibia and
tиmpanum/tympanum were played during Roman cremations and funerals “so as to drown
out the cries of the sacrificial animals” (Marcuse 1975: 657, 659). Plutarch’s explanation attests to a decline and distortion (or ignorance?) of the concept of the transcendent magic
function of sound and instrument.
These musical ethos and meanings have been transmitted over the centuries. In the Bacchanal/Bacchic mysteries, the aulos was often accompanied with membranophones (tympanon). Probably, that ancient “couple” is the ritual prototype of the contemporary dyad of
bagpipe and drum, played at panegyric sacrifices.
And so, because of the specificity of the socio-economic and ideological situation in
South-Eastern Thrace, significant elements of the ancient mysteries have been preserved as
a folk tradition – in the so-called nestinarstvo/Greek anastenaria among the population in the
Mount Strandzha area (South-Eastern Bulgaria) and among the descendants of nestinars
families in some settlements in Northern Greece (who resettled there after the 1920s). The
etymology of the word is uncertain: the Greek en estia/in the fire-hearth as well as anastenaso/to groan, suggest the rites dedicated to Dionysos. The oldest naming is written in 13th
century by an anonymous Byzantium author; it refers to historical events in Bulgaria in 12th
century and to some people, prophesying and “possessed by evil spirits”, who was called
astenaria (Arnaudov 1917: 78–80, 90, with references).
During the Early Middle Ages, the fire rites in the mysteries of Sabazios and of the Great
Mother Goddess were superficially Christianized through the cult of pair of Sts. Constantine and Helena (as mother and son). The tradition was preserved and maintained in the
oral, non-literate environment of Bulgaria and Byzantium, i.e. in the lands where the influence of literary centres was weak. “Naturally, the oldest ritual meaning of all characters […]
has been forgotten. They are interpreted in a new way […] and became universal in principle: for fertility, for rain, for good, against evil, etc. Before this level of universals, earlier
ones are revealed, the most ancient of which consists in the pagan realia of the Thracian
ethno-cultural substrate in Strandza” (Fol A. 1986: 44–45).
***
There was no other folk tradition in Bulgaria and in Northern Greece, subjected to such
hardships, even persecution on the part of the Church, the Communist Party, the Junta in
Greece, some psychoanalysts and the market economy. Subjected to religious, political, demographic, science-interpretative, ‘business’-interpretative, ‘folk-stage’ interpretations, to
104
Ruzha Neykova
various newspaper speculations and ‘inquiries’.
The Orthodox Church opposed the ritual. Greek and Bulgarian priests did not allow the
fires of nestinari; they used to hide the icons, threatened with “hanging in Sofia”, and
cursed… Till the middle of 20th century, some neuropsychiatrists, with poor knowledge in
the field of ethnology investigated the folk tradition in the village of Bulgari. They simplified and reduce the nestinarstvo to a diagnosis (such as hysteria, paranoia/dementia or schizophrenic state), incapable to comprehend it as an ethno-cultural substratum.
In 1960 the communistic regime in Bulgaria forbade the nestinarstvo as “savagery…
compromising the Bulgarian people...” After to the communistic policy, the folk tradition
had to be cleaned up from all pagan traces, “but for commercial reason, in some restaurants
was permitted the so called ‘fire-show’ or nestinars’ dance” (Todorov 1992).
In 1969–1970 the last two nestinarki in Strandza region (in the villages of Kalandzha and
Urgari) passed away (Neykova 2001). In the following years, different ‘fire-walkers’, neglected and named by the old local people ‘artificial nestinari’, participate in the panagyr of
Sts. Kostadin and Elena (village of Bulgari). The ‘crossing’ over some ashes and small leavings of live coals in various nightclubs also claims to be nestinars’ dancing. In 1996, the three
sacred icons of Sts. Kostadin and Elena, carried by the old nestinari were stolen from the
church in the village of Bulgari, probably by commercial reasons? The law did nothing –
that was not a matter of importance… Since then on, ceased the procession on the second
day of the panagyr – the Day of St Elena. In the last ten years the old generation in the village
– the bearers of the sacred meanings and of the rhythm of the rites passed away.
The panagyrs in Strandza survived – as attractive mass festivities with the participation
of fire-walkers. However, these dancers are not “treading over 10 inches of gold” but just
earning a fee. In 2009 nestinarstvo have been inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.16 Actually the only intangible and unviolated cultural
heritage, left over from the old nestinar’ tradition is the music – the instruments and the
nestinars’/panagyrs’ melodies. Probably, their lucky chance was the ignorance of the political, ideological, ‘cultural’, office etc. workers, who never sensed the sophisticated meanings
of the ritual sound… Thank Heaven!
Bibliography
Arnaudov Mihail (1912), Studii varhu balgarskite obredi i legendi [Studies of the Bulgarian
Rituals and Legends], “Spisanie na BAN” 14, pp. 1–122 (in Bulgarian).
Arnaudov Mihail (1917), Novi svedenia za nestinarite [New Data about the Nestinari],
“Spisanie na BAN” 14, pp. 43–102 (in Bulgarian).
Arnaudov Mihail (1934), Ocherki po balgarski folklor [Essays on Bulgarian Folklore], Sofia:
Ministerstvo na narodnoto prosveshtenie (in Bulgarian).
Fol Aleksandar (1986), Тrakiyskiyat Orfizam [The Thracian Orphism], Sofia: Universitetsko
izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Fol Aleksandar (1991), Тrakiyskiyat Dionis. Kniga parva: Zagrey [Thracian Dionysos. Book
One: Zagreus] Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Fol Aleksandar (1994), Тrakiyskiyat Dionis. Kniga vtora: Sabaziy [Thracian Dionysos. Book
Two: Sabazios] Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Fol Aleksander (1997), Istoria na balgarskite zemi v drevnostta do kraya na III v. pr. Hr. [History
of the Bulgarian Lands in Antiquity until the End of 3rd c. B. C.], Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Fol Aleksandar (2002), Тrakiyskiyat Dionis. Kniga treta: Nazovavane i vyara [Thracian Di-
See: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/00191/last accessed 25 March 2013 (in English); http://library.
thinkquest.org/C0130033/sources_bg.html/last accessed 26 March 2013 (in Bulgarian).
16
105
onysos. Book Three: Naming and Faith], Sofia: Nov balgarski universitet (in Bulgarian).
Fol Valeria & Neykova Ruzha (2000), Ogan i muzika [Fire and Music], Sofia: Akademichno
izdatelstvo “Marin Drinov” & Тilia (in Bulgarian).
Fol Valeria (2000), Megalitni i skalno–izsecheni pametnitsi v drevna Trakia [Megaliths and Rock–
Cutted Monuments in Ancient Thracia], Studia Tracica 10, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Fol Valeria (2005), Zavrashtat li se starite bogove? [Are the Old Gods Returning?], “Balgarski
folklor” 4, pp. 50–66 (in Bulgarian).
Fol Valeria (2007), Skalni toposi na vyara v Yugoiztochna Evropa i v Mala Azia prez drevnostta
[Rock Topoi of Faith in the Eastern Mediterranean and in Asia Minor during Antiquity], Sofia:
Institut po trakologia, BAN (in Bulgarian).
Kachulev Ivan (1965), Balgarski duhovi dvuglasni narodni instrumenti. Gaidi i dvoyanki [Folk
Bulgarian Aerophonic Instruments. Bagpipes and Double Flutes], “Izvestia na Instituta za
muzika” 11, pp. 23–78 (in Bulgarian).
Marcuse Sibyl (1975), A Survey of Musical Instruments, London: Newton Abbot, David &
Charles.
Neykova Ruzha (1996), Panagirite v selo Bulgari/Urgari [The Panagyri in the Village of Bulgari/Urgari], “Balgarski folklor” 1–2, pp. 58–83 (in Bulgarian).
Neykova Ruzha (1998), Nestinarski svirni. Nablyudenia varhu ritama [Nestinars’ Instrumental
Melodies. Observation on the Rhythm], “Balgarski folklor” 4, pp. 24–30 (in Bulgarian).
Neykova Ruzha (2000), Some Features of Anastenaria/Nestinarstvo and its Sound in Northern
Greece in: East European Meetings in Ethnomusicology, vol. 7, ed. by M. Marian–Balasa,
Bucharest: Romanian Society for Ethnomusicology, pp. 20–40.
Neykova Ruzha (2001), Poslednata nestinarka v Kalandzha [The Last Nestinarka in the Village
of Kalandzha], “Balgarski folklor” 4, pp. 76–82 (in Bulgarian).
Neykova Ruzha (2009), Together Again – After Eighty Years (on Materials of the Nestinarstvo/
Anastenaria) in: E. Anastasova & M. Koiva (ed.) Balkan and Baltic States in United Europe.
Histories, Religions, and Cultures, Sofia & Tartu, pp. 165–170.
Popov Rachko (1991), Svettsi bliznatsi v balgarskia naroden kalendar [Saints–Twins in Bulgarian Folk Calendar], Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite (in
Bulgarian).
Porozhanov Kalin (1998), Оbshtestvo i darzhavnost u trakite [Society and State Organization of
the Thracians], Studia Thracica 6, Sofia: Institut po trakologia, BAN (in Bulgarian).
Rouget Gilbert (1985), Music and Trance, Chicago & London: The University of Chicago
Press.
Rusev Stoyn (1891), Narodni obichai. Nistinari [Folk Rituals. Nistinari], “Sbornik za narodni
umotvorenia” 6, pp. 224–227 (in Bulgarian).
Shtarbanova Anna (1995), Tantsat kato patuvane v sveta na sakralnoto [The Dance as a Journey
in the World of the Sacred], “Balgarski folklor” 1–2, pp. 64–73 (in Bulgarian).
Slaveykov Petko (1866), Nravi i obichai [Characters and Customs], “Gaida” 3, 12, pp. 194–195
(Reprinted in: Izvori za balgarskata etnografia (1992), Sofia: Etnografski institut s muzey,
BAN, pp. 363–366) (in Bulgarian).
Slaveykov Petko (1884), Nestinarite in: Balgarska hristomatia ot Vazov i Velichkov, vol. 1, Sofia,
pp.134–135 (Reprinted in: Izvori za balgarskata etnografia (1992), Sofia: Etnografski institut s muzey, BAN, pp. 414–418) (in Bulgarian).
Stoin Vasil (1939), Sbornik balgarski narodni pesni ot Iztochna i Zapadna Trakia [Corpus Bulgarian Folk Songs from East and West Trace], Sofia: Trakiyski nauchen institut (in
Bulgarian).
Todorov Todor (1992), Nestinarstvoto v Bulgaria ot nachaloto na 30–te do zabranata mu prez
50–te godini [The Nestinarstvo in Bulgaria since 30–ies of 20th century till its Forbiddance in
50–ies], “Balgarsko muzikoznanie” 3, pp. 3–19 (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: Dr Ruzha Neykova is Associate Professor at the Department “Ethnomusicology and Ethnochoreology” at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and part-time lecturer of Ethnology at the St.
Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia.
106
Ruzha Neykova
Vol. 2/2013
p. 107–116
Politics and Ceremonies
Valentina Vaseva
Funerals of Bulgarian Politicians in the Post
Communist Period
Abstract: The topic of this text are funeral ceremonies of some members of the Bulgarian political elite,
conducted over the recent years. The largest group consists of the burials of politicians of high prominence
in the last decade of Bulgarian socialism, which were performed without funeral honours or a burial service. The second group of burials includes those given partial honours, where the only one with proper
ceremonies was that of the first Bulgarian President Petar Mladenov. A special group of funerals is that of
the burial of the urn with the ashes of Georgi Dimitrov, whose body was taken out of the Mausoleum
before its demolition, and cremated properly, and the funeral of the long-standing Party and State leader
during the Era of socialism, Todor Zhivkov. The funerals systematized in this paper outline one of the elements of the urban funeral culture of modern times – burials of the political elite. The analysis is based
entirely on materials published in the press.
Keywords: civic services, funeral honours ceremonies, demolition of the Mausoleum
Shortly after 1989, simultaneously with the deep economic, political and social
changes in Bulgarian society, the ritual system began to change as well. The repudiation of
the socialist holidays and rituals was as sudden as the replacement of the totalitarian communist regime by a democratic political system. The process of a prolonged transformation
of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) was begun and so, after renaming itself as the Socialist Party (BSP), it had to look for new leaders among the younger generation. While
perhaps intended as formal only, political conditions forced all the new changes to become
tangible. The generation at the head of the centennial party1 had changed, and, along with
it, older members had to be removed from power and even excluded from historical records. Some of the former socialist leaders were expelled from the party in the winter of
1989 (Ognyan Doynov,2 Georgi (Grisha) Filipov,3 etc.) and some of them were brought to
court (Andrey Lukanov,4 Ognyan Doynov, Grisha Filipov, Todor Zhivkov). In the years after
the fall of the socialist system in 1989, a small part of the previous elite continued as
representatives for the new Socialist Party.
1
1891 is considered the beginning of the party’s history, when the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party was
formed.
2
3
Ognyan Doynov was a member of the Politburo of BCP, minister and diplomat.
Georgi (Grisha) Filipov – became a member of the Central Committee of the BCP in 1966, and in 1974 a
member of Politburo. A leading member of the Politburo, he formed the 77th Bulgarian Government on 16 June
1981. following the elections to the National Assembly. Until 21 March, 1986, he held the post of Prime Minister
of Bulgaria (1981–1986).
4
Andrey Lukanov – Bulgarian politician who before 1989 was a diplomat, minister, Vice Prime Minister of
Bulgaria, later Minister of Foreign Affairs. After the fall of the socialist system in 1989, he was twice Prime
Minister for short periods of time.
108
Valentina Vaseva
By the end of the transition period most of the older generation politicians, as well as the
general secretary of the BCP, Todor Zhivkov, had already passed away and the change of
generations in the party itself was completed not only symbolically but also in ideological
and demographic terms. During the first two decades of the changes, death notices appeared in the press in which we could see a large part of the ruling political elite from the
last 10 years of socialism. Even though most of the dead had held high governmental posts,
very few were buried with state honours. During the same period the socialist values, which
had accumulated over the last 50 years, became obsolete. At the same time, the new political
elite, in striving to distance themselves from their predecessors, produced incongruities in
the governmental institutions and in the ruling parties with regard to the organization of
civic services for those associated with the political elite and to the ways of honouring them
post-mortem. The socialist party itself had no clear vision for its expelled or dead members,
even though the civic services had been initiated and organized by the High Council of BSP.
The High Council and Bulgarian citizens had no other way of finding out but to read the
published death notices in the party’s newspaper – “Duma”.
Amidst all the political turmoil following the fall of the communist regime, humble civic
services were organized without the cooperation of the government – by the families of the
deceased with support of the High Council of BSP. Many of the politicians who passed away
during this period were members of the socialist ruling elite: Tsola Dragoycheva5 died May
26, 1993; Grisha Filipov died November 2, 1994; Stanko Todorov6 died December 20, 1996;
Ognyan Doynov died February 13, 2000, etc. Most of them were very elderly7. Among them
only Doynov, who died abroad and whose body was transported by airplane from Vienna,
was buried in Sofia (Tashev 2000: 12; Gotev 2000: 4). During socialism, final farewells with
the deceased politicians of that particular group used to take place in the Ritual Hall of the
Central Sofia Cemetery. The difference between the common people’s civic service and that
of the high-ranking officials was the presence of large crowds, notable politicians and several funeral speakers. When large crowds gathered outside the small Ritual Hall, additional
speakers were brought outside. The same preparations were made for the funeral services
of Stanko Todorov, Todor Zhivkov and the final farewell with the urn of Georgi Dimitrov on
July 23, 1990 (“Trud”, December 21, 1996: 13; Gyurova 1998: 4; Bachvarova et al. 1990: 1)
Some of the families of the politicians who had passed away hired private funeral agencies
to help organize the ceremonies – Todor Zhivkov’s family used the services of “Karma”,
Ognyan Doynov the funeral agency “Amber”, Petar Mladenov the funeral agency “Styx”
(Gyurova 1998: 4; “24 hours”, 2 June 2000: 3).
Most communist politicians of the older generation were buried without state honours.
Amongst them were high-ranking government officials in the communist era: formеr Prime
Ministers of Bulgaria – Grisha Filipov, Stanko Todorov; ministers – Tsola Dragoycheva, Ognyan Doynov; the Chairperson of the National Assembly of Bulgaria – Stanko Todorov;
different members of the National Assembly. The unwillingness of the contemporary
political class to do the last honours to their predecessors stirred some outrage only in the
case of Todor Zhivkov, who had been at the top of the government for more than 30 years.
He also was buried without state honours.
5
Tsola Dragoycheva was a long-time member of the National Assembly of Bulgaria. On December 11, 1947,
she became the first female member of the Cabinet in the history of the country.
6
Stanko Todorov became a member of the Politburo in 1961 and held several government posts. He served
as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, the third highest post in the country, from July 7, 1971, until June 16, 1981. He then
became Chairman of the Parliament, serving in that position until the first multiparty elections in 1990. Prime
Minister of Bulgaria (1971–1981). Held the post of Chairperson of the National Assembly of Bulgaria.
7
Tsola Dragoycheva died at the age of 95, Grisha Filipov at the age of 75, Boris Velchev at 81, and Todor
Zhivkov at 87.
Funerals of Bulgarian Politicians in the Post Communist Period
109
As a rule, the deceased politicians from the top of the hierarchy of the communist party
have been buried without a funeral service. During socialism, only a civic service was
mandatory at city funerals. The last farewell with the family, friends and admirers took
place at the Ritual Hall of the Central Sofia Cemetery. There, civil servants performed a
universal civic service from a script, accompanied by funeral music.8 At the funerals of wellknown citizens, to this universal script are added many funeral speeches, which precede the
actual funeral. Afterwards, all those attending make their final goodbye with the remains.
First, flowers are placed in the open coffin, then for a moment the participants bow their
head to pay respect and walk to condole the family (who are always seated on the left side
of the coffin). Immediately after the ceremony a small funeral procession takes place in the
cemetery, which follows the deceased from the Ritual Hall to the grave. The walk is not very
long because members of government are buried in the plot of the cemetery № 10, called by
the people and journalists the “state plot of the cemetery”. Usually, the funeral there is attended by a small number of family members, friends, relatives and comrades invited by
the family, some of whom give speeches, while the coffin is placed on the ground. Red pyramids with a star on top are placed instead of the Christian wooden cross at the head of the
newly dug greaves (Yaneva 2000: 297; Yaneva 2002: 347).
In the state plot № 10 at the Central Sofia Cemetery many former BCP members are buried – Ognyan Doynov, Andrey Lukanov, Petar Mladenov, Dimitar Stoyanov etc. After the
funeral of Petar Mladenov, journalists noticed that many of the graves in this parcel were left
unattended or had been desecrated – like many of the graves of ordinary citizens over the
years of transition. More than 10 graves in the “state plot of the cemetery” had thus been
destroyed, for example that of Andrey Lukanov (Mihaylova A. 2000: 3).
The tradition for party members to be buried in the Central Sofia Cemetery in graves
neighbouring one another dates back to the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century
– Dimitar Petkov from the Bulgarian People’s Liberal Party is buried next to his comrades
Stefan Stambolov and Dimitar Grekov, and Dr Georgi Yankulov from the Bulgarian Conservative
Party is buried right besides the party leader Dr Konstantin Stoilov (Vaseva 2008).
The omissions of a funeral service during the transition years were by request of the family of the deceased, who were convinced that a civic service would be more suitable in view
of their atheism. Rejecting the Orthodox Church and its age-old traditions of looking after
the sick and the dying, and the Christian conceptions of immortality of the soul and the
need to pray for the ease of its passage after death, socialist society embraced atheism as its
main ideology. In tune with the new urge “to ignore death” (Ph. Aries) was the idea of the
civic service –only partial elements of Christian proceedings are present, but so deformed
and disguised that in turn impaired whole idea.9
The world-wide social practice “to ignore death” had actually begun with estrangement
from home. In modern times, the usual place to die is a hospital10 and the body of the de8
The origins of this element of the civic service can be traced back to the traditions of the Bulgarian cities at
the end of the 19th century. At the funeral service of members of the political hierarchy in Sofia, the choir of
N. Nikolaev performed the song Vechnaya Pamyat. When the body was brought out of the family home, or after
it was laid in the grave, the army band played Kol Slaven by Portnyanski (Vaseva 2008).
9
The delivery of a funeral speech, as a Bulgarian tradition, dates back to the 19th century, and despite its
secular origins, became an integral part of the funeral service – a speech is given before the ritual poslednoe
celovanie (last kiss) (Radkova 2003: 8). After Bulgaria’s Liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, memorial
services were given for deceased politicians in churches around most of the cities simultaneously with the
funeral service in Sofia (Vaseva 2008). This funeral tradition in Bulgarian cities is considered to be the foundation
of the socialist rallies for paying last respects to noted socialists.
10
Most politicians from this group died in Sofia in a special government hospital, where they were treated
before their passing.
110
Valentina Vaseva
ceased is not brought home – but is transported from the hospital directly to a back room in
the Ritual Hall at the city cemetery. The final farewell itself, as well as the condolences for to
the family, takes place in the Ritual Hall – a public space which deprives the modern funeral
ceremony of intimacy,11 standardizes it and at the same time dehumanizes it. This dehumanization is visible even in the very name of the hall – the ‘Funeral home’ – which summarizes/generalizes all the homes of the dead citizens and in every aspect replaces the real
home of the deceased.12 The act can be regarded as the dead being “chased away” to the
Funeral home by the community for their collective needs. (Aries 2004: 365).
The parade fashion of the socialist funerals, which was preserved only for the leading
posts of the ruling Communist Party – secretary generals – incorporated a similar element.
Condoling the family took place in other ‘homes’, much more presentable than the Ritual
Hall of the city cemetery. These were the ‘homes of the party’, erected in the centers of all
communist capitals, where the real and symbolic center of power would lie – the homes of
the ruling elite. The bodies of statesmen and party leaders were displayed in such halls for
vsenarodno poklonenie (mass gathering for paying respect) and heavily guarded by the military. These guards were part of the military honours, which, according to the State Protocol
Directorate, the State Etiquette Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are given after
the death of a commander-in-chief of the national army. Another element borrowed from
the communist funeral rallies is the guard of honour. It was described in the press as a threeminute stand-still in front of the last remains, performed by the honour guard in the name
of the members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and of the foreign delegates.13 Next to the ‘honour’ or real military guards would sit the family of the deceased and
receive condolences. The tradition of the honour guards has been kept after the changes of
1989. At the last farewell to the Chairperson of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, Stefan
Savov, in 2000, both the honour guard and the guards from the Sofia Garrison were brought
in to commemorate the Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly, representing the President’s administration, the coalition partners of the Union Populaire, ministers and, consequently, members of all the parliamentary groups (Filipova & Angarev 2000: 3).
During socialism, the Bulgarian civic funeral service was strictly directed and very similar to the Soviet funerals. The monumental Pillar Hall (Kolonniy zal) in The House of the
Unions (Dom Soyuzov), also called the ‘Palace of Unions’, has a very old tradition. The last
farewell of the former Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Georgi Dimitrov, on 3 July 194914, took
11
Before 1944, the last farewell with the passed Bulgarian politicians took place in their homes in Sofia, and
the established urban tradition included personal visits to the home of the deceased to condole the family (Vaseva
2008).
12
Similar ‘funeral homes’ or ‘funeral parlours’ close to the cemetery were started in early 20th century in
USA. Inside, the mourners visit the dead for the last time (whereas in the future, they would visit their homes).
The American model spread to Europe, and in France – next to the burial grounds – ‘Athanees’ were built, quite
similar to normal homes (Aries 2004: 492, 494). In one of such, in Caveau provisoire (embalmment room), the body
of the noted Bulgarian politician Zahari Stoyanov, who died in Paris on September 2, 1889, was embalmed
(Vaseva 2008). The French traditions of embalmment are well-known (Lemonnier 2005: 203–212).
13
The lower version of the honour guard was the participation of students as honour guards in schools and
universities by the mourning corners, decorated with a portrait of the deceased in front of which flowers were
placed. In the universities, the honour guard was performed by the members of the university comities of Dimitrov
Young Communist League (DCYL) during the days of mourning (vsenaroden traur). In schools, during the mourning condoling letters were written which teachers sent to the Central Committee of the Communist Party
(M. Markova, 38 years, A. Turnovski, 46 years, documented by V. Vaseva April 27, 2006). Honour guards stand by
the portrait of the deceased in the socialist factories and plants (“Rabotnichesko delo” 320, 16 November 1982).
14
Georgi Dimitrov died on July 2, 1949, in the sanatorium “Barviha” near Moscow. After the service in the
Soviet capital the body was sent to Bulgaria by a special ‘mourning train’, which arrived in Ruse on July 5. From
July 7 to 9 the body was put on display in the National Assembly and on the next day, accompanied by a grand
111
place in the same Pillar Hall where the bodies of Lenin, Stalin and many other Soviet leaders
were buried. The last civic funeral services in the Palace of Unions were those of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Kommunisticheskaya partia Sovetskogo Soyuza – CPSU):
Leonid Brezhnev (12 to 15 November 1982), Yuri Andropov (10 to 13 February 1984) and
Konstantin Chernenko (11 to 13 March 1985. The hall, reserved for civic services of noted
Bulgarian communists, is in the capital Sofia in “Georgi Kirkov Hall” in the House of the
Communist Party of Bulgaria, renamed during the transition as “St Sofia Hall”. In the
following years, the journalists referred to it as the “Former House of the Communist Party
of Bulgaria”, “the Former Party House”, or the “Office House of the National Assembly” on
the renamed Prince Alexander of Battenberg Square. Even in modern times this hall continues
to be used as a funeral home for the ruling elite, such as members of the National Assembly
of Bulgaria (the three female members of the National Assembly who died in a car crash in
1996; chairman of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party Peter Dertliev, who died on
November 2000; Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria Andrey Lukanov, in October 1996;
Former Chairperson of the National Assembly Stefan Savov, in February, 2000; Former
President Peter Mladenov, June, 2000; and even the national favourite pop singer Emil
Dimitrov). These were just some of the passed away politicians and members of BSP
displayed in the hall.
In addition to the politicians, in the last 20 years buried with state honours were
representatives of the younger generation of BCP who had staged the coup d’état on
November 10, 1989.15 Their names are mentioned together with those of the heads of the
state of the transition period. One of them is Petar Mladenov, who held the post of President
during the newest period of Bulgaria’s political history, and who was forced to resign in the
summer of 1990. Mladenov had spent the last years of his life in solitude with his family but
after his death on 1 July, 2000, was buried with state honours, as befitting a head of state. His
was the first funeral of a President of Bulgaria in the post socialist period.
Just after the news of his death, his memory was commemorated by members of the
National Assembly with a one minute silence at the beginning of the session. Members of
the Parliament sent letters of condolences to the family. President Petar Stoyanov ordered
Petar Mladenov to be buried with state honours and arranged for the funeral ritual with the
Chairperson of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, Yordan Sokolov. The arrangements were
discussed at a special meeting in the State Protocol Directorate, the State Etiquette Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A state committee was formed for the organization of the
funeral headed by the Minister of Social Affairs, Ivan Neykov. BSP also formed a committee
to participate in the organization16. According to the public schedule, the last farewell took
place on 4 June in St Sofia Hall and the burial was at 2 p.m. in the Central Sofia Cemetery
(Marinova & Mateeva 2000: 11; “24 Hours”, 2 June 2000: 3). On the day of the funeral,
St Sofia Hall was decorated with a black flag, and 4 Officers of the National Guards Unit of
funeral rally, it was transported to the mausoleum (built in 10 days) in downtown Sofia (Vaseva 2012; Zhelev
1998: 3).
15
This group of politicians died much younger compared to the communists of the first group – Petar
Mladenov died at 64; 58-year-old Andrey Lukanov was killed on October 2, 1996. Ognyan Doynov, who died at
64 in Vienna, was buried in Sofia without state honours.
16
To underline loyalty of the former president to their party, the socialists organized a funeral corner in their
headquarters on Pozitano street № 20, where members and sympathizers could write in the funeral book.
Afterwards the book was brought to “St Sofia Hall” for the service. The funeral corner with a portrait of the
deceased and a book for condolences was prepared for the funeral of Todor Zhivkov as well. During the last
farewell of the deceased chairperson of the Bulgarian Democratic Party Stefan Savov, a book of condolences was
displayed in the Central Bureau of his party, and after the death of the noted chairperson of the Bulgarian Social
Democratic Party (BSDP), Dr Petar Dertliev, the book was placed in the headquarters of his party.
112
Valentina Vaseva
Bulgaria stood guard by the coffin next to which burns eternal flame17. Next to the head of
Mladenov, 7 red pillows were placed with his medals and decorations. A large number of
Bulgarian political elite took part in the ceremony. The body was transported from the
Central Sofia Cemetery on a gun-carriage, guarded by an official escort. In front of the official procession a guard carried a large portrait of Petar Mladenov with a black strip across
the right angle; behind him other guards carried a wreath. Following the gun-carriage,
guardsmen carried the pillows with his decorations and medals. Throughout the route people threw flowers onto the coffin while the police and red berets guarded the streets. Approximately at 2:30 p.m. the coffin was laid into the grave accompanied by the national anthem of Bulgaria with a triple rifle-shot volley (elements of military honours), with which
heads of state are buried. People from the president’s birthplace, the village of Toshevtsi,
Vidin region had come to Sofia by bus in order to attend the funeral.18 (Klisurova 2000: 3;
“Trud”, 5 June 2000: 2).
Funerals with military honours became an integral part of the Bulgarian funeral tradition shortly after the Liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, when the new official
national holidays were introduced. With military honours Bulgarian defense ministers and
army supreme commanders were buried: prince Alexander of Battenberg in 1893 and tzar
Boris III in 1943. The elements of the funeral ceremony were: the honour guards and escorts
accompanied by military music, the transportation of the body to the cemetery on a guncarriage, the gun-shot salutes (for monarchs) and the rifle-shot salutes (for defense ministers). During the lowering of the body to the grave, a military parade would be given in
front of the Royal Palace by the Capital’s Garrison (Vaseva 2008). During the socialist period,
after the Soviet model, new funeral elements were introduced to the funerals of noted politicians. The moment the body was lowered, rifle-shot salutes were fired and, at the same time,
the sirens of factories, steam engines, ships and marine vessels would go off for 3 minutes,
the traffic was stopped, pedestrians stood still and factories and plants stopped working. In
Bulgaria, during the 1980s three secretary generals of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union (CPSU)19 were commemorated in such fashion.20 During the transition period, buried
with partial military honours was the former Prime Minister, Andrey Lukanov, assassinated
on 2 September, 1996. The state offered a funeral according to his rank – full state honours
– but the family declined. A modest funeral service was held, during which the body was
put on display on 5 October for an official farewell in the “St Sofia Hall” accompanied by
military guards. During the ceremony, funeral speeches were made by government officials,
who afterwards entered their condolences in the funeral book.21 Religious high-ranking
members, representing the diversity of Bulgaria’s denominations, were present to pay respect – Patriarch Maxim, the Chief Mufti, the Papal Nuncio. On the special occasion of the
funeral, 5 buses from Pleven with Lukanov’s comrades and 4 more buses with official dele-
17
The symbol of eternal flame is an element of the funerals of many politicians. Obviously it is a borrowing
from military honours.
18
The news of the death of the atheist Petar Mladenov was spread in his home village of Toshevtsi traditionally – by the sounding of the church bell (“24 Hours”, 2 June 2000: 3).
19
The same honours, but on a larger scale, were given to the noted Soviets in Moscow – the pausing of work
and the sounding of the sirens for 5 minutes (in Bulgaria 3 minutes); gun-shot salutes were fired not only in
Moscow but in the ‘hero cities’, in capitals of the Soviet republics and in other large cities in the USSR.
20
See “Rabotnichesko delo” 317, 13 November 1982; “Rabotnichesko delo” 319, 15 November 1982; “Rabotnichesko delo” 320, 16 November 1982; “Rabotnichesko delo” 71, 12 March 1985; “Rabotnichesko delo” 72,
13 March 1985.
21
The book of condolences was also an element of urban tradition between 19th and 20th century – such a
book was obligatory in the Palace during royal funerals (Vaseva 2008).
113
gates arrived. After the funeral, the Chairperson of the National Assembly, Blagovest Sendov, gave a cocktail party for the delegates and officials in the Parliament. This, so far, has
been the only mention of eating at a funeral of a Bulgarian politician. By request of the family, the lowering of the coffin of Andrey Lukanov was for a small, family circle (“Duma”,
5 October 1996: 1-2; “Trud”, 5 October 1996: 1, 12-13).
Like Andrey Lukanov, former Chairperson of the 36th National Assembly of Bulgaria
Stefan Savov, from the Democratic Party, was also buried without full military honours, and
only with military guard attendance. The reason was that his last wish was to be cremated
and for the funeral service to be held in the Church of SS Sedmochislenitsi, which was different from the other political funerals.22 In the same year 2000, the funeral service of
Dr Petar Dertliev from the BSDP was also held in a church (Filipova & Angarev 2000: 3;
Yordanova 2000: 4; “Demokratsia” 8, 11 January 2000: 1–2; “Trud”, 7 November 2000: 1–2).
A grand ceremony was organized by state institutions for the three female members of
the parliamentary union “The Democratic Left”, who died in an accident in 1996. This was
not only the first collective funeral in this particular period, but also the only funeral of
a female of the Bulgarian political elite circles, after the modest funeral of Tsola Dragoycheva in 1993. After the accident, a special 10-minute memorial session was called by the
Chairperson of the National Assembly, Nora Ananieva, who announced 3-day mourning.
Many high-ranking politicians of the period holding much higher state posts have not been
commemorated in such a manner. The last farewell with the deceased female members of
Parliament was held in “St Sofia Hall”, and the funeral services took place in their places of
birth (“Trud”, 12 June 1996: 1, 2, 13).
***
Quite unlike the traditional funerals of the other representatives of the political elite
were the funeral of Todor Zhivkov, August 9, 1998, and the final farewell in front of the urn
of Georgi Dimitrov on June 23, 1990. The latter ceremony was held on the 5th day after the
cremation of the embalmed body of Dimitrov on June 18, which had until then been displayed in his Mausoleum in Sofia. Both of the unusual ceremonies depict in an interesting
way, through the changes in the common ritual, the decline of the Communist ideology and
the end of the concept of the immortality of some of its leaders. The leaders themselves were
elected to be bright examples for the following generations but ultimately failed to stand the
test of time. A good example is was the fate of the communist leader Georgi Dimitrov, whose
real funeral was held 42 years after his death, while the commemoration of his embalmed
body had lasted for 4 decades in complete denial of the laws of nature. It all ended with an
odd funeral ceremony, hastily organized by BSP in the summer of 1990. The taking of the
body out of the Mausoleum and its cremation set a precedent in the history of Eastern Europe at the end of 20th century. Parallel to the events around Georgi Dimitrov’s mausoleum
an intense discussion revolving around the fate of Lenin’s embalmed body and his Mausoleum was started in Russia.
The removal of the embalmed body of Dimitrov and the cremation took place on 18 July,
1990, by orders of the High Council of BSP, who granted the request of Dimitrov’s family.
(“Duma” 107, 19 July 1990: 1). This hasty decision of the Socialist Party had huge ideological
consequences. After the funeral of Georgi Dimitrov on July 9, 1948, for decades the Mausoleum had been a symbol of totalitarian power. It was not only regarded аs the ‘eternal house’
22
The funeral service of Stefan Savov in the SS Sedmochislenitsi Church was led by bishop Galaktion, the
metropolitan of Pleven Ignatiy and 3 other priests (Filipova & Angarev 2000: 3).
114
Valentina Vaseva
of the ‘immortal’ chief of the socialist revolution in Bulgaria but also as a tribune for the ruling political elite. In the first years of the transition, the walls of the Mausoleum were covered with anti-communist slogans and on the day of the taking of the body to the crematorium, citizens of “The City of Truth” (a temporary tent camp organized by protesting citizens
in front of the Central Party Hall) gathered on the square to rail at the symbol of the Communist Party. In those years, the front yard of the Mausoleum used to be covered by a large
pile of garbage – a symbol of the obsolete and left-to-rot communism (Ivanova 1997: 23,
80–82, 97; Mihaylova K. 1993: 104-109; Verdery 1999: 19–23). The emptied tomb was finally
destroyed on 28 July, 1999.
Four days after the body of Georgi Dimitrov was cremated, BSP invited “all members of
the party, their families, as well as all citizens of Sofia to participate in the commemoration
and funeral procession on 23 July”. The invitation was printed on the front page of the
party’s newspaper “Duma” on two consecutive days. The imperative text of the invitation
titled “fellow comrades” and the slogan “All in his memory!” reflected the nature of the
memorial ceremony with Georgi Dimitrov’s urn. The commemoration was organized by
BSP and 3 elements were interwoven in an unusual way: 1) Commemoration in front of the
urn from 15:00 to 18:00 in the Ritual Hall of the Central Sofia Cemetery, and condolences to
the family; 2) Funeral procession “for citizens of Sofia”, which started at 18:00 in “St Aleksandar Nevski” Square, through “Rakovski Str.” and “Kozloduy Str.” to the Central Cemetery; 3) A memorial rally in front of the Ritual Hall of the Central Sofia Cemetery (“Duma”
110, 22 July 1990; 111, 23 July 1990: 1). The combination of these three elements and the
places selected was very unusual. The commemoration of the urn in the Ritual Hall of the
Central Sofia Cemetery took place 42 years after the first funeral in Sofia, 10 July 1949
(Vaseva 2008a: 257; Vaseva 2012). The appeal of the socialist newspaper, “May Bulgaria say
one last goodbye to Dimitrov”, was taken literally by members of the party – in tears, laying
wreaths and flowers by the urn and offering condolences to the family and relatives.
Even more strange was the symbolic funeral procession, in which the body of the deceased was missing. The gathering point was in front of the largest Christian cathedral in
Bulgaria – “St Alexander Nevski” – without any funeral service on offer; the symbolic procession moved directly to the Central Sofia Cemetery. The people gathered acted as if on
a socialist parade – they brought flowers and shouted “Dimitrov is always alive”, “Glory to
the Leipzig hero” and “BSP”.
The third element of the ceremony – the memorial rally, in the spirit of the socialist funeral tradition, was again very unusual in that the honour guard carried the urn with the
ashes of Dimitrov from the Ritual Hall onto the stage, put it on display in front of the Ritual
Hall of the Central Sofia Cemetery, while the Guard Orchestra played Viy zhertva padnahte
(Thou fell victim). At the rally, funeral speeches were given, poems recited in memory of
Georgi Dimitrov, respect paid with one minute silence and kneeling down. The rally ended
with the National Anthem and afterwards the last farewell with the ashes went into the
night, as many people had gathered for the ceremony from around the country. Then the
urn was placed in the grave, attended only by the family of Dimitrov (Bachvarova et al. 1990:
1; “Duma” 112, 24 July 1990: 1).
Yet another odd case was the funeral of Todor Zhivkov on 9 August, 1998, after the ruling anti-communist party, “Union of Democratic Forces”, had denied the request of the
family and BSP to organize a funeral with state honours. Left with the freedom to improvise
according to their own perception of a grand funeral ceremony, the family of Zhivkov, with
the help of the High Council of BSP, organized a funeral procession quite similar to that for
Georgi Dimitrov, including the same three elements but in reverse order: 1) A memorial
meeting from 11.00 a.m. on Prince Alexander of Battenberg Square; 2) A funeral procession
from the square to the Central Sofia Cemetery; 3) The last farewell with the deceased and
115
condolences for the family in the Ritual Hall of the Central Sofia Cemetery. The difference
from the ceremony of Georgi Dimitrov in 1990 was the presences of the actual remains,
which – according to the Christian tradition – should stay open during the whole funeral
service, and the last ritual of poslednoe tselovanie (last kiss). The coffin with the body of Todor
Zhivkov was left open on the stage at the square during the funeral meeting and next to it
were the family listening to the funeral speeches and the gathered crowd. For the second
time the coffin was left open in the Ritual Hall of the Central Sofia Cemetery for the final
farewell, which went on as usual – with the laying of wreaths and flowers and condolences
paid to the family. The actual funeral was held at 4 p.m. and only Zhivkov’s family were
present. He was buried next to his wife, Dr Mara Maleeva.
Participants in the organization of the funeral were the family of Todor Zhivkov, the
Central Committee, the High Council of BSP, the National Assembly delegates from the
parliamentary union “Democratic Left”, and the City Council of BSP. In the party headquarters at Pozitano Street № 20, a funeral corner was arranged with a portrait of Zhivkov and a
funeral book, a death notice was issued and a condolence telegram was sent to his family
(“Duma” 177, 8 August 1998: 1–7). Before the beginning of the rally, the square was filled
with funeral music, during the opening of the ceremony the National Anthem was played,
and at the end a minute of silence was ordered followed by the Internationale. On the stage,
apart from the family of Zhivkov, were the rally organizers. During the funeral procession
in front of the hearse wreaths were carried, while the family, followed by the crowd, walked
behind. The entire 4 km distance to the Central Cemetery was covered by foot. The procession was guarded by the police and Zhivkov’s family by the private security firm “Ipon”
(Doneva & Nikolova 1998: 1–3).
Bibliography
Ariès Philippe (2004), Chovekat pred smartta [original title: L’Homme devant la mort], vol.
1–2, Sofia: LIK (in Bulgarian).
Bachvarova Bilyana, Simeonova Vera, Alexandrova Djuni & Karagyaurova Katya (1990),
Bulgaria otnovo se proshtava s Dimitrov [Bulgaria Bids a Second Final Farewell to Dimitrov],
“Duma” 112, 24 July 1990, p. 1 (in Bulgarian).
Daneva Veneta & Nikolova Milena (1998), Hilyadi oplakaha Zhivkov [Thousands Mourned
Zhivkov], “Duma” 178, 10 August 1998, pp. 1-3 (in Bulgarian).
Degh Linda (1994), American Folklore and the Mass Media, Bloomington: Indiana University
Press.
Filipova Lyudmila & Angarev Panajot (2000), Hilyadi pochetoha pametta na Stefan Savov
[Thousands Paid their Last Respect to Stefan Savov], “Demokratsia” 9, 12 January 2000,
p. 3 (in Bulgarian).
Gotev Goran (2000), Toy beshe edin ot initsiatorite na tehnicheskia progres [He Was One of the
Initiators of Technological Progress], “Duma” 37, 15 February 2000, p. 4 (in Bulgarian).
Gyurova Nevena (1998), Bivshiyat Parvi polozhen v kovcheg za 5 mln. leva [The Former First
Buried in a Coffin worth 5 Million Leva], “Trud”, 8 August 1998, p. 4 (in Bulgarian).
Ivanova Radost (1997), Sbogom, dinozavri, dobre doshli krokodili! Etnologia na promyanata
[Goodbye Dinosaurs, Hello Crocodiles! Ethnology of Change], Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite (in Bulgarian).
Klisurova Lyudmila (2000), Gaf sprya Stoyanov da se prosti s Mladenov [A Protocol Error Prevented Stoyanov Bidding a Final Farewell to Mladenov], “24 hours”, 5 June 2000, p. 3 (in
Bulgarian).
Kostova Boryana (1999), Bulgaria izgubi dostoen darzhavnik [Bulgaria Has Lost a Worthy
Statesman], “Duma” 89, 19 April 1999, pp. 1–4 (in Bulgarian).
Lemonnier Melanie (2005), La thanatopraxie, une reponse a la malemort? in: M. Ivanova
& S. Fournier (ed.) Riskat ot smartta na Balkanite i v Evropa / Le risqué la mort dans les Balkans et en Europe, Veliko Tarnovo: Editions Universitaires “Saints Cyrille et Methode”,
pp. 203–212 (in French).
116
Valentina Vaseva
Marinova Iva & Mateeva Anelia (2000), Pogrebvat go kato darzhaven glava [He is Buried with
the Honours eligible to Head of State], “Trud”, 2 June 2000, p. 11 (in Bulgarian).
Mihaylova Anna (2000), Bivshi velichia tanat v zabrava [Former Influential People – Long Forgotten], “Trud”, 5 June 2000, p. 3 (in Bulgarian).
Mihaylova Katya (1993), Fotorazkaz za novoto litse na mavzoleya [A Photo Story for the New
Face of the Mausoleum], “Balgarski folklor” 4, pp. 104–109 (in Bulgarian).
Petkova Aneta (1999), Mavzoleyat padna na 7-ia den [The Mausoleum Was Demolished on the
7th day], “Trud”, 28 July 1999, p. 3 (in Bulgarian).
Radkova Rumyana (2003), Posmartnite materiali kato izvor na balgarskoto obshtestvo prez 19th
vek [Post-mortem Works as a Source about Bulgarian Society], in: Posmartni materiali za balgarski vazrozhdenski deytsi, Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov”,
Tashev Stefan (2000), Doynov raboteshe za ‘peralnite’ na KGB [Doynov Worked for KGB’s
Money Laundering Firms], “Demokratsia”, 15 February 2000, p. 12 (in Bulgarian).
Vaseva Valentina (2008), Pogrebalnata kultura v bаlgarskite gradove na granitsata mezhdu 19th
i 20th vek (Pogrebenia na polititsi) [Funerary Culture in Bulgarian Towns at the Turn of 20th
Century (Funerals of Politicians)], in: S. Ivanova (ed.) Etnicheski i kulturni prostranstva na
Balkanite. Sbornik v chest na prof. Tsvetana Georgieva, part 2, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, pp. 75-118 (in Bulgarian).
Vaseva Valentina (2008a), Pogrebalnata kultura na balgarite: pogrebenia na polititsi prez poslednite 15 godini [The Funerary Culture of Bulgarians: Funerals of Politicians over the Last
15 Years] in: D. Madzharov & K. Stoilov (eds.) V sveta na choveka. Sbornik v chest na prof.
Ivanichka Georgieva, part 1, Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”,
Vaseva Valentina (2012), Smartta na ‘vozhda’: komunisticheski simvoli i rituali. [The Chief’s
Death: Communist Symbols and Rituals] in: D. Koleva (ed.) Smartta pri sotsializma, Sofia
(in print, in Bulgarian).
Verdery Katherine (1999), The Political Lives of Dead Bodies: Reburial and Post-socialist
Change, New York: Columbia University Press.
Yaneva Stanka (2000), ‘Drugiyat grad’. Kam strukturata na tsentralnite sofiyski grobishta [‘The
Other City’. The Structure of the Central Sofia Cemetery] in: R. Ivanova, V. Vaseva
& E. Krasteva-Blagoeva (eds.), Zhizneniyat tsikal, Sofia: Etnografski institut s muzey –
BAN, pp. 292–300 (in Bulgarian).
Yaneva Stanka (2002), Promeni v nadgrobnite znatsi po vreme na prehod [Funerary Sign Changes in the Period of Transition] in: Z. Divaz (ed.) Običaji životnog ciklusa u gradskoj sredini,
Beograd: Štampa, pp. 341–354 (in Bulgarian).
Yordanova Maria (2000), Dertliev izdahnal v racete na dashterya si [Dertliev Died in His
Daughter’s Arms], “24 hours”, 7 November 2000, p. 4 (in Bulgarian).
Zhelev Dobri (1998), Pogrebeniyata balgarski [Bulgarian Funerals], “Duma” 179, 11 August
1998, p. 3 (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: The author is Associate Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and
Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her research interests focus on
rituals, migration and ethnic minorities in Bulgaria.
Vol. 2/2013
p. 117–128
Sites of Memory
Ana Luleva
Transitional Justice and Memory Culture
in Post-Socialist Bulgaria
Abstract: A significant aspect of the post-socialist transformation in Bulgaria is the policy of justice. The
concepts of justice, restitution, compensation and identification of victims, de-collectivization, and reconciliation have been debated in Bulgarian society after 1989 as closely related to memory – memory was
turned into a key-organizing concept for those processes. The present article discusses the relation between discourses of justice and remembering in Bulgaria after 1989, focusing on one aspect of transitional
justice – memory politics and the construction of collective identities of victims and heroes after 1989.
The article is based on an ethnographic study of two groups of victims of political regimes – forced labourers before and after September 9th 1944 – and also on field research conducted in the small town of Belene, where the largest Bulgarian communist work camp once operated.
Keywords: memory politics, memory culture, transitional justice, post-socialist transformation
Introduction
At a meeting in January 1990 in the Ministry of Interior, the Minister of Interior of Bulgaria, General Atanas Semerdzhiev (an ex-partisan; Minister of Interior after the retirement
of the Head of the State Todor Zhivkov in December 1989; later, in August 1990, vice-president, following an agreement between the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the opposition),
said the following words: “I again put forward this question: Belene should vanish from our
public life, from the face of Bulgaria! We should think over this issue. Belene should vanish
as the symbol of the repressive system”.1 At the same meeting, the leadership of the Ministry of Interior discussed the urgent need to ‘clean’ the documents testifying to the repressive
nature of the communist regime. In January 1990, ‘the transition’, as it is generally called,
started in Bulgaria. The question hanging in the air was how to come to terms with the past.
The topic of the camp was at the core of the discourse on the repressive nature of the communist regime. There appeared issues of guilt, apology, responsibility, punishment for the
injustices committed during the communist period. How is the political justice experienced
and reflected upon by people today – 23 years after the beginning of the transition? How is
the transitional justice realized in Bulgaria? From an anthropological perspective these are
questions of importance. In the present paper, I will discuss one aspect of transitional justice
– memory politics and memory culture after 1989. My conclusions are based on anthropological research conducted in the period 2009–2011 in the framework of a research program
supported by the Foundation “Memory, Responsibility and Future”, Berlin. I studied the
1
http://desebg.com/2011-01-13-09-25-08, last accessed 2 March 2011 (in Bulgarian).
118
Ana Luleva
memory culture surrounding the phenomenon of forced labour in Bulgaria practised by
two political regimes – before and after 9.09.1944, the date of the entry of the Red Army into
Bulgaria (Luleva, Troeva & Petrov 2012). Together with other participating colleagues, I recorded over 50 interviews with victims of forced labour in the work camps from the period
of the WW II, and with those sent to ‘work re-education facilities’ after 9.09.1944 until 1962,
when the last and the most sinister work camp – in the town of Lovetch – was closed down.
The people we met were among the last representatives of their generation who could testify to this traumatic experience. Besides, we did fieldwork in Belene – a settlement on the
Danube River – where in the war period (1941–1943) a dike was built on the river by forced
labourers (Luleva 2008: 171–184) and where after 9.09.1944 the biggest communist work
camp was established.
The Concept of Transitional Justice
Transitional justice can be defined as a conception of justice associated with periods of political change, characterized by legal responses to confront the wrongdoings of
repressive predecessor regimes (Teitel 2000; Kritz 1995; Stan 2009). Transitional justice is a
comparatively new multidisciplinary research field – an intersection of legal studies, political studies, moral philosophy, and anthropology. ‘Justice’ is a moral category directly related
to the social order and collective identities. At the core of the concept of transitional justice
is a belief in universal human rights. Elazar Barkan (2001) emphasises that universal rights
are locally negotiated. John Torpey (2001: 333–358) writes about the formation of a new culture of rights: universal values and human rights, repentance and punishment are locally
realized and local traditions have impact on the development of this process. The increasing
centrality of redress stems from the process of “localization of rights” (Barkan 2001).
In other words, redress brings human rights and conflict resolution together by replacing
a universal standard of justice with a standard of justice that is negotiated among opposing
groups of actors and parties. Global discourse of forgiveness and restitution does not seem
to be based on an absolute universalistic ethic. It is a product of negotiation with the significant other.
Depending on the relationship between the new and the old elites, the politics of transitional justice is realized between the poles of democratic stability (civil piece) and retributive justice. The goal is to reach a balance between the search for justice and the need for civil
and political stability. In eastern European countries a significant part of the politics of transition comes under the sign of “coming to terms with the past” and connects the realization
of retributive justice to memory (Stan 2009). The concepts of justice, restitution, compensation and identification of victims, de-collectivization, and reconciliation are closely related
to memory – which is turning into a key-organizing concept of those processes (Levy &
Sznaider 2006: 96). The mnemonic turn in legislation and the question of “how much memory is necessary for democracy” and “aren’t we burdened with memory that divides society
and hinders its unification around common goals”, have been hotly debated (Luleva 2010:
77–93).
Researchers of collective memory in societies undergoing a transition from dictatorships
or authoritarian regimes to democratic systems write that the politics of traumatic memory
divides society into conflicting groups (De Brito et al. 2001). Basically, memory politics can
be practiced in two ways: the first might be named “reconciliation through forgetting”, and
the second is that in which the memory of the past is not pushed aside but actualized. In the
latter case “coming to terms with the past” has two varieties: 1. legalistic, which accentuates
Transitional Justice and Memory Culture in Post-Socialist Bulgaria
119
investigation of past crimes and establishment of retributive justice; and 2. utopian-ethical,
which gives greater significance to forgiveness and repentance (Todorov 2002; Ash 2002:
107; Misztal 2003: 133–135; Ricoeur 2006: 424–514).
Concerning the choice of “reconciliation through forgetting”, Paul Ricoeur (2006), Barbara Misztal (2003) and other authors consider cases from different historical times whereby
banning of the memory of the past is as a way of attaining piece and uniting citizens. They
point to the etymological connection between ‘amnesia’ and ‘amnesty’. The importance of
forgetfulness for national cohesion is emphasized by Ernest Renan (Renan 1995: 3). This
mode was once accepted in Spain. In Spain, cited also by Bulgarian politicians as a positive
example of national reconciliation through forgetting, there are visible signs today of nonforgetfulness along with the desire to regenerate the memory of the vanished republicans.
The battle for memory regeneration is fought in the field of jurisdiction. The Amnesty
Law from 1977 has been attacked since it blocks any investigation and reaffirms ‘the pact
of forgetfulness’ exported as a model to Latin America as well. The activity of civil associations that require the establishment of “commission of truth” indicate that the question of
memory is a central element in practicing democracy (De Brito et al. 2001: 92–119; Ortis
2009: 5).
John Borneman claims that after the end of the Cold War there was a world movement
for retributive justice: condemning criminals and rehabilitating the dignity of victims. In his
research on violence, justice, and responsibility in post-socialist Europe (Borneman 1997),
he stresses that the meaning of the retributive justice in contemporary context goes beyond
the destiny of individual victims and criminals; it is important as part of the global ritual of
purging the core of political regimes that strive towards democratic legitimization.
Only in this way, i.e. by purification by means of retributive justice, can regimes striving
towards democratic legitimacy obtain this letimacy. Borneman does not support the view
that economic growth and reconciliation legitimate the new democratic states and prevent
violence during a period of transition. In his opinion, democratic states need to reinforce the
principles of responsibility in order to restore their moral authority and make the claim to
represent the entire society; the failure in correcting past injustice would undermine the legitimacy of the new states.
The Bulgarian Case
The two extensive political transitions in Bulgaria (after 1944 and after 1989) differ from each other according to their politics of transitional justice. The first period, after
September 9, 1944, was dominated by retribution. The punishment of ‘people’s enemies’ and
retribution motivated the verdicts of the so called People’s Court (December 1944 – April
1945), which aimed to destroy political opponents, imprison people in work camps without
a court trial and conviction (Sharlanov 2009; Luleva, Troeva & Petrov 2012). As early as October 1944, a Law supporting victims of the fight against fascism and capitalism was passed.
It provided compensation to participants of the Resistance Movement. After some time the
idea of compensation was replaced by the idea of rewards and privileges for ‘merits’ (rather
than for incurred losses, as was the case at the beginning). Those given recognition as fighters received privileges (pensions, services, access to goods), which distinguished them as a
group according to a paternalistic model (“gratitude and commitment to the Bulgarian
Communist Party and USSR” were emphasized). The Resistance was the ‘Gründungsmythos’ of the new socialist state. In the new pantheon of heroes next to the heroes of the Bulgarian National Revival now stood the partisans and those perished during ‘the people’s
revolution’.
120
Ana Luleva
In the second transitional period, after 1989, two arguments on the memory of the recent
past were advanced in the Bulgarian public discourse. The democrats often repeated Santayana’s words – a person who does not learn from the past is destined to repeat it. This argument is related to the understanding of memory as a duty – preserving the memory of past
injustices is seen as a responsibility towards the next generations and a guarantee of democratic order. This is the dominant idea of antitotalitarian discourse, according to which Communism is equal to Nazism, the camps in Belene and Lovetch are comparable to Gulag and
Auschwitz. The memory and condemnation of the crimes committed by the regime are a
question of moral position and humanitarian values. The other argument – about national
reconciliation and agreement – was voiced for the first time in a Declaration read at the First
plenary meeting of the Round table in Sofia on February 12, 1990. During the years of transition, the ideas of national agreement and reconciliation were supported by the political Left.
The memory politics of the recent past is realized between the poles of these two opposing
arguments. This duality reflects the positions of the leading political forces and the opportunities of different social groups to achieve recognition of their status and to legitimate
their collective memory.
The political transition in all post-socialist countries is closely related to the idea of new
political justice (Kritz 1995; Stan 2009; De Brito 2001; Teitel 2001). In Bulgaria it is realized as
retroactive justice, which lends great symbolic significance to the political rehabilitation of
groups treated as enemies by the past regime. An expression of such restorative justice is the
Law for the political and civil rehabilitation of repressed persons, passed in 1991 (Darzhaven
vestnik 1991). The Law defines those falling into the category of ‘repressed’ due to their origin, political convictions or religious beliefs in the period 9.09.1944 – 10.11.1989. These are
persons: convicted in criminal cases; convicted by the People’s Court whose verdicts were
cancelled after 1990; imprisoned in re-education and work facilities and in camps, as well as
mobilized for forced labour; internees and exiles; dismissed university students and school
students; repressed in connection with the forced change of names (during the “Rebirth
process”2). In the amendments of 2004 and 2005, further included were those “missing without a trace; killed during attempted border crossing; perished in work camps, prisons; people with university and college education, dismissed from work or forced to work at construction sites, in the system of public cleaning or in agriculture; deprived of the right to a
pension”. Persons belonging to any of these groups or their descendants are entitled to a
single compensation for incurred material and immaterial damages. The Lawmaker provides for the compensation claim to be brought to the regional governor according to the
permanent residence address. In his turn, the governor pronounces on the merits of the request after evaluating the presented evidence on the type, character and duration of the repression and the quality of the entitled person. Thus the personal biographical experience is
normatively defined or not as a ‘repression due to political reasons, religious beliefs or origin’. The subjective experience of repression is confronted with the opportunity to be proven
as such with evidence having a judicial value – documents, testimonies, etc. The experience,
the memory of the repressed or their families have no value before the state authority reviewing only the presented documented evidence. The rulings of the Supreme Administrative Court on citizens’ complaints against orders from regional governors indicate that the
latter sometimes unreasonably deny the right of citizens to receive compensation and a re2
The ‘Rebirth process’ (Vazroditelen protses) is a term applied for the politics of assimilation of the Muslim
population in Bulgaria by the communist rule in 1970s and 1980s. It involved a forceful change of Arabic and
Turkish names of this population to Bulgarian and Slavic ones, limitations on the use of the mother tongue in
public, repressions against the practice of religion and against the performing of traditional customs and
rituals.
121
spective recognition as repressed for political reasons, origin, etc. Such problematic court
procedures reinforce the long-standing distrust towards the state authorities; the ungrounded rejections create a belief that the new state does not differ from the old one and ‘everything is the same’. The organizations of the repressed provide protection for their members,
but this does not change the fact that the repressed have limited social influence and are a
marginalized social group with minimal pensions. With the exception of those who have
regained their seized property, they are at the social bottom. The rehabilitation does not
change their social status; it has primarily a symbolic value.
It was only in August 2010, after a 20-year delay, that the Parliament passed the last
amendment to the Law and, in addition, proclaimed as repressed victims of the terror from
the first three days following the entry of the Red Army into Bulgaria – 9th, 10th and 11th of
September 1944. Until August 2010, according to the Law repressed were those persons who
suffered after September 12, 1944. In the debates concerning the review of the initial date of
repressions, the political Left and the Parliamentary majority in the past Parliament supported the argument that persons killed for political reasons in the period 8th – 11th September should not be rehabilitated, defining them as ‘murderers and thugs’ caught up in ‘the
just people’s fury’.
In 1990, lawsuits began for reviewing the overseeing order of verdicts issued by the People’s Court.3 The realization of retroactive justice in the form of reviews of separate rulings
of the People’s Court demonstrates the democratization of the judicial system and its separation from its predecessor. Additionally, it provides the opportunity for cancelling many
unreasonable and ungrounded convictions of the People’s Court, and has a symbolic and
material effect on the victims (they are recognized as innocent and given the opportunity to
regain ownership of the seized property). At the same time, it is indicative of the compromising way in which the justice of the transition is realized – by implicit agreement among
the major political actors, without announcing the Regulation-law for the People’s Court as
anti-constitutional and its verdicts cancelled en bloc, thus helping maintain the view that
some of its rulings were right and just.
It is hardly a surprise that ten years later the political forces still did not reach a consensus in their evaluation of the People’s Court. The ruling of the Council of Ministers (from 19
January 2010) to pronounce the 1st of February as a Commemoration Day of paying homage
to the victims of the communist regime became an occasion for the next conflict. The ruling
was accepted after a proposal made by the ex-presidents Zhelyu Zhelev and Petаr Stoyanov.
The motives of the Council of Ministers indicate that “the 1st of February, 1945, is the day in
which regents, deputies, officers, ministers, social figures were murdered – all victims of the
First establishment of the so called People’s Court. This day becomes a sign in our history
because it is a starting point of the bloody repression against the Bulgarian people”.4
The Left and its satellite civil organizations protested, declaring that the People’s Court
had not been established by the communist state, since during that time Bulgaria was still a
constitutional monarchy. This was not a ‘Bulgarian vagrancy’, but a duty to fulfil in accordance with the Reconciliation Agreement which Bulgaria had signed on October 28, 1944,
along with the USA, the USSR and the UK. According to this Agreement, the country was
obliged “to dismantle all fascist organizations and bring to court and justly punish the people guilty of affiliating Bulgaria to the Tripartite Pact and those who committed war crimes”.
According to the Declaration of the Fatherland Front, the People’s Court had created condi-
3
4
According to the Regulation-law for the People’s Court / RLPC from 30.09.1944/ Decree 22 from 4.10.1944.
http://www.government.bg/cgi-bin/e-cms/vis/vis.pl?s=001&p=0228&n=1881&g=, last accessed 2 March
122
Ana Luleva
tions for distorting the historical truth [emphasis by author], discredited Bulgaria before the
countries of the anti-Hitler coalition and again divides and opposes the Bulgarian nation”.5
In April 2000, with the Party of United Democratic Forces in power, the Law pronouncing the communist regime in Bulgaria as criminal was passed. This act has had meaning as
a moral and political message, but has no legal consequences for society. It illustrates the
desire of the political Right to maintain its identity as an anti-totalitarian political force but,
at the same time, to refrain from the politics of retributive justice accepted in other post-socialist states.
After 1989, attempts were made in Bulgaria to accomplish retributive justice through accusations brought against former members of high state authorities. The contrast between the
initiated ‘mega-trials’ and those ending with a verdict is impressive. Among the most distinguished trials of social importance were the so-called trials ‘for the work camps’, for ‘Chernobil’, and about the ‘Rebirth process’. Grigor Stoichkov, deputy chairman of the Councils of
Ministers and chairman of the government Commission for overcoming the consequences of
disasters, catastrophes and breakdowns, was sentenced to ten years in prison in the ‘Chernobil trial’. He was set free before term in 1996. The press presented him as a victim of a political
trial, and Chernobil was hardly mentioned. The trial about the ‘Rebirth process’ has been initiated many times yet stopped, to this day. Almost twenty years after its initiation, it was blocked
without convicts. The legal persecution of culprits for crimes committed in the communist
work camps of Lovetch and Skravena was initiated, amidst great social interest, and stopped
as overdue. The development of these trials is indicative of the (in)ability to accomplish retributive justice in post-socialist Bulgaria. The unsuccessful end of loudly initiated trials, the
lack of convicts and inadequate exposure of crimes have created social attitudes towards such
trials as being motivated politically with unjust accusations (according to the supporters of the
Left), and provoked distrust towards the leaders of the Right among its supporters.
The victims of the old regime experience the justice of the transition as injustice:
“Nobody was punished for these crimes which should not have a prescription similar to the Nazi
crimes. They are all the same. Nobody punished them. Even the compensations were distributed
selectively. The events were not authentic – no justice was accomplished” (Interviewee, born
1927).
Belene as a memory place
Belene – as a memory place – is an accurate illustration of the developments and
results of the memory politics after 1989. Today the landscape of the island of Persin6 does
not remind at all of the communist work camp (termed ‘work – re-education facility – WRF’)
– a place of slave labour and human suffering. Today the island is accessible only for one
day during the year – on the Commemoration Day. For the rest of the year it is unreachable
because it is a part of the territory of a still functioning prison.
In the morning of the last Saturday of May 2010, elderly people gathered before the
prison gates. Тhey had come from all over the country by bus. The residents of Belene, as in
the previous years, did not show any particular interest. The announcement on the local
cable TV channel about a special bus provided by the municipality for those willing to at-
5
6
http://www.os-bulgaria.org/actualno.html, last accessed 2 February 2011 (in Bulgarian).
Belene (or Persin) is the name of the biggest island of the Belene archipelago on the Danube river. In 1949, a
labour camp was located there, which after 1959 was transformed into ‘Belene prison’. Along the river, opposite
the island is the village of Belene. In 1964, it was declared a town. Nowadays Belene is a small town with about
8,000 inhabitants.
123
tend ‘the Gathering’ failed to get the attention of the locals (the bus was needed because after
passing the pontoon bridge on foot, there is a road 10 km long leading to the place of homage; usually available buses and minivans transport strangers as well). The residents of Belene were ‘represented’ by the researcher of the locality and his friends, a grandmother and
her grandchild and a circle of friends with families who had decided to take advantage of
the access to the island and to go on a picnic on the sunny Saturday. Taking no interest in the
event itself, but intrigued by the inaccessible island, a small group of Russian citizens working in the Nuclear Power Station Belene crossed the bridge in their minivan. By the prison
entrance, a small group of men were waiting (visibly younger than any of the formerly repressed), actively sharing memories about the island ‘as it was before’. To my question if
they had ever been there, one of them responded with a vague smile and ‘no, never’, while
another one started saying that he had worked there as a tractor driver during the time
when affluent produce was acquired from the cultivated island (“thousands, thousands of
tons of produce – such watermelons, aubergines, peppers, corn, wheat, everything there is
in farming, was produced”).
The first man, apparently not willing to talk about the past, deviated from the topic
while insistently asking what the reason for my interest in ‘the prison’ was. My explanations
did not satisfy him and he made it clear that he was not willing to talk with me. The behaviour of this resident of Belene indicated anxiety. My questions and the dictaphone made him
feel uncomfortable and threatened. He and his silent friends had worked on the site (only
one of them said he was “a civilian tractor driver”), when political prisoners and camp prisoners were brought there. They came to see ‘what was there now’, but were not willing to
share what they remembered from ‘those’ times to a stranger like me. That conversation, as
well as the meetings with the residents of Belene during the fieldwork, made the impression
that before and after 1989 the locals who worked on the island were unwilling (and maybe
unable) to talk as eyewitnesses of the camp regime: before – because they were scared and
had signed a declaration to keep secrecy, working at a site important for the ‘state security’
(“when the topic is brought up, they are reserved, keep secrecy”, said the researcher of the
locality, Todor Gospodinov); and now – because they feel being implicitly accused as accomplices of the repressive apparatus.
In fact, the prison was the primary employer of the locals (see Koleva 2010: 17). Probably
back then, as today, they tried to ‘made it all look normal’, talking about their work there – in
the fields or in the administration building – as if about a regular working activity. Part of this
strategy, which makes them feel ‘normal’ people, is the version they had adopted for the imprisoned (“criminals, radicals… thugs deserving their punishment for some reason”). At the
same time, back then some residents of Belene, considered to be “more eager/earnest as supervisors”, had paid for their sins with disease and agonizing death. Their unwillingness to remember the camp and the cover of silence placed over it speak of their desire for this past to
be forgotten, because it is considered sinful – it is a desire to push aside the traumatic memory
producing feelings of guilt and shame. In contrast, the repressed have transformed their traumatic memory into a source of positive self-identification and a sense of moral authority.
Paying homage on the island of Persin near Belene provides an opportunity for the repressed to meet each other, “to count”, and to announce their political stance. The commemoration is done at the place where there used to be a ‘Second Site’ of the camp. There is
no trace of it left.7 The remains of a massive building tower in the field overflowing with
abundant greenery. The building was erected in the 1980s, when Bulgarian Turks, convicted
7
Without a trace was the title of an exhibition dedicated to the Belene camp. It was organized by associates
of the Institute for the Study of Recent Past and presented at the National Art Gallery in 2009 on the occasion of
the 20th anniversary of November 10.
124
Ana Luleva
as ‘enemies’ of the ‘Rebirth process’, were imprisoned there. On its wall is a small commemorative plaque reminding that this was the place where a ‘Second site of the Belene
camp’ used to be and that on June 1, 1990, at that location the first meeting of the camp survivors took place “to pay homage to the thousands of victims of the totalitarian regime”.
The plaque was placed in 2005 by the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BANU), the district of Pleven. This inscription, as well as the wooden cross attached to the building, is the
only indication of the camp. Over the last years a memorial has been constructed – it will
bear the names of the camp and political prisoners who were taken to that location. Nevertheless, the work is slow due to the restricted access to the island. The concrete stele is empty
while the organizations of the repressed are compiling ‘their’ lists.
It is a general opinion that with each subsequent year the number of those paying homage has been going down. After the initial enthusiasm and hope that their voice would be
heard, the repressed group fragmented due to internal fights and conflicts, trapped into the
“narcissism of petty distinctions”.
“In the beginning there was a great enthusiasm, a great joy that we meet at a damned place where
we shared our bread […] it was a joy for us to go as free citizens, with hugs […] with greetings”.
“At the first gathering in 1990 we were about 80 thousand people, and maybe more. There were
12 buses from Pleven that drove us to site 2, then returned and took the next passengers […] Now
if there are 150 people, it is still good” (Interviewee, born 1927).
“In the first years we were happy, we had about 60 people, members of the parliament, from the
repressed thanks to the benevolence of the democratic forces – and also the Party, regrettably, arranging those things […] we thought the people would change, have stable views, see who had
contributed to the democracy in Bulgaria. This did not happen. Only our memories have remained. But initially there was enthusiasm. We went to Belene from all over the country” (Interviewee, born 1922).
In May 2010, one hundred people gathered in Belene – camp survivors, their relatives
and members of the Unions of the repressed. The political parties, traditionally claiming
moral allegiance to the memory of the victims of communism, did not send representatives
of their central leadership. After the usual prayer commemorating the victims of communism, the speeches of the leaders from the organizations of the repressed followed. A representative of the Movement for Rights and Freedom spoke of the imprisoned Bulgarian Turks
during the ‘Rebirth process’. The leaders of the repressed emphasized that Belene was a
sacred place – ‘the Bulgarian Golgotha’, ‘the Bulgarian Gulag’, through which the Bulgarian
‘martyrs and fighters’ had passed. Тhe inhumane conditions in which the victims of the regime had been placed were remembered. Everyone expressed their disappointment that the
Bulgarian society did not know and remember and was not “grateful to these martyrs and
victims”. Once again it was mentioned that the repressed should unite to make their voice
heard.
The rhetoric of commemoration, evident at other public events of the repressed as well,
indicates that the anti-totalitarian discourse about democratic values and justice provides
them with the opportunity to construct a positive and, in many cases, heroic image and
meaning of their lives as ‘fighters against the totalitarian regime’: “We fought for the freedom of Bulgaria […] in the prison and in the camps we were taught to become pastors of
justice in our country […] we struggled for a just society”. Similarly, individual traumatic
experience is integrated into a collective cultural trauma of the ‘martyrs of Belene’, turning
into a source of collective identity, evoking a sense of pride. Almost everyone of those paying homage with whom we spoke in Belene, as well as our respondents, had the awareness
that they were ‘the last witnesses’ of the camp regime. In some sense this fact made their
status and stories sacred. Many of them regarded other activists of the organizations of the
125
repressed with condescension and distrust because they had not suffered ‘such repression’
– in the sense that they themselves had not been to a camp or a prison, but had ‘only’ been
expatriated or deprived of student rights. There was a visible effort at making a hierarchy of
the ‘repressions’ and the victims, and competition among them.8 One respondent pointed
out about his fellows by destiny: “All of them had been to camps, prisons, but they cannot
stand each other. The suffering does not bind them together”. According to former prisoners and camp survivors, there was considerable distinction among them, originating from
the past and the political affiliation that had led them to imprisonment. According to the
supporters of BANU, “those people [the former members of the legion – A. L.] had sinned:
the People’s Court had convicted them… and that is why there existed two unions of the
repressed”. They were rehabilitated after lawsuits for reviewing the overseeing order that
cancelled some of the verdicts issued by the People’s Court. This fact did not mitigate the
feeling of moral superiority among the supporter of BANU, who had not been convicted by
the People’s Court, but considered themselves to have been persecuted as political opponents of the communists (“I am not in a rehabilitation court case. I was punished as a human
being; I had my land taken away”). On their part, members of the legion accused supporters
of BANU of supporting the Law for the People’s Court and of participating in its
proceedings.
On the public stage, the memory of the last witnesses is made sacred and the distinctions
among the groups of the repressed are demonstrated – distinctions rooted in the past and in
the reasons leading to ‘the repression’, but also in the dependency of the repressed on the
political conjuncture and – according to their general opinion – on the security of the communist State. The speeches, made from the speaker’s stand on the island of Persin, contained
mainly moral and political messages. Overall, the commemorative ritual was telling much
more about the present, about the state of the community of the repressed as a memoryorganized and political group, rather than about their past. The disappointment that the
repressed had no political influence and significance, shared by respondents in their biographical interviews, was also publicly expressed during the homage (“we, the martyrs, we,
the fighters, are held in low esteem”). The repressed considered themselves to be the “backbone of the right democratic forces”, but realized with bitterness that they were not supported by the same political forces. In the general opinion, the latter were interested in them
only before elections, counting on their votes as a ‘hard electorate’. The lack of such support
was visible in the condition of the memorial place – abandoned, unmaintained, apparently
unnecessary.
In the first years after 1989, when there were still living survivors of the camp and the
prison, the idea of freeing the island from the functioning prison was put forward. A museum of the victims of communist repressions was to be created. Krum Horozov, a former
camp prisoner, supporter of BANU and member of the Great National Assembly, fought for
this cause on behalf of the repressed and sent such a proposal to the state institutions (the
President, the National Assembly). For him and his followers it was important that the camp
be remembered as related to the struggle against the regime:
“I wanted a museum to be established in Belene, but as long as there is a prison, it won’t work.
There should be open access, a shrine should be made, reconstruction should be done […] a port,
passing ships should stop, a beautiful alley, to enter the site, to see and light a candle […] Belene
was a prison for political opponents; it was a labour camp for politicians, for the new intelligentsia of rural Bulgaria – deprived of the right to study, driven out of universities, out of the state
administration – we were tortured there to remove the humane from our souls and made to ac-
8
On the competition among the victims of Nazism in Germany, see Von Plato (1999).
126
Ana Luleva
cept this animal-like, cattle-like obedience – molchat’ i ne rassuzhdat’ [in Russian: “Be silent and
don’t think” – A. L.]. There we fought for the freedom of Bulgaria, against the dictatorship and
there is still a prison for criminals that remains now, no place to enter and pay homage – it is a
disgrace”.
The state institutions did not respond to the proposals of the Union of The Repressed,
did not close down the functioning prison on the island of Persin, did not support the repressed in establishing a museum or memorial to the victims of the communist camps on
the island. Creating an impression of symbolic continuity, the prison is still operating; the
island remains its territory and is ‘swallowing’ WRF-Belene.
According to Alexander Etkind (2004), museums and memorials comprise ‘the hardware’ of memory culture and in cooperation with ‘the software’ – narratives and films – relive that culture. The two kinds of memory co-exist. While creating films and memoirs of the
camps is done by private persons and can be done without the sanction of the state institutions, the building of a memorial or museum on the island could not take place without the
support of the state. The state’s reply until now (or more precisely its lack) indicates an absence of political will and social consensus for preserving the camp on the island of Persin
as a symbol of the communist work camps in the memory culture of the nation.
Until now the memory of the camp in Belene has been kept only in texts: numerous
memoirs, among which The Saga on the concentration-camp Bulgaria by Stephan Bochev stands
out, as do the poems by Joseph Petrov and Ivan Selanovski, the films by Atanas Kiriyakov,
Stanimir Trifonov, Iliya Troyanov, the book and exhibition of the Institute for Researching
the Recent Past (Koleva 2010). With each passing year the number of pilgrims declines, restricted to the circle of relatives. The media and other institutions do not show interest; the
camp theme slowly passes into the zone of public amnesia.
An attempt at reviving the memory of the Belene camp was the conference under the
title The suffered European dream of Bulgaria 1944–1989, organized by MEP Andrey Kovachev
in the European Parliament in November 2010. Representatives of the camp prisoners and
political prisoners were invited to the conference. The idea was to demonstrate that Bulgaria
was also part of the trans-national discourse on the resistance against the communist regime. The event was mainly oriented outwards, towards partners from the EU, rather than
towards the Bulgarian society. This idea corresponds to the desire of the camp and prison
survivors to be recognized as fighters, participants in the resistance against the communist
regime in Bulgaria.
“Everywhere people were saying – in Bulgaria there was no resistance movement, only in the
Czech Republic and in Poland, not in Bulgaria. Perhaps 50–60 thousand political and camp prisoners passed through the prisons and camps. Including their relatives, this amounts to 150–200
thousand people. There was no resistance; the dissidents were people who decided upon the
change of the regime – this, of course, is not true” (Interviewee, born 1925).
The memory of the communist labour camp in Belene could be regenerated if a memorial was built and the camp became part of the cultural-historical tourist routes in the settlement. What is seen there now is far from such a perspective. The institutions working for the
memory – the school and the municipality – ignore the camp theme as part of the town’s
past. This is so because the residents of Belene are distanced from its history. The building
of the dikes and the reclamation work began before WW II and was part of the positive story
about a ‘reclaimed land’ and the victory over malaria in the region. However, the forced labour of the youth mobilized there in 1942 is not remembered, WRF – Belene is not mentioned. The local cultural memory is constructed upon the pillars of antiquity (archaeological excavations are made at the Dimum fortress) and three churches.
127
Since 2000, the Belene islands on the Danube have been included in the Natural Park
“Persina”. The Danube wet zones are restored as unique ecosystems with the help of European programs and the World Bank. The restoration of ecological balance goes opposite to
the reclamation done for many decades at the price of hard forced labour. The dike in the
eastern part of the island of Persin is destroyed so that water can flow in again and form
natural wet zones. The ecotourist routes include Roman excavation sites and cruise tours
around the islands. The camp is not included in this picture, and there are no signs of this.
It is destined to oblivion. It seems that the order of General Atanas Semerdzhiev from January 1990 is about to become reality.
Conclusion
In the post-socialist period, universal discourse about human rights dominated.
The voices of victims were heard in public, the Bulgarian labour camps were compared to
Gulag and Holocaust (as genocide). The privileges of the ex-fighters ‘against fascism and
capitalism’ were taken away; the former heroes were taken down from the pedestal and
began to feel like victims of ‘democracy, globalization and neo-fascism’. New groups appeared, searching recognition as victims of the communist regime; their trauma became a
basis for a new collective identity. They were rehabilitated with a law, recognized as victims
of the regime, but the fact that nobody was punished as guilty produced the impression of
unaccomplished retributive justice. De-communization and lustration have even less supporters, because the communist regime was not so hard and repressive in its last years and
the current economic crisis has displaced priorities. The conclusion about the justice of the
transition, thus far, is that the Bulgarian experience for establishing retributive justice has
been unsuccessful, uncertain and inconsistent. As a result, the trust of the citizens in democratic institutions – the court, the parliament, the political elite – has been undermined.
Bibliography
Ash Timothy Garton (2002), Trials, purges and history lessons: treating a difficult past in postcommunist Europe in: J. W. Mueller (еd.) Memory and Power in Post-War Europe: Studies in
the Presence of the Past, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 107–133.
Barkan Elazar (2001), The Guilt of Nations. Restitution and Negotiating International Justice,
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Borneman John (1997), Settling Accounts. Violence, Justice and Accountability in Post-Socialist
Europe, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Darzhaven vestnik (1991), issue 50, June 25.
De Brito, Alexandra Barahona, Gonzalez Carmen Enríquez & Aguilar Paloma (еds.)
(2001), The Politics of Memory. Transitional Justice in Democratising Societies, New York &
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Elster Jon (2004), Closing the Books. Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective, New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Etkind Alexander (2004), Hard and Soft in Cultural Memory: Political Mourning in Russia and
Germany, “Grey Room” 16, pp. 36–59, Inc.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Koleva Daniela (2010), Blagodarnosti [Gratitudes] in: Belene – myasto na pamet? Antropopogichna anketa [Belene – a Memory Place? An Anthropological Investigation], Sofia: ISRP, Ciela, pp. 7–33.
Kritz Neil J. (ed.) (1995), Transitional Justice. How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former
Regimes, vol. 2, Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace Press, pp. 693–723.
Levy Daniel & Sznaider Natan (2006), Forgive and Not Forget: Reconciliation between For-
128
Ana Luleva
giveness and Resentment in: Barkan Elazar & Karn Alexander (еds.) Taking Wrongs Seriously. Apologies and Reconciliation, Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 96.
Luleva Ana (2008), Die Zwangsarbeit in Bulgarien 1941–1944. Auf den Spuren der Erinnerungen in: A. von Plato, A. Leh & Ch. Thonfeld (Hg.) Hitlers Sklaven. Lebensgeschichtliche
Analysen zur Zwangsarbeit im internationalen Vergleich, Wien & Köln: Böhlau Verlag, pp.
171–184 [Von Plato Alexander, Thonfeld Christoph & Leh Almut (eds.) (2010), Hitler‘s
Slaves. Life Stories of Forced Labourers in Nazi-Occupied Europe, New York & Oxford:
Berghahn].
Luleva Ana (2010), Politics of Memory in Postsocialist Bulgaria, “Ethnoscripts“ 12, 1 (Ethnologie Bulgariens – Bulgarische Ethnologie), Hamburg: Institut für Ethnologie,
pp. 77–93.
Luleva Ana, Troeva Evgenia & Petrov Petar (2012), Zwangsarbeit in Bulgarien (1941– 1962).
Erinnerungen von Zeitzeugen, Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov“.
McAdams James A. (ed.) (1997), Transitional Justice and the Rule of Law in New Democracies,
Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame.
Misztal Barbara (2003), Theories of Social Remembering, Maidenhead: Open University
Press.
Ortis Jeane (2009), Bitka za republikanskata pamet [The Battle for the Republican Memory], “Le
Monde Diplomatique”, 01.02.2009.
Renan Ernest (1995), Was ist eine Nation? Und andere politische Schriften, Wien & Bozen:
Folio Verlag.
Ricoeur Paul (2006), Pametta, istoriata, zabravata, Sofia: Sonm Publ. [Bulgarian translation
of Ricoeur Paul (2000), La memoire, l’histoire, l’oubli, Paris: Editions du Seuil].
Sharlanov Dinyu (2009), Istoria na kominizma v Bulgaria [The History of Communism in Bulgaria], Vol. 1, Sofia: Ciela.
Stan Lavinia (ed.) (2009), Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union:
Reckoning with the Communist Past, London: Routledge.
Teitel Ruti (2000), Transitional Justice, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Todorov Tsvetan (2002), Pamet za zloto, izkushenie na dobroto. Anketa varhu veka, Sofia: LIK.
[Bulgarian translation of Todorov Tsvetan (2000), Mémoire du mal, tentation du bien, Paris: Robert Laffont].
Torpey John (2001), “Making Whole what Has Been Smashed”: Reflections on Reparations,
“Journal of Modern History“ 73, pp. 333–358.
Von Plato Alexander (1999), Opferkonkurrenten? Die Verfolgten des NS-Regimes und der sowjetischen Besatzungsmacht im Kalten Krieg und in der Entspannungszeit in: E. Domansky
& H. Welzer (Hg.), Eine offene Geschichte. Zur kommunikativen Tradierung der nationalsozialistischen Vergangenheit, Tübingen: Edition Diskord, pp. 74–92.
Biographical note: Dr. Ana Luleva is Associate Professor, Head of the Department of
Ethnology of Socialism and Post-Socialism in the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore
Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her main research topics are: memory studies, gender studies, anthropology of socialism and post-socialism.
Vol. 2/2013
p. 129–144
Nikolai Vukov
Cities, Memorial Sites, Memory: the Case of Plovdiv
Abstract: Based on examples from memorial spaces in Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria), the article approaches the problems of collective memory and public identity in Bulgarian cities during the post-communist transition. The text makes an overview of the main monuments and memorial sites in Plovdiv and pays
special attention to those of the Soviet army, the Brotherly mound, and several of the newly-built monuments after 1989. Shedding light on the dynamics of monuments’ functions during the communist period
and on the changes in their meaning and interpretation after 1989, the article outlines the monuments’ key
role in the public and individual work of memory in the city, and as such seeks to develop a new direction
of research in the field of urban ethnology.
Keywords: city, monuments, memorial landscapes, urban ethnology
Issues related to city space, its main locations, and the ways in which they are
integrated in the lives of urban communities form an important part of research in urban
ethnology. Studying the city from the perspective of different elements of its topography
(streets, squares, neighborhoods, markets, etc.) has been stirring a vivid interest among ethnologists, sociologists, and anthropologists. This interest has been a launching point for research into the historical processes in cities and their main components (Mumford 1995;
Boyer 1994; Huyssen 2003; Todorov 1972), for cultural analyses of the urban way of life (Gavrilova 1999; Georgiev 1980; Hanák 1995), and for various anthropological investigations of
city communities (Krastanova 2004; Santova 2001; Zlatkova 2004). Although sharing different methods and approaches, such studies outline the important role of city space in expressing and maintaining memory, creating a characteristic network where memory is spatially attached and preserved, and – through different images of memory – maintaining city
identity. Characterized by constant changes and passing through unending negotiations
about their function and meaning, the elements of urban landscapes are indicative of a range
of social and cultural processes, as well as – in view of their position between permanence
and change, material traces and surrounding social practices – capable of becoming useful
standpoints for analyzing the variations of public memory in urban environments.
An important element of the landscape and life of every town since the end of the nineteenth century have been monuments and memorial sites dedicated to figures of special
importance in national, regional or local history (see Fabre 2000; Michalski 1998; Riegl 1982).
Reminding about personalities with a recognized political, historical, or cultural significance, they keep alive the layers of past experience and create a network of imprints of history in space, thus conferring on the latter ‘sacred’ dimensions. With monuments raised in
public squares, streets bearing heroes’ names, and memorial signs dedicated to their lives
and activities, cities manage to construe a web of commemorative references and shape
130
Nikolai Vukov
their outlook depending on the ways in which they pay attention, remember, and honor
their dead. From the perspective of their relationship to memory, monuments thus emerge
as having a double nature – on the one hand, they are connected with public commemorations, official discourses, and the political culture of their time, and on the other, they constitute inseparable elements of the collective memory of every city, of the rhythm of its daily
life, of the memoirs and stories told by its citizens.
The present article1 makes an attempt to interpret a particular layer of memory in the city
of Plovdiv (the second largest town in Bulgaria, with an ancient culture and with an important role in Bulgarian history) – one related to monuments and memorial spaces, from the
perspective of the changes in form and interpretation of the recent years. In the text, I pay
attention to some key moments in the history of monuments after 1944, to the fates that different monuments of the communist epoch have had after 1989, and to the visions of the
new memorial objects built during the last two decades. The center of attention is on the
ways in which monuments and memorial sites are construed as places of public significance
and how – inscribed within the landscape of the city – they leave a trace on its collective
memory and identity. Focusing on the monuments that were created during the communist
epoch, on their new meaning and function after 1989, and on the new monuments that were
built during the post-communist transition, the article analyzes the role that memorial sites
have played in the processes of memory after the end of the communist rule, and their function as catalysts in the rearrangement of individual and collective identities after 1989. The
theoretical impetus for the text comes from the extensive publications on memory and identity as closely intertwined yet interdependent categories (see Halbwachs 1925; Assmann
1955; Gillis 1994; Todorova 2004) and from historical and anthropological research into the
relationships between memory, spatial categories, and memorial landscapes (Boyarin 1994;
Connerton 1989; Küchler 1993). An important orientation point for the paper is also abundant literature on the changes of memorial landscapes in Eastern Europe after 1989 (see
James 1999; Levinson 1998; Rihtman-Auguštin 2004; Yampolski 1995), which has revealed
the role of monuments not only as instances of ‘sustaining’ and ‘representing’ memory, but
also as contested sites of remembrance, where the relationships between memory and forgetting, continuity and change are put on display.
From a methodological point of view, the article poses an attempt to combine the archival work and visual documentation related to monuments in Plovdiv during the twentieth
century, and fieldwork observations and conversations with Plovdiv citizens about the memorial sites of the communist period and their fate during the post-communist transition.
Whilst the major part of the fieldwork was carried out in 2005 with the purpose of making a
snapshot of the ongoing public debates and new memorial initiatives in the city, in the following years there were several new visits that complemented the previously accomplished
observations. An important resource for the research is comprised of a range of materials
from the periodical press published before and after 1989, describing unveilings of memorial sites and interpretations of their function. These publications (articles, reports, press
analyses) facilitate the shaping of a “thick description” of the memorial sites in Plovdiv over
the years, as well as reflect on the gradual transformation of their uses and meanings over
the years. A different aspect of the memorial landscapes in the city is, in turn, highlighted by
the information appearing in conversations and interviews conducted with the citizens,
1
The current article is a reworked, updated and expanded version of a text in Bulgarian (Vukov 2007). Part
of a long-term research on monuments and memorial sites in Bulgaria after 1944, the research for this text was
carried out within the collective project “The City: Heritage and Dialogue between Cultures” at the Institute of
Folklore, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, with support from the National Science Fund (2005–2006) and continued with subsequent fieldwork visits and observations in Plovdiv.
131
most of whom had been born or were living in Plovdiv during the said time. The latter encompass mainly memories connected to the public monuments in Plovdiv during the communist period, different debates and actions around these representations after 1989, and
opinions about the “new sites of memory” within the city landscape. Besides giving illustration to the observations and conclusions made on the basis of the printed materials, these
oral testimonies bring in additional emphases on how monuments are remembered and
interpreted, what associations they raise and what role they play in construing various images of the city. Taken together, the archival and oral history materials about the function of
memorial landscapes in Plovdiv provide not only different angles of remembrance and interpretation, but also an interface between the two discourses and their joint collaboration
in the processes of public memory consolidation.
Cities and Memorial Spaces before 1989
Before outlining some of the key moments in the ‘biography’ of the monuments
and sites of memory in Plovdiv during the period of transition, several remarks are necessary on their role and function before 1989. During the communist epoch monuments were
elements of the all-encompassing discourse of the “sacred,” which was grounded in the
commemorations of the communist heroes and in maintaining their memory as “undying
and eternal.”2 The creation of memorial signs, inscriptions, images and ceremonies enabled
the dominant ideology to demonstrate its will to remember a particular group of personalities, to “revive” them through commemorative procedures at memorial sites, and to maintain their vitality. Through the different monuments dedicated to them and through the
places associated with their life and death, the heroes played a major role in shaping the
cityscape during communism, determining to a large extent the internal organization and
symbolic geography of the various towns at the time. This role reflected directly on the
shaping of the new city centers and had a major impact on the overall orchestration of
streets, boulevards and squares dedicated to heroes and marked with memorial signs in
their honor. Thus, until 1970s, there was hardly a town in Bulgaria whose center remained
without the presence of a monument or a memorial complex, as well as statues, busts, and
other memorial signs. Tradition in this respect had been laid in the first decade after 1944,
when, together with the creation of special squares for public gatherings and parades, numerous monuments eternalizing the memory of Soviet soldiers were built in most larger
cities in the country (Trufeshev 1968: 157). Having as their main impetus the practice of collecting deadly remains of soldiers of the Red army in specially created cemeteries and ossuaries (e.g. in Russe, Vidin, Bregovo, Plovdiv, etc.), until the end of 1950s such monuments
appeared in almost all Bulgarian towns.3 Most of them were built in central squares and in
spatial proximity to the already existing monuments remembering the Russian-Ottoman
War.4 Accompanied by military rituals and parades, they were focal points of numerous
sober ceremonies dedicated to the ‘second liberation’ of Bulgaria.
2
About this function of monuments and commemorations in Eastern Europe after 1945, see Fowkes (2002);
Verdery (1999); Voukov (2002).
3
About the building and history of monuments to the Soviet army in different Bulgarian towns, see the diverse range of publications in the daily press before 1990: “Rabotnichesko delo” 255, 1.11.1947; “Otechestven
front” 1598, 5.11.1949; “Otechestven front”, 8.11.1949; “Otechestven front” 1694, 24.02.1950; “Otechestven front”
3168, 7.11.1954; “Zemedelsko zname” 2564, 6.09.1954; “Rabotnichesko delo” 251, 8.09.1954; “Narodna armia”
1762, 11.05.1954.
4
Taking place in 1877–1878, the war led to the reappearance of the Bulgarian State on the political map of
Europe and is known in Bulgarian historiography as the Liberation war.
132
Nikolai Vukov
From a historical point of view, the building of these monuments shows direct connection to those dedicated to the Russian-Ottoman War, which had occupied the main parts of
the memorial spaces in Bulgarian towns before 1944. Aside from the numerous memorial
signs dedicated to fallen soldiers at the places of the largest battles during the Russian-Ottoman war (Trufeshev 1968: 77), in the first decade after the national liberation there appeared
also several “Freedom monuments” (e.g. in Sofia, Russe, Sevlievo, etc.), as well as many
temple-monuments and mausoleums (in Pleven, Razgrad, Yambol, etc.). After 1944, the
monuments dedicated to the Russian-Ottoman war and to the Liberation were an object of
special attention, and to the already existing memorial sites many new monuments, museums and commemorative forms were added, some of them actually dedicated to the “Bulgarian-Russian and Bulgarian-Soviet friendship.” Providing occasions for political rituals
and commemorations performed for different purposes, they construed a link of continuity
between the national liberation struggle and antifascist resistance, thus maintaining the
framework of the ‘double liberation’ by Russia – as propagated by the communist regime at
the time (see Vukov 2006).
The shaping of the memorial landscapes in Bulgarian cities during the communist period was not limited only to the monuments to the Soviet army and commemorative celebrations around the monuments to the Russian-Ottoman war. Of no less importance for the
spatial visualization of memory in the communist period were monuments honoring specific individuals (such as the founders of Marxism and the leading figures of the communist
movement), monuments remembering the September uprising of 1923, and those in honor
of the partisan and antifascist movements, which marked the topography of almost every
town in the country.5 Together with the enhanced interest in grand collective memorials,
towards the end of the 1960s the idea of a continuity between the events of national history
and those from the period of antifascist resistance was developed, which actually showed a
tendency for encompassing the special dead of the communist and national history into a
common pantheon. Stronger attention to the celebration of national heroes led to the building of several memorials (e.g. in Russe, Perushtitsa, Batak, Bratsigovo) dedicated to ‘all the
dead for the freedom of Bulgaria’ and the ‘three generations of fighters.’ The latter was supposed to involve the heroes of the April uprising of 1876, the September uprising of 1923,
and the symbolic date of establishing the socialist rule in the country,6 which was also termed
as the ‘9th of September uprising of 1944.’ The approaching of the great anniversary – 13
centuries since the creation of the Bulgarian state in 1981 – influenced decisively the national
commemorative tone of the 1980s and played a key role in creating new memorial sites in
the urban landscapes during the last decades of the communist regime.
Most of the numerous monuments built in the course of the four decades of communist
rule were not only memorial spaces, but also important symbolic points in the Bulgarian
towns of the communist period. They were enlivened by annual celebrations, commemora-
5
For information about such monuments from different decades and press editions, see: Balgarska telegrafna agentsia – byuletin “Vatreshna informatsia” (BVI) 154, 2.06.1956; “Rabotnichesko delo” 305, 1.12.1965;
“Otechestven front” 7953, 23.04.1970; “Pogled” 49, 7.12.1970; “Eho” 25, 23.06.1978; “Zemedelsko zname” 278,
27.11.1979; “Trud” 3, 05.01.1980; “Stroitel” 39, 23.09.1981; “Nova svetlina” 114, 22.09.1981; “Chitalishte” 10, 1982;
“Kooperativno selo” 43, 20.02.1983. The September uprising of 1923 was an expression of social protest, which
was brutally suppressed by state authorities and was later termed by communist historiography as ‘the first antifascist uprising in the world.’ The creation of monuments to the uprising started in 1950s and although initially
the focus was on its tragic suppression, gradually the memorial forms started to emphasize victory and the celebration of socialist ideas.
6
Termed also as the day of the ‘socialist revolution’, it was actually a coup d’etat that was organized with
the participation of partisan guerilla troops on the same day as the Soviet troops entered Bulgarian territory.
133
tive visits, and by various cultural and historical activities under the patronage of the heroes
and communist leaders. Surrounded by remembrance parks and alleys of immortality, the
monuments and memorial sites formed main trajectories on the tourist maps and brochures
at the time; they were chosen as elements of city emblems and were advertised on postcards,
etc. The intensity of their appearance and the various activities organized around them construed a dense landscape of memory, characterized by direct interaction between the sites,
the memorial forms and the individuals involved. This landscape of memory was – in the
words of Maurice Halbwachs – a result of a ‘collective effort of remembrance’, which the
ideology mobilized and propagated throughout the years and which was marked by the
steadily applied idea of the permanence of ideological representations.
Against the background of these general processes that shaped the memorial spaces and
the outlook of the Bulgarian cities after 1944, Plovdiv was both a characteristic case and a
specimen of unique specificity. A town with a particularly rich history in the period of resistance, it was promoted during the communist years as ‘one of the fortresses against capitalism and fascism.’ The ideological slogan found concrete realization in a series of spatial and
naming practices of maintaining memory. Over the years Plovdiv systematically demonstrated political identity through the images of communist party members who were born
or who died there, such as Dimitar Blagoev, Lilyana Dimitrova, participants in the partisan
movement, etc. Their memorial signs and monuments formed a substantial part of the public space in the city during communist times. Following the logic of the enhanced interest in
the heroes of the partisan and antifascist struggles, all these memorial objects testified to the
accumulation of a separate layer of memory (the one connected with the socialist and revolutionary movement) upon the cityscape of the communist period. They also showed the
rooting of this memory in the cultural forms from previous epochs and its ‘integration’ with
the daily life of the city via festive rituals, ceremonial visits, etc. Furthermore, given the
background of such a colorful and historically and culturally rich urban landscape as that of
Plovdiv (preserving numerous traces of Thracian, Greek, Roman and Ottoman times), the
memory of the revolutionary movement was regularly promoted in the media and propaganda materials of the time as holding the strongest historical and cultural value.
Photo 1. Monument to the Soviet Army (“Alyosha”) – built in 1957. Photo: N. Vukov, 2008.
134
Nikolai Vukov
Among the monuments built during the communist epoch, the highest symbolic significance duly belongs to the first memorial complex in the city, which actually functioned as
the main city emblem – the monument to the Soviet army “Alyosha” Officially unveiled in
November 1957, on the occasion of 40 years since the October revolution,7 the monument
was built on the so-called Bunardzhik Hill – in the immediate proximity of the memorial of
the Russian Emperor Alexander II Liberator – and thus occupied an already established
commemorative space. Throughout the entire communist period, the monument was in the
center of ideological festivities and ceremonies (anniversaries, festive gatherings, rituals for
admitting new communist party members, etc.), including also celebrations of the anniversaries of its construction.8 Another memorial of special importance as a city emblem during
the communist period was the so-called ‘Brotherly Mound’, which was completed in 1974
and opened on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the ‘socialist revolution’ – in memory
of those Plovdiv citizens who died for the freedom of Bulgaria.9 Unique by its design and
construction, the Brotherly mound attracted incessant interest of Bulgarian and foreign
tourists during the entire period until 1989 and was the focal point of an entire system of
Photo 2. “Brotherly Mound” dedicated to all who died for the freedom of Bulgaria – built in 1974. Photo: N. Vukov, 2008.
7
See about its unveiling: “Rabotnichesko delo” 23, 23.01.1955; “Narodna mladezh” 147, 20.06.1956; “Narodna armia” 2847, 6.11.1957; “Otechstven front” 8683, 12.09.1972; “Pogled” 8, 24.02.1975.
8
9
About the 25th anniversary of constructing Alyosha, see: “Narodna armia”10 240, 24.11.1982.
The building of the monument started in honor of the 10th Congress of BKP, and one of the first sober moments on this occasion was the burying of a memorial letter in its base, which was addressed to the forthcoming
generations and contained a promise that the heroes’ deeds would be continued. See “Rabotnichesko delo” 42,
11.02.1971; “Zemedelsko zname” 34, 10.02.1971.
135
commemorative practices honoring the dead. Similar to most other memorial complexes at
the time, it was enclosed in a wide park area and functioned also as an attractive destination
of walks, outings and recreation. The latter emphasized the characteristic duality of the memorial sites in those times – to be simultaneously centers of commemoration and as well as
sites for tourist visits; to be equally elements of ideological discourse and parts of everyday
practices for rest and leisure. And while during the communist period this function of the
commemorative sites was directly connected with their integration in the everyday rhythm
of the city and with the unavoidable process of ‘trivialization’, after 1989 it turned out to be
the prevailing one actually determining the new function of these sites after the dissolution
of the former commemorative framework.
Memorial Sites and Memory after 1989
The monuments of the communist epoch were among the elements of the city
landscape most directly affected by the changed notions of power, death, and the sacred
after the end of the communist rule. The changes that occurred brought the possibility to
“disenchant” the spaces around the monuments and memorial sites and to affirm a message
directly opposed to that which had been propagated during the communist regime.10 The
ways in which monuments were treated after 1989 were various: they were destroyed, reshaped into new sculptural compositions, removed from central locations to remote parks
and gardens, preserved in store rooms and basements, covered with slogans and advertisement materials, etc. Besides any vandalizing acts against them or their use for metal scrap
or as construction materials, there also appeared multiple projects for their reworking and
new symbolic utilization. Sometimes difficulties with the demolition of the grand complexes of the communist period led to them gradually being left at the disposal of time and
weather. Thus, whilst they were previously places of memory and commemoration, after
1989 they frequently turned into emblematic sites of forgetting.
The wave of demolition and relocation attempts did not leave untouched the city with
the ‘long-lasting revolutionary traditions’ – Plovdiv. A series of monuments dedicated to
figures of the antifascist and partisan movement, to Dimitar Blagoev, Lenin, etc., were removed and replaced with “more legitimate” representations. Their fate spawned numerous
polemics among representatives of different political affiliations, intellectuals, ordinary citizens, etc. The monument that provoked one of the most intensive debates after 1989 was
that in honour of the Soviet army, Alyosha. The pressure for its destruction or overall transformation started immediately after the political changes, when the opposition groups carried out special actions against its presence. In the course of such acts, the monument was
covered with paint several times as well as with inscriptions and graffiti – “Enslavers,” “Liberate us from the Liberators,” “45 years are enough,” etc. For all the enhanced debates and
actions that demanded its destruction, there also appeared various projects for the reuse of
the memorial object.11 A monarchist organization collected donations for the transformation
of Alyosha into an obelisk that would symbolize independence of Bulgaria; the Bulgarian
10
Adequate treatment and interpretation of monuments was an important problem in all the countries of
Eastern Europe after 1989 (see James 1999; Verdery 1999; Voukov 2003). Varying in intensity over the years, it
retained its importance throughout the entire post-communist period.
11
Already in the 1990s there were more than 35 projects proposed by artists, architects and designers, who
insisted on turning the monument into ‘something else.’ Among the suggestions were, for example, those of
shaping the figure of the Soviet soldier into the national hero Vassil Levski or into a bottle of Coca Cola (“Duma”
153, 1.07.1996; “Kontinent” 157, 7.07.1996; “24 chasa” 238, 31.08.1099).
136
Nikolai Vukov
antifascist union envisioned the possibility or replacing the monument with a memorial
sign to the fallen in the Second World War; the municipality of Plovdiv suggested a monument to the unknown soldier to be built near the Soviet memorial and commemorating with
it all those dead for the national unification of Bulgaria.12 The idea of transforming Alyosha
and of removing its impact on the image of the city included also the building of a sculpture
of Christ on one of the hills in Plovdiv,13 covering the monument with a metal sphere like a
sun disk,14 and even its removal to another city.15
A radical position in these debates in 1996 was taken by the mayor of the city, who declared his firm intention to remove the monument from the hill. These proclamations met
with protests from the Russian diplomatic mission, members of governmental and business
circles in Russia, and antifascist organizations in Bulgaria.16 The diplomatic objections found
ground in the agreements signed between Bulgaria and Russia after 1989 about the preservation of historical and cultural monuments.17 Put under enormous public pressure, the
mayor promised that actually Alyosha would not be “destroyed,” but would be enclosed
within a metal disk resembling a sun or else exposed in a specially created park for such
monuments.18 The mayor’s position changed several times, but it was only in 1997 that the
idea to destroy the Soviet memorial was finally deserted – probably due also to warnings
that a destruction of the memorial might ruin the entire hill.19
Alongside the range of new ideas for the monument’s use, there continued protests of
socialists, antifascists and veterans in Plovdiv against any possible assaults on the memorial.
Sign-up sheets in support of Alyosha were gathered also by intellectuals, by the Federation
for friendship with the people of Russia, by the Fatherland Union, by the Democratic Women’s Union, etc.20 Legal procedures were also initiated against public institutions which accepted the idea of the demolition of the monument,21 and proposals for the monument’s
preservation were addressed to the President, state institutions, and international organizations.22 The tension escalated particularly around the celebrations of May 9th, when the monument had to be cleaned from graffiti, swastikas and anti-Russian slogans.23 At the end of
12
13
See BVI 361, 27.12.1995; “Trud” 116, 29.04.1996; “Trud” 105, 18.04.1996; “Trud” 284, 16.10.1996.
The idea was objected by the church authorities, who noted that the Orthodox Church excluded the possibility of making sculptural representations of Christ (“Duma” 60, 11.03.1996).
14
15
See “Trud” 112, 25.04.1996; “Standart” 133, 5.06.1996.
In 1996, the citizens of Silistra showed the intention for the monument to Alyosha to be transferred to their
city (BVI 115, 24.04.1996). The same year, another option was also discussed – to move the monument to the
House of humor and satire in Gabrovo (BVI 115, 24.04.1996).
16
17
18
19
20
21
See “Demokratsia” 91, 17.04.1996; “24 chasa” 14.05.1996; “Trud” 133, 17.05.1996; “Duma” 96, 25.04.1997.
See “Trud” 120, 5.05.1996; BVI 172, 20.06.1996; “Duma” 145, 21.06.1996.
See “24 chasa” 128, 12.05.1996; “Demokratsia” 112, 13.05.1996.
See “24 chasa” 231, 23.08.1997.
See “Duma” 109, 9.05.1996; “24 chasa” 115, 28.04.1996.
See “Trud” 151, 5.06.1996; “Standart” 1315, 17.05.1996; “24 chasa”, 14.05.1996. Voices in the monument’s
support came also from the Russian soldier who once acted as the prototype for Alyosha and who came to Bulgaria in the midst of the debates (“Duma” 109, 9.05.1996; “Demokratsia” 109, 9.05.1996), and from the newspaper “Komsomolskaya pravda,” which dedicated special publications to the “second murder of Alyosha”
(“Duma” 109, 9.05.1996).
22
23
See “Duma” 96, 23.04.1996; “24 chasa” 108, 21.04.1996; “Kontinent” 95, 22.04.1996; BVI 127, 7.05.1997.
Particularly exasperating was the 1997 debate stirred by the insistence of the Russian embassy on the
cleaning of the monument for the day of the victory over fascism, 9th of May (See “Duma” 96, 25.04.1997;
“24 chasa” 116, 1.05.1997). Due to the mayor’s refusal to organize this, the monument’s conservation was carried
out by representatives of political parties and by the Russian diplomatic mission in Bulgaria (BVI 126, 6.05.1997;
“Duma” 103, 7.05.1997).
137
the 1990s, the political struggles over the monument were gradually reduced to clashes between various youth groups over the symbolic use of the surrounding space.24 Although it
has not ceased to be an object of visits on the occasion of various holidays, both for tourists
and local citizens, over the years that followed Alyosha gradually lost its commemorative
functions and became mainly an area for walks and recreation. Since the end of the 1990s,
the debates around the memorial standing atop the hill calmed down and although episodic
provocative acts against it appear recurrently, it has retained its solid place on the map of the
historical sites in the city.
The complicated biography of the monument and its special place in the life of Plovdiv’s
citizens emerge distinctively in memories shared during conversations and interviews. Most
Plovdiv citizens are well aware of, and actively comment on, the different attempts at the
monument’s destruction, rewritings of its inscriptions and images, the political gatherings
over its fate and the various projects on the reworking of the neighbouring space.25 The destruction of various parts of the complex and of some of its adjacent facilities, the abandonment of the area and vandalizing acts against the monument stir up reactions of indignation, but opinions about the possible fate and future function of the memorial are not
unanimous. It remains a fact, however, that for the representatives of the older generation,
Alyosha stands as a firm reference point in memory – connected but not limited to its political functions. While preserving the memory of the numerous political celebrations and rituals around the memorial complex,26 for most of the elder citizens the hill with the monument
has also been an attractive area for rest, socializing, and an opportunity to enjoy the cityscape from above. Also, as a reference point for various interpretations, the monument helps
uncover a particular resource of memory – one connected with collective and individual
remembering, with cultural events and everyday activities in the city. This is because apart
from the political rituals and celebrations, Alyosha held a steady presence in the lives of
Plovdiv’s citizens also as a place where graduation balls and school festivities were
organized,27 a destination where people went on evening walks and met, and where representatives of alternative religious and cultural groups gathered for their activities.28 All this
helps with interpreting the memorial object not only as an emblem of a particular political
culture, but also as a launching point that accumulates memory references across time and
that addresses a plethora of events and discourses.
Similar pendulum moves of interpretation and reassessment after 1989 have been accompanying the Brotherly mound in Plovdiv. Protests against it started already in early
1990s and ideas about its future fate ranged from destruction to preservation as a regional
24
Consider, for example, the clashes between Satanists and Skinheads about their right to make use of the
monument (“Demokratsia” 167, 25.06.97).
25
“Many people wanted to topple down this monument, there were various meetings, [with] members of
the opposition. My children were also of this opinion before. But now they are silent. People are confused now.”
(Interview with К. I., born 1937 г., living in Plovdiv since 1955)
26
“Ever since my childhood years, Alyosha was a site of cult meanings – for political reasons… People went
to Alyosha on pilgrimages before. It was mandatory to pay a visit – for tourists, diplomats, etc.” (Interview with
А. А., born in 1955)
27
“There was no theatre building in Plovdiv before, and all school graduates went to Alyosha to celebrate.”
– Interview with A. A.
28
“Before the building of the monument, there was a big hole on the top of the hill. There people organized
so-called Verdi celebrations. The area was surrounded like a park before the beginning of the communist rule –
like a house with a fence. There was a water source on the top of the hill. … In 1950s, the monument was built
and the graduation balls took place on the hill. Adventists gathered there, and rockets were shot from that place
on 2nd of June (the day of Hristo Botev and all who died for the freedom of Bulgaria).” – Interview with N. Е.,
born in 1930.
138
Nikolai Vukov
history museum. One of the proposals for transforming the monument came from its author, Prof. Lyubomir Dalchev, who insisted on the restoration of the monument back to the
initial idea, that is, to it being dedicated to all the dead from Plovdiv and for the freedom of
Bulgaria.29 Although this idea did not receive approval of the municipal authorities, the
need to take a decision about the memorial turned out to be a pressing one. The monument
continued to function as a department of the regional history museum, but it did not cease
to be attacked, smeared with graffiti, covered with dirt, regarded as the meeting point for
different youth groups. In order to prevent some of these practices and to prevent the memorial from ultimate destruction, the municipality took a decision to block the entrance
with a metal bar, thus turning it largely into an object isolated from direct observers and
visitors. After the undertaking of these measures and calming down of the political demonstrations and debates around the monument itself, another issue popped up: that of the role
of the space around to be used for rest and recreation – non-political functions which, previously unnoticed, started to constitute the major part of the monument’s usage after 1989.
At this juncture, it is worth drawing a comparison with another area in Plovdiv, where,
in a series of memorial signs, other special personalities have imprinted their visible presence onto a place of rest and relaxation – the City Garden. There, in a very overt way, the
past mixes with the present, and the pulse of everyday life intertwines with the immediate
accompaniment of the national heroes and emblematic figures from the history of the city
– mostly heroes of the struggle for national revival in the nineteenth century (Hristo Botev,
Nayden Gerov, Vassil Petleshkov, etc.) The lively dynamics of the City Garden (as a venue
for walks, meetings, conversations and gatherings of different age groups, political and
sport events) take place amidst the iconic presence of the monuments (busts, sculptures,
etc.) of important historical figures. By juxtaposing the older monuments with new commemorative forms, the City Garden thus expresses a characteristic “ideal” of a memorial
space – simultaneously both present in the ongoing rhythm of the city and concentrated
upon its own, self-sufficient standing beyond the fuss of everyday life.
The memory of the city and its visualized presence in monuments has found expression
in a series of other memorial objects on the city map. Steadily present in the urban topography have been well-known monuments, such as that of Captain Burago in the central market square,30 the national hero Vassil Levski on the steps of the Bunardzhik Hill, the famous
soldier Gyuro Mihaylov near the military club, etc. Each with a history of its own, they are
not only inseparable from the memory of the city, but are often pointed out as ‘inherent’ to
the public landscape in Plovdiv. It is also worth mentioning that throughout the city one can
find numerous memorial plaques to participants in the national-liberation struggle, cultural
and educational figures of the late 19th and early 20th century. Indicating major highlights in
the historical and cultural memory of the city, they all weave a characteristic topographic
network, where memory is positioned in a state that aims to outlive the political affiliations
and moods of the present.
The observations made above found confirmation in the conversations and interviews
held with the Plovdiv citizens, in which various details about the fates of significant monuments in the city cropped up: the idea, going back to the 1930s, to have a monument honoring the Unification of Bulgaria and the revived debates on the topic from the 1990s;31 details
29
Dalchev insisted on dropping the ideological scenes from the sculpted composition of the memorial, as
well as on returning some of those which were once disapproved of by the communist party authorities (See
“Sega” 30, 24.11.1997; BVI 328, 24.11.1997).
30
31
The Russian officer under whose commandment Plovdiv was liberated in 1878.
“Many people argued against this monument – that it lacked aesthetics, that it was too abstract, etc. But,
actually, it seems like a bird. And there definitely should be such a monument – Interview with A. A.
139
concerning the monument of the prominent communist leader Yordanka Nikolova-Chankova and its subsequent destruction after 1989; the transfer of the dead remains of communist
partisans and activists from the municipal cemeteries to the Brotherly mound, etc.32 In the
memories of the interviewed, various opinions appeared which related to the dynamics of
the memorial sites, as well as to the overall spatial dynamics of Plovdiv over the years – the
shaping of Bunardzhik Hill as a memorial area with distinctive political and propaganda
functions, the destruction of the so-called “Royal Island” near the Hunting Park before the
construction of the Brotherly mound, the creation of new squares and crossroads and their
decoration with monuments of heroes, the renaming of streets, squares and important city
locations after 1989, etc. Very often, in the conversations and interviews there also appeared
topics which had no direct connection to monuments, but which revealed interesting aspects of the city history, of the socialist culture and everyday life, of the political and cultural
processes after 1989. Among those topics were also the hunger and crisis of the first years
after the Second World War, the labor camps during the totalitarian regime,33 the organized
marches and visits on special days,34 etc. Spurred by the initial impetus of questions related
to monuments, a frequent element in the conversations were comments about prominent
personalities in the city, stories about the history of schools and cultural centers, of the famous city fair, etc.
The memories and narratives of the Plovdiv citizens outlined the contours of a series of
monuments that had been removed from public spaces after 1989, but which were still
present as topoi in the memory of the elder generation. Among them, one can list, for example, the monuments to the “communards” Petar Chengelov, Lilyana Dimitrova, Alexander
Dimitrov, etc., once placed in central locations, of which, after 1990s, the only remaining
traces are empty pedestals. References concerning the history of the city often intertwined
with memories and associations regarding the neighboring villages and towns – mostly the
fate of their monuments after 1989: the dismantlement of the monument of a communist in
the nearby town of Assenovgrad, the removal of the monument of Phillip Shabanski in the
village of Markovo, the toppling of several monuments in Hrabrino (known as “The Red
Village,” because of its pro-communist affiliation) and Stryama, etc. Almost all of the people
with whom I talked remembered cases from the towns and villages near Plovdiv where
similar situations had occurred, and were excited to share comments and opinions. Most of
the interviewees could not restrain regret over the destruction of many of the monuments of
the communist period and lack of maintenance of the previously well kept memorial spaces.
Among the frequently stated opinions were those that every historical period dictates its
own aesthetic taste; that monuments should stay, as they were major carriers of memory;
that history needed to stand beside political partiality. Although the political leaning of
these opinions to the Bulgarian Socialist Party was not concealed, they were also generally
representative of the prevailing attitudes of the elderly generation towards memorial arti-
32
“They unburied them out of their graves and gathered the remains together until they built the monument. But then – when they were about to put them in the ossuary – they could not find the remains. Obviously,
the chemical in which they preserved the bones had dissolved them. That was how they constructed the ossuary
– empty. All citizens of Plovdiv knew that there were no bones in the ossuary.” – Interview with Т. R., born in
1926.
33
“Sending people to labor camps was for truly innocent and absurd reasons. Everybody who had long hair,
a beard, or if a woman had a short skirt or her hair was in a bun, could end up in a labor camp. ” – Interview with
К. I.
34
Thus, on the occasion of the solemn marches that take place on June 2nd, a female respondent eagerly
shares: “We had marches that consisted roughly of 300 people. Along the route, we visited monuments, death
spots, we sat for a while, and we talked to partisans, took photos of them.” – Interview with N. E.
140
Nikolai Vukov
facts – major reference points in their lives.
An important part of the conversations were also opinions on the newly-raised monuments and memorial plaques in the town. Some of the new constructions (e.g. for the painter
Tsanko Lavrenov, the writer Aleko Konstantinov, the journalist Nedko Kableshkov, etc.) are
attempts to mark key moments in the history of Plovdiv and to overcome the previous overwhelming presence of ideological monuments – by recreating the memories of figures that
have enriched the city’s cultural life. Other monuments that have appeared after 1989 (e.g of
the Bulgarian politician of the early twentieth century, Stefan Stambolov, or of the nineteenth-century hero Kocho Chestimenski) provoked contradictory opinions about their
poor artistic realization, about their proximity to the style of communist monumentality,
and about the choices of their location. For example, for several years, intensive public debates surrounded the monument of Phillip the Macedonian, raised in one of the emblematic
squares of Plovdiv to assert the long cultural traditions of the city going back to Greek Antiquity. During the debates, various aspects of the monument were attacked, among them
the choice of place, the scale, the posture of the ruler, who had given the city its ancient
name (“Phillipopolis”), etc.35 In 2012, due to reconstruction works around the monument’s
initial location, it was removed and placed in front of the Municipal Council of the city with
an intention that this would be its ultimate location. Albeit with much less debate, the monument to the famous Bulgarian King of the Medieval period, Khan Krum, also raised speculations about the appropriateness of its construction and the overall need to spend public
funds on such expensive projects. Dedicated to the anniversary of 800 years after the ruler
integrated Plovdiv within the territory of the Bulgarian State, the equestrian figure of the
king added an important input to the monumental landscape in Plovdiv, particularly to the
efforts to revive the earlier periods of state glory and to overcome the patterns of communist
monumentality. Another widely discussed monument was that to the city’s crank Milyo – a
weird personality who entertained the main street of the city with his strangeness, feeblemindedness, and communicative spirit. Milyo used to be a city emblem and was remembered by many after his death. Thus, although there were at the beginning some reservations about the legitimacy of having a statue of such a figure, the sculpture was perceived
positively by many people and soon turned into a popular site attracting photos from both
tourists and local citizens.
Many memorial signs that were raised during the post-communist transition resulted
from the impetus to commemorate victims of the totalitarian regime or to recall figures and
events kept aside from public attention before 1989. Thus, in 1996, in the schoolyard of “Vassil Levski” school, a monument to the victims of communism was built, and a memorial sign
was placed upon their common grave.36 In 2000, at the initiative of the “Nikola Petkov” Agricultural Union (named after the famous opposition leader in the first years of the communist rule), a monument was raised to the perished members of the union and other Plovdiv
citizens who were repressed and died after 1944.37 Similar commemorative functions can be
attributed to the memorial plaque to Priest Kamen Vichev at the Plovdiv University, and the
plaque at the entrance to the Catholic Church nearby – in memory of three priests shot in
1952 and pronounced as blessed by Pope John Paul II. In 2005, a monument to all the repressed people after 1944 was built in front of the municipal administration building of the
town. The memorial was founded at the initiative of the Union of the Repressed by the Com-
35
As one of my interviewees commented: “Its place is not supposed to be there, the pedestal is ridiculous,
and the scale is unacceptable too: the opinions are largely split.” – Interview with А. А.
36
37
See “Demokratsia” 43, 10.11.1996; “Trud” 121, 6.05.1997; “Standart” 1675, 20.05.1997.
See “Standart” 2636, 27.03.2000.
141
Photo 3. Monument to the members of “Nikola Petkov”
Agricultural Union and to the victims of the communist
rule – built in 2000. Photo: N. Vukov, 2008.
Photo 4. Monument to the repressed by the communist
regime in Bulgaria – built in 2005. Photo: N. Vukov,
2009.
munist Regime in Bulgaria and was designed to resemble an old tree in whose base is an
inscription is laid saying “Cut down (like tree) back in Time we (contemporaries) Read
through.” Although nowadays it looks rather enigmatic to visitors to the city, it provides an
important illustration of the policies of memory during the post-communist period.
An interesting case is that of the group of monuments and memorial signs dedicated to
the salvation of Bulgarian Jews during World War II – an event that did not receive adequate
monumental representation during the communist period. In 1998, on the occasion of
142
Nikolai Vukov
the 55th anniversary of this event, a monument was built in honour of the salvation of the
Bulgarian Jews in the garden near the Jewish Cultural Centre,38 and two years later, a memorial plaque commemorating Jewish participants in the antifascist struggle was unveiled in
the Synagogue of Plovdiv. Making possible the long-conceived idea of placing commemorative signs to Jewish people who perished in the wars (an idea dating back to 1930s, but remaining unrealized), the unveiling of the memorial plaque turned out to be a sober and
significant event for the Jewish community in the city, and is pointed out at with pride by
representatives of this community.
These examples of new foci in the public memory after 1989 testify to the symbolic significance that monuments and memorial sites hold for Plovdiv and its different groups,
generations, and communities. Taken together, they point to a peculiar coexistence of cultural and historical references in the city’s topography, visualizations of its wanted or unwanted, remembered or forgotten past, and representations of its contact with the present.
Customarily associated with their ability to hold a lasting and unchanging presence, they
are actually a lively and dynamic element of the urban landscape – one that changes both in
its spatial and visual aspects, and in the flexible contours of the individual and collective
memory.
Conclusion
The cases analyzed in the text demonstrate how in the last two decades the city
has construed elements of its history, worked out its identity and “connected its present-day
being with a ‘once-upon-a-time’ that actually ‘belongs’ to the dead” (Zhivkov 2000: 275). At
the same time, they touch upon important aspects of the everyday experience of the living,
maintaining important points in the surrounding landscape and forming major references
in their memory. As a crossing point for different approaches (political, ideological, journalistic, etc.), monuments and memorial sites are not only a thematic focus, but also a key orientation point for how to present and assert cultural, historical and collective identities. And
it is namely this perspective that permits their being perceived as ‘heritage,’ whose maintenance and transmission originates from of active dialogue between different cultures and
discourses, between political and everyday uses, between the past and the present.
Bibliography
Assmann Jan (1955), Collective Memory and Cultural Identity, “New German Critique” 65,
pp. 125–133.
Boyarin Jonathan, ed. (1994), Remapping Memory: The Politics of Timespace, Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Boyer, Christina (1994), The City of Collective Memory: Its Historical Imagery and Architectural Entertainments, Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.
Connerton Paul (1989), How Societies Remember, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Fabre Daniel, ed. (2000), Domestiquer l’histoire: Ethnologie des monuments historique, Paris:
Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.
Fowkes Reuben (2002), The Role of Monumental Sculpture in the Construction of Socialist
Space in Stalinist Hungary in: D. Crowley & S. E. Reid (eds.) Socialist Spaces: Sites of Eve38
Known as the “monument of gratitude,” it was built from personal donations of the Plovdiv Jews and
bears the inscription “In gratitude to all those who helped in our salvation in 10.03.1944. From the grateful Jews
of Plovdiv.”
143
ryday Life in the Eastern Bloc, Oxford, New York: Berg, pp. 65–84.
Gavrilova Rayna (1999), Koleloto na zhivota: Vsekidnevieto v balgarskia vazrozhdenski grad
[The Wheel of Life: Everyday Life in Bulgarian Towns in the Revival Period], Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sveti Kliment Ohridski” (in Bulgarian).
Georgiev Georgi (1980), Etnografia na balgarskia grad [Ethnography of Bulgarian Cities], Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite (in Bulgarian).
Gillis John (1994), Memory and Identity: the History of a Relationship in: J. Gillis (ed.) Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, pp. 3–24.
Halbwachs, Maurice (1925), Les cadres sociaux de la mémoire, Paris: Librairie Félix Alcan.
Hanák Peter (1995), The Garden and the Workshop: Essays on Cultural History of Vienna and
Budapest, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Huyssen Andreas (2003), Present Pasts: Urban Palimpsests and the Politics of Memory, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
James Beverly (1999), Fencing in the Past: Budapest’s Statue Park Museum, “Media, Culture,
and Society” 21 (3), pp. 291–311.
Krastanova Krassimira (2004), Kulturni praktiki i konstruirane obrazite na grada [Cultural
Practices and Construing Images of the City], “Balgarski folklor” 1–2, pp. 38–55 (in
Bulgarian).
Küchler Susanne (1993), Landscape and Memory: The Mapping of Process and Its Representation in a Melanesian Society in: B. Bender (ed.), Landscape: Politics and Perspectives, Oxford: Berg, pp. 85–106.
Levinson Sanford (1998), Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies, Durham
and London: Duke University Press.
Michalski Serguisz (1998), Public Monuments: Art in Political Bondage 1870–1997, London:
Reaktion Books.
Mumford Lewis (1995), The City in History, London: Routledge.
Riegl Alois (1982), The Modern Cult of Monuments: Its Character and Its Origin, “Opposition” 25, pp. 21–51 (originally published as: Der modern Denkmalkultus: Sein Wesen und
seine Entstehung, Vienna-Leipzig, 1903).
Rihtman-Auguštin Dunja (2004), The Monument in the Main City Square: Constructing and
Erasing Memory in Contemporary Croatia in: M. Todorova (ed.), Balkan Identities, Nation
and Memory, New York New: York University Press, pp. 180–196.
Santova Mila (2001), Kultura i traditsia na malkia grad [Culture and Tradition of the Little
Town], Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov” (in Bulgarian).
Todorov Nikolay (1972), Balkanskiat grad ХV-ХІХ v. [The Balkan City, 15th–19th cc], Sofia:
“Nauka i izkustvo” (in Bulgarian).
Todorova Maria (2004), Introduction: Learning Memory, Remembering Identity in: M. Todorova (ed.), Balkan Identities, Nation and Memory, New York: New York University Press,
pp. 1–24.
Trufeshev Nikolay (1968), Monumentalnite izkustva i arhitekturata v Bulgaria [Monumental
Arts and Architecture in Bulgaria], Sofia: Tehnika (in Bulgarian).
Verdery Katherine (1999), The Political Lives of Dead Bodies: Reburial and Postsocialist Change,
New York: Columbia University Press.
Voukov Nikolai (2003), Death and Desecration: Monuments of the Socialist Past in Bulgaria
after 1989, “Anthropology of Eastern Europe Review” 21 (2), pp. 49–55.
Voukov Nikolai (2002), Death and Vitality in the Monuments of the Socialist Past in Eastern
Europe, “New Europe College Regional Program Yearbook,” Bucharest, pp.
253–298.
Vukov, Nikolai (2007), Grad i memorialni prostranstva (po materiali ot Plovdiv) [The City and Its
Memorial Sites: Materials from Plovdiv], “Balgarski folklor” 1, pp. 46–55 (in Bulgarian).
Vukov, Nikolai (2006), “Brotherly Help” Representations or “Imperial” Legacy: Monuments to
the Soviet Army in Bulgaria before and after 1989, “Ab Imperio” 1, pp. 267–292.
Yampolski, Mikhail (1995), In the Shadow of Monuments: Notes on Iconoclasm and Time in:
N. Condee (ed.), Soviet Hieroglyphics: Visual Culture in Late Twentieth Century Russia,
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 93–112.
Zhivkov Todor Iv. (2000), Uvod v etnologiata [Introduction to Ethnology], Plovdiv: Izdatel-
144
Nikolai Vukov
stvo na Plovdivskia universitet (in Bulgarian).
Zlatkova Miglena (2004), Gradski obshtnosti i prostranstva na grada – nasledstvo i kulturno
vzaimodeystvie [Urban Communities and City Spaces – Heritage and Cultural Interaction],
“Balgarski folklor” 1–2, pp. 56–67 (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: Dr Nikolai Vukov is Associate Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He has published extensively on monuments and museums in Eastern Europe after 1945; communist rule
and post-communist transition; memory and commemorations of the dead after the
Two World Wars in Bulgaria.
Vol. 2/2013
p. 145–160
Miglena Ivanova
Graffiti and the Symbolic Dismantling
of the Berlin Wall
Abstract: Many inscriptions, drawings and paintings on the Berlin Wall appeared on its western side in the
period between the 1960s and the 1980s. Later, when the Wall ceased to exist, a lot of new and sometimes quite different graffiti were written on some of its replicas. All these images are nowadays often
re-used to signify both the former presence of the Wall and its Fall. Yet, they appear to be poorly – studied.
The present article aims at analyzing some of the specifics of these images and at revealing their strong
power. The author also interprets them as an important precedent opening unexpected possibilities for
legitimating graffiti production as a type of imagery capable of signifying human presence and attitude and,
at the same time, of representing a city, an idea or a key historic event.
Keywords: graffiti, Berlin wall, symbolic dismantling
Contemporary urban graffiti tend to generate either love or contempt. The same
holds true for images that copy their style specifics or simply resemble them. Nevertheless,
architects and sculptors increasingly use such images as a stylistic device in shared public
spaces because these images have a specific connotation, making them capable of calling
forth important messages such as “voices” of individuals, local color or even local history
(Chmielewska 2008). At the same time all the new buildings, monuments and memorials
which make use of artistic devices based on graffiti writing, regularly trigger long-lasting
public debates.
A clear example in this respect was the famous Monument against Fascism and War in
Hamburg – one of the first monuments (or rather counter-monuments) of this type, opened in
1986 and lasting until 1993. The basic idea for this “disappearing monument” was to erect a
12-meter high column and to invite passers-by to write down their personal or political inscriptions on it. The monument was equipped with a special mechanism allowing for downward movement of the column. The more graffiti were written, the more often the mechanism
was put into motion. After eight years the column finally disappeared from public sight. Created as a political and artistic challenge to national memory, the Hamburg counter-monument
provoked long-lasting international discussions on memory and commemoration (Siegel
2005). At the same time, it caused discontent on the local level. Even the youngest residents of
Hamburg considered the “graffiti method” intolerable. Some of the more radical negative attitudes included statements that the artistic decision was inappropriate because it encouraged
graffiti writing not only on the monument surface, but also in the vicinities (Young 1992:
271–283). Nevertheless, all the ardor of the debates surrounding the Hamburg counter-monument could hardly be compared to the debates about the graffiti writings on the Reichstag.
The Reichstag graffiti were discovered on the walls of the building during its reconstruction. Written by Soviet soldiers, they are in Cyrillic and contain their names and messages.
146
Miglena Ivanova
Thus, for the greater part of the contemporary German residents the Reichstag graffiti were
just scribbles, restoring in a painful way the old traumas of the Second World War. At the
same time, the main architect of the reconstruction decided to preserve them as part of the
general concept of turning the building into a museum of its own history (Baker 2002: 22–
37). The debates that immediately followed the realization of the idea, spreading even outside Germany, were predominantly centered on the questions of appropriateness or inappropriateness: problematic was actually the unprecedented attention and care paid to the
restoration and conservation of the unwanted graffiti remains (Chmielewska 2008: 8-10).
Another core question was whose history was worth preserving on the walls of the Reichstag, inasmuch as it was not an ordinary building but one symbolizing German statehood
(Baker 2002: 20–38).
Although triggered by a particular architectural decision, the debates revealed some
widespread attitudes, rejecting graffiti in principle. Thus, for example, the German politician Wolfgang Zeitelmann declared: “I think it is an illness of our age that we keep scribbles
as if they were holy. I don’t care what Russian veterans think about it. This is a German parliament and I don’t see why it has to be covered in smears” (cited after Baker 2002: 20).
By contrast, the graffiti of the Berlin Wall had always been valued in a completely different way, gaining enormous popularity because of their efficiency as transgressive symbols.1
Later, they were re-conceptualized as predictors of the Fall of the Wall. Today, the non-existent giant fortification continues to live in the popular memory as a specific lieu de memoir,
usually associated with death, tragedies, ruins and painful loss. At the same time, it is also
very well remembered as a place for graffiti (Feversham & Schmidt 1999: 10). In addition, in
the last decades many new graffiti have been created as a result of the many attempts made
to join symbolically in the dismantling of the Wall.
The Berlin Wall graffiti have been carefully documented. Yet, it has proved to be extremely difficult to outline their specific nature. Many early analytical endeavors ended up
pointing out merely metaphors. They were quite emotional and helpful in raising general
interest in the graffiti on the Wall and in legitimizing their collection and exhibiting, but they
hardly helped to explain systematically the phenomenon of the writing on the Wall. Thus,
for example, Kuzdas (1999: 16) saw the graffiti as a form of tattoos tagged directly on the
concrete, Stein (1989: 85–108) likened their effects to the functions of political jokes about the
Wall in the former DDR, while Feversham and Schmidt (1999: 10) compared them to a dynamically changing gallery space.
Berlin Wall graffiti have also often been mentioned in the analytical works dedicated to
the construction, overcoming, preservation or memorialization of the Wall (Baker 1993: 720–
723; Ladd 1997: 7–12, 25–30; Greverus 2000: 16–19; Light 2000: 164–165; Dolf-Bonekämper
2002: 240; Till 2005: 116; Van der Hoorn 2003: 191–198, Neef 2007: 426–430; Manghani 2008:
20, 40–46, 124–130; Kimvall 2010; Drechsel 2011: 9–13). Some of them contain important
statements. Baker (1993: 731) argues how the impressive material and visual nature of the
Wall graffiti makes them stronger memory loci than memories of the victims who died when
trying to cross. Ladd (1997: 8) makes an important observation that immediately after the
collapse of the Wall its pieces turned into holy relicts precisely because the Wall was quickly
disappearing. Dolf-Bonekämper (2002: 20) mentions that the Wall graffiti were the sign and
the analogue of the joy experienced in its overcoming. Very important are also recent investigations in the field of visual culture with its contributions to the analysis of the graffiti.
1
Transgressive symbols are symbols located on a wrong place – i.e. they are illegitimate symbols which
consciously or unconsciously profane the existing, legitimate symbols at a certain place; graffiti images are the
classic example of transgressive symbols (cf. Scollon R. & Scollon S. 2003: 143, 217).
Graffiti and the Symbolic Dismantling of the Berlin Wall
147
Neef (2007: 429–430) for example interprets the fact that the Berlin Wall graffiti are collected,
sold and exhibited as art as testimony to their present-day artistic status; Manghani (2008:
124–130) concludes that the sight of the collapsing Wall is the strongest image of our times
and one which implies graffiti images on itself; Kimvall (2010) interprets the graffiti as an
important visual contribution to the identity of some of the contemporary public spaces; finally, Drechsel (2011: 4) states that while the Fall of the Wall, with all the graffiti on it, was
turned into a true transmedia event and broadcasted to an extremely wide audience.
For all these attempts, it remains unclear to this day how the Berlin Wall functioned as a
graffiti wall and what factors contributed to the specific power of its graffiti. All that can
actually hamper attempts at investigating the symbolic mechanisms that have made the
graffiti images the main carrier of the memory of the missing Wall. The aim of this article is
to reveal and analyze some of these specifics as well as to explain the strong and lasting
power of the Wall images. The author interprets them as an important precedent opening
unexpected vistas for legitimating graffiti production as a type of imagery capable of expressing human presence and attitude and, at the same time, of representing a city, an idea,
or a key historic event.
The Berlin Wall as a Graffiti Wall
Being extremely famous as a graffiti wall, the Berlin Wall was quite different from
other urban graffiti walls, as well as from the walls of metro stations, which were also typical
places for graffiti writing at the time (Ausfeldr 1990: 12). First of all, the main difference was
in the origin and nature of the Berlin Wall as a borderline wall. Added to that was the fact
that it was the main symbol the Cold War. Even when already dismantled, it continued to be
a place of memory whose importance for the history of Berlin, Germany and the world
could hardly be overestimated (Ladd 1997: 12).
The Wall was actually erected in 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (further
GDR), driven through the heart of Berlin in order to fill a gap in the Iron Curtain which was
still allowing escapes to the West. Immediately after the collapse of Germany in the Second
World War the country had been divided into four occupational zones: the Soviet, the American, the French and the British ones. At the same time, Berlin, which fell entirely within the
Soviet zone, was also divided, so that its western part was under the control of the Western
Allies, while its eastern part was controlled by the Red Army. In 1949, when the GDR was
finally created in East Germany and the German Federal Republic (further GFR) was created
in the western parts of the country, West Berlin remained under the jurisdiction of GFR. Yet,
it was like an island, fully surrounded by the territory of the GDR.
From the very beginning, the German-German frontier was not only a state frontier, but
also a border between two different political systems. The citizens of GDR were still able to
cross the border and to migrate to GFR in search of a better life, but soon the GDR authorities incriminated trespassing and ordered the border troops to shoot point-blank. Even
more, they introduced special border fortifications (Ritter & Hajdu 1989). At that point, the
refugees flooded into Berlin, where the border line was still easy to cross. This last lapse in
the Iron curtain was finally closed with the erection of the Berlin Wall.
It is often believed that the Berlin Wall was a monolithic, static construction, while actually it showed considerable variation: somewhere it was a mental line crossing water expenses; somewhere else it was a system of fences; and of course at some places it was a wall
on the territory of GDR. Actually the erection of the stone wall started first in the eastern
direction – i.e. at these places where the demarcation line went through the historical center
of Berlin or through the residential districts. Even this monolithic fortification underwent
148
Miglena Ivanova
several fundamental reconstructions and many reinforcements. At the very beginning the
place of the wall was marked with barbed wire, but soon after that the first wall was erected
– constructed of cement blocks, each of which was about two meters high. In 1962 these
fortifications were additionally strengthened. Three years later a new, higher and stronger
wall, made of concrete pillars and blocks, was erected on the same place and finally, between
1975 and 1980, the third generation of the Wall was erected. It was built of 3.6 m high, 1.2 m
wide and 0.15 m thick blocks, made of reinforced concrete (Baker 1993: 713–715). This wall
could be reached from the territory of West Berlin, but on its eastern side there were additional fortifications and restricted areas, often followed by a second wall (Ladd 1997: 11).
The so-called dead zone between the inner and the outer wall was formed by way of demolishing buildings, parks and streets. They gave way to a special military road, watch towers,
barrier fortifications and wide strips of raked sand where every single footprint could be
easily seen. The inner zone was strictly forbidden for everyone else except for the East German border troops.
For twenty-five years on end the citizens of GDR were stopped at the second wall. On
9 November, 1989, the check points were opened under social pressure and crowds of easterners entered the GFR territory. Thus, the Berlin Wall lost its practical function, but continued to exist as a physical entity. Its future was ardently debated and in the period between
1990 and 1991 the Wall was in the end dismantled. Today, memorial plaques or special signs
on the pavement mark the place of the former Wall and only small parts of the Berlin Wall
sections are re-used as parts of museum exhibitions or memorial complexes (Light 2000:
163–165; Van der Hoorn 2003: 167).
The Wall was a border fortification, but at the same time it was, and continues to be, an
ambiguous symbol. While the GDR authorities officially referred to it as the “Anti-Fascist
Protection Rampart” and expected the Wall to stop western influences in the country, for
people living in West Berlin it was a symbol of their defeat in the Second World War and of
the resultant division of Germany (Ladd 1997: 32–33). After its dismantling, already as a
place of memory, it became the most prominent symbol of the crisis of German identity.2
Parallel to that, the Wall had been a very important symbol of the Iron curtain, marking the
division of Berlin and Germany but also that between the East and the West. Later, at the
end of the Cold War period, the dismantled Wall itself became a symbol of the processes of
integration increasing within the globalizing world. In addition, today it is also considered
an inspiring emblem of the fight against all the walls that continue to divide people and
sometimes nations in certain places of the world.
When the Berlin Wall was still a functioning border fortification, it was a huge, insurmountable barrier on its eastern side (Ausfeldr 1990: 71). By contrast, the western side was
accessible from West Berlin, but – at the same time – it was a place behind which extended
a totally different world, seeming almost beyond the grasp of the mind. Thus, for the westerners the Wall was a powerful symbol of the “end of the world” and yet also something that
you could touch with your hands (Dolf-Bonekämper 2002: 238).
According to Stein (1989: 100), until the 1980s graffiti writers undertook serious risks
when creating whatever images or inscriptions on the Wall. There were several city legends
telling about disappearing graffiti writers or those who were arrested by the GDR border
troops. Actually, the GDR authorities, who were otherwise extremely efficient in effacing all
private messages, were almost indifferent to the graffiti writing on the western side of the
Wall. Thus, despite the fact that tagging on the Wall was soon incriminated and declared
2
In the period immediately after the unification of Germany a new expression was introduced. It said “the
wall in our hearts”, marking the invisible but long lasting differences between the citizens of the two former
German states (Ladd 1997: 33).
149
defacement of GDR property, western graffiti writers were rarely arrested or punished. They
were nevertheless afraid and used to helping each other in avoiding the GDR border guards.
At the same time, the threat of being caught gave an adrenaline rush which made the act of
writing on the Wall special and unforgettable.
Several days before the opening of the Wall and immediately after that, the political and
governmental crisis in GDR made it much easier to create new layers of graffiti. The border
troops in particular were not so watchful. Even more – in this period some graffiti writers
from West Berlin would cross the border passing by near the guards (True.2.the.Game 2003).
Soon the East-Berliners erroneously started to rumor that the writers were entering the East
through the tunnels of the metro, risking their lives. These urban legends unquestionably
contributed to the growing fame of the West Berlin graffiti writers all over the world.
Today, in Germany, and in Berlin in particular, graffiti writing is illegal (Chmielewska
2008: 5; see also Nemskata politsia 2005). Nevertheless, the municipal authorities in Berlin
have never cherished the idea of totally eradicating graffiti writing, especially that connected with the Wall (Arms 2011). They have instead tried several times to control the graffiti
production by designating special places for writing or by organizing graffiti writing events.
As a result, some of the graffiti images, inspired by the memory of the dismantled Wall, are
legal. Yet, there is a much bigger part which is definitely illegal. Thus, the difference between the legal and illegal graffiti is totally blurred.
Some of the graffiti images are more than 30 years old. Over those thirty years, the Wall
underwent several consequent changes which had altered it and the conditions of writing
on it. Nevertheless, there is obvious continuity between the graffiti produced before and
after the radical social changes that led to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. This continuity
can be clearly traced on several levels, such as those of general evaluation, imagery and
symbolism.
Art Challenged Concrete and Art Won
The ex-mayor of Berlin, Walter Momper, paid special attention to the graffiti writing on the Wall and to their mighty symbolic power. Evoking nostalgic feelings about the
Wall art of the 1980s, he said: “Art challenged concrete and art won” (quoted after Manghani
2008: 128).
Student protest movements of the late 1960s were the first to discover the Wall as a medium of social protest. At that time its surface was still uneven, making writing extremely
difficult so the first who tried it could scratch nothing else but a few simple inscriptions or
drawings (Kuzdas 1999: 10; Baker 1993: 721). The last and most solid modification of the
Wall, built by the GDR authorities in mid 1970s, was really smooth and easy to write on.
It helped to turn the western side of the Wall into a “canvas”, serving at the same time as a
window of the western freedom and as an embarrassing testimony to western decadence
(Ladd 1997: 27).3 This was especially true for the graffiti of Kreutzberg – a well-known region situated in close proximity to the Wall. Being immediately next to the Wall, it experienced a long period of decline during the Cold War. Thus it was gradually abandoned by its
initial residents and inhabited by homeless musicians, punks and anarchists instead. They
used to do picturesque graffiti directly on the Wall and to leave there personal messages,
3
At the very beginning, the official authorities of West Berlin tried to take some measures against graffiti
writing. They were afraid that it in the end might result in unwanted complications in the German-German relationships. However, by the middle of the 1980s it became perfectly clear that the measures against graffiti writing were doomed to complete failure so they were ceased shortly afterwards (Baker 1993: 723).
150
Miglena Ivanova
political slogans and drawings. Several times these graffiti were completely destroyed, but
in each case new inscriptions and images appeared instantly in place of the old ones (Ladd
1997: 14, 25; Girot 2004: 35). Later the region of Kreutzberg was the place where some of the
most prominent West Berlin alternative movement artists used to paint. Their works made
it really famous as a place for Wall art. In addition, another very successful piece, dating
from 1988 – the ‘hole’ with the see-through effect of restoring “the torn view on a church of
which the tower [had] been disconnected from the nave” (Neef 2007: 427; see also Kuzdas
1999: 64–65) – further spread the fame of the Wall art from the region of Kreutzberg.4
While the bulk of the graffiti on the Wall were done without big artistic pretensions,
there were also more complex pieces. In order to do them the authors needed to concentrate
on their works for a comparatively long, uninterrupted period of time. Kimvall (2010) notes
that there were a few groups which worked on the western side with similar deliberate artistic ambitions – the hip-hop graffiti writers, representatives of this movement, as well as
some of the artists invited by the private Checkpoint Charlie Museum.
The European vogue for the big, colorful and impressive hip-hop graffiti names in the
1980s was evoked by the American hip-hop star-performances, engaging well-known American hip-hop musicians, dancers and graffiti writers. Soon the European teenagers started to
write passionately their own tags. In less than a decade the new type of graffiti, more often
than not based on the English language, was already popular in Western Europe. The Wall
attracted some of the West Berlin hip-hop writers. They preferred its suburb regions such as
Märkisches Viertel, Frohnau and Schönholz in the North and Marienfelde in the South. The
Wall was also tagged by some visiting writers, who left their signatures there (Stahl 2009;
Kimvall 2010; see also Burkhardt 1997–2006). All this contributed substantially to the increasing fame of the city as the new Mecca of graffiti writing.
At the same time, the Wall had been turned into an “exhibition” space for modern art,
attracting also prominent artists working at the edge of graffiti writing and professional art
– Keith Haring, but also the already mentioned West Berlin alternative group, including
Thierry Noir, Christophe Boucher, Nora Aurienne and Kiddy Citney. On the western side of
the Wall they created pieces containing deformed human figures and faces, reminiscent of
naïve cave art, or popular symbols such as, for example, the Statue of Liberty. Their works
effectively turned the concrete into a “gallery space” (Neef 2007: 429; Wolfrum: 2009: 112;
Stahl 2009; Kimvall 2010).
Probably the most important piece of this kind was the big painting by Keith Haring,
whose initial street style had been steadily giving way to the career of a modern star. Haring’s characteristic style, which was still quite close to graffiti writing, made him tour round
Europe and all over the world to demonstrate art. When the private Berlin Wall Museum
invited him to paint on the Wall in 1986, Haring was at the peak of his career. An almost 100
meter length of the Wall located close to the historical center of the divided city was designated for his work and an American military helicopter was sent to patrol above him. The
artistic event was a major success – even the GDR troops crowded on the Wall to see and to
photograph him (Keith Haring 1986; Berlin Wall Mural 2009; Stahl 2009). The result – a huge
chain of human figures holding hands, painted in the German national colors – was a work
which can hardly be placed among his masterpieces; nevertheless, it still is a remarkable
work as far as it is one of the earliest examples of street art.
Haring had been officially invited to Berlin by the Checkpoint Charlie museum. In addition, throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, several competitions for art projects of painting
4
Luckily, this interesting work was not smashed into pieces. Today it decorates the Vatican gardens (see Mur
1995).
151
Photo 1. Artist in action (Kiddy Citny’s graffiti hearts on the right). Photographer: Cactusbones, Berlin, 1985
the Wall were organized (Wolfrum 2009: 113). Many of the art works proposed in these competitions popularized the symbolic images already explored by graffiti written on the wall
– the symbols of the overcoming of the wall such as, for example, stairs, holes going through,
zippers and even human figures jumping over (Greverus 2000: 17; Manghani 2008: 128).
Most of them were reminiscent of the various attempts by GDR citizens to overpass the Wall
by leaping, digging holes underneath or even flying over it. Thus, one of the projects, for
example, represented the Wall as the sector of a giant athletics stadium for a high jump contest – mixing the idea of the overcoming of the Wall with the famous high jump champions
of East Germany (Baker 2005: 34).
Although being works of professional artists, these images were by no means intended
to decorate the Wall. On the contrary, quite like the original graffiti, they were done to “bite”
its concrete (Noir n.d.).5 At the same time, the images were also the main cathalyst of the
increasing fame of the Wall as a tourist destination.
In addition to the above, there were numerous graffiti added by ordinary visitors. They
were personal slogans, names or messages written in haste and without pretension, but
nevertheless important for their authors and for the general public as signs of personal presence at the Wall. In some of the regions, these images occupied every single inch and piled
up in layers, sometimes even covering the works of the renowned masters (cf. Stahl 2009).
Thus, those segments of the Wall which bore traces left by visitors from all over the world,
also turned into spectacular sights, and special tourist platforms were built to offer views of
both the graffiti and the space beyond the Wall. Often photographed for personal purposes,
but also for reproduction in the media, as well as in tourist brochures, their inscriptions,
5
In this respect, it is not always possible or necessary to make a sharp distinction between graffiti and Wall
art in that their functions were more or less the same.
152
Miglena Ivanova
Photo 2. West meets East (A tourist platform next to the Berlin Wall, which allowed visitors to see both some
graffiti and part of the eastern side). Photographer: Gregorywass, Berlin – Moabit quarter, 1988
scribbles and drawings became well-known as a tourist attraction.6 The reason for that was,
actually, the fact that the transgressive power of the graffiti on the Wall was believed to be
able to foresee the end of the Cold War division between East and West. In fact, this specific
understanding of the nature and impact of the graffiti of the Berlin Wall survived even after
the demolition of the border wall. It is present today in the attitudes of several different
generations towards these graffiti, bridging all the various feelings and experiences connected with the Wall.
When the checkpoints at the Wall were finally opened in 1989, millions of TV viewers
in Western Europe and in the USA watched these unprecedented events live. Literarily on
the next day huge crowds of tourists set off for Berlin with the hope of joining their efforts
in the symbolic dismantling of the Wall. Their token contributions included, for example,
dancing, celebrating, or climbing the Wall on ladders or by stepping on the arms of their
fellows. A very popular symbolic expression was the act of digging a small hole in the segments – a tiny personal contribution to the Fall of the Wall and an expression of strong
discontent with its prolonging physical existence. Some of these were unquestionably symbolic actions, which had earlier been known from the Wall art and graffiti. Precisely at this
particular point, they were once again re-conceptualized as symbols and forerunners of the
Fall.
6
Baker (2005: 34) notes that in 1986 a group of East German dissidents painted a thick white line between
Mariannen Platz and Potsdamer Platz of the by-then colorful Wall in order to show their indignation at the fact
that it had been turned into a tourist attraction. Thus, Baker concludes that even before the Wall fell, there was a
difference in the perception between the Easterners, for whom it was a barrier, and the Westerners, for whom it
was a canvas, a wonder of the world. At the same time, cases like the joining of the guards into the excited atmosphere of Haring’s visit clearly point out that it might be useful to evaluate more carefully some of the specific
Eastern attitudes to Wall art. However, these matters fall far beyond the scope of my article.
153
“I Went to Berlin to Write on the Wall, but the Wall Was Already
Demolished”7
The Belgrade graffito, which I have cited above, was invented after the Wall had
ceased to exist. Full of self-irony and nostalgic feeling, it testifies to an interesting paradox:
even after its complete demolition, the Wall continues to be a popular place for graffiti. This
paradox is possible due to the old fame of the Wall, but also due to the scope and scale of the
radical political changes that brought about its dismantling, as well as to the new and extremely effective TV and photographic images made during the Fall, which showed extensively the places of the concrete barriers densely covered with graffiti.
Immediately after the opening of the checkpoints on 9 November, 1989, the Wall became
valuable because it was on its way to disappear (Ladd 1997: 8). At that time its pieces were
quickly acquired as relicts and souvenirs, symbolizing the end of the Cold War. For a short
period they were readily available – something which, as Baker (1993: 719) rightly notes, is
rare in the contemporary world, where history is in the hands of the professional historians
and its artefacts are safely locked in museums. At the same time, the most precious were
precisely these pieces of the Wall which were covered with graffiti (Baker 1993: 720–721).
Students, pensioners and emigrants started to sell them on the streets of Berlin (Baker 1993:
720–721; Neef 2007: 430). When the colorful Wall units disappeared, retailers sprayed gray
segments and broke them into pieces for sale (Baker 1993: 721).
Those Wall segments which had not been tagged were never valued as relicts and many
of them were recycled (Baker 1993: 724). By contrast, the pieces covered with graffiti had a
totally different fate. Already de-territorialized and de-fragmented, they reached various
parts of the world: from faraway private homes to the front yards of the European parliament buildings, from the Vatican to the CIA Headquarters, from the Museum of Modern Art
in New York to a well-known Las Vegas casino (Baker 1993: 731; Van der Hoorn 2003: 197198; for a comprehensive list of the various places where these pieces have been preserved,
see Burkhardt 1997–2006; see also Photo 3). At the same time, the possession and exhibition
of large fragments acquired a strong political potential. It enabled public demonstration of
a symbolic joining in the processes of dismantling the Wall and in the resultant changes in
the political order of the world (Van der Horn 2003: 197).
When in 1991 the border wall was finally demolished, only small fragments of it were
preserved on their places. At present, these are integrated into different memorials and museums, but as a rule there are no graffiti on them. All these fragments are severely damaged
as a result of attempts made to obtain souvenirs of the wall (Dolf-Bonekämper 2002: 240) All
the same, those fragments have been turned into exponents and one may not write on them.
Yet, a big part of the inner wall, which was actually graffiti free until early 1990s, continues
to stay on its place, and has recently been used for writing instead.
The most prominent place where this second wall was densely covered with graffiti was
the so-called East Side Gallery It was started in the early 1990s, when a group of international artists worked jointly on a long segment of the inner wall situated on the bank of the
river Spree (Baker 2005: 35). Some of the resultant pieces re-use images from the vanished
western side (Manghani 2008: 128). The predominant majority of these works could be easily classified as modern examples of Wall art (Ladd 1997: 35–36). One could list here the famous piece by the Moscow artist, Dmiti Vrubel, which depicts the welcome kiss of the Soviet and German party leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker, the work by
Iranian-born Kani Alavi showing thousands of people entering through the checkpoints,
7
Quoted after Bogavac (2001).
154
Miglena Ivanova
Photo 3. Berlin Wall memorial in Sofia. Photographer: Miglena Ivanova, Sofia, 2008
Photo 4. Chipping away at the remains of the Berlin Wall. Photographer: NatalieMaynor, Berlin, August 1990
155
Photo 5. East Side Gallery (detail). Photographer: Miglena Ivanova, Berlin, 2004
Birgit Kinder’s famous Trabant driving through the Wall, etc.8 At the beginning, the Gallery
was intended to tour round the world as a travelling exhibition, but since interest in it never
ceased, it stayed in Berlin. It continues to be a very important site as far as the tourists “
get in contact” with the Wall and with its graffiti there, even if what they see is actually
inner wall imagery of the vanished graffiti on the western side of the border wall. This has
naturally been leading to confusions, which got especially strong when the municipal authorities established the East Side Gallery as a Wall memorial (Ladd 1997: 35–36; Greverus
2000: 16).9
A second important replica of the border wall appeared on the inner wall close to the
stadium of the former Dinamo football team. This new replica is situated in Mauerpark
(i.e. the park by the wall), which was designed by the German architect Gustav Lange as an
open space intended to fill in the void left after the demolition of the Wall. In a comparatively short period of time, the park was turned into a youth zone well-known for its late
night parties, drug consumption and heavy drinking (Girot 2004: 35-36). The images created
there are works of hip-hop writers, often covered with new graffiti. Sometimes one can find
ideas which are already well-known from the East Side Gallery, but there is nevertheless
strong predominance of the big, colorful hip-hop graffiti names. Some of the pieces there are
occasionally done by visiting writers from all over the world. Usually these guests take
snapshots of their Mauerpark graffiti and publish them online, proudly announcing that
they have left some traces on the Wall.
All this clearly shows that the different practices connected with the covering of the Wall
with graffiti and artistic works did not stop after its demolition. Today, almost twenty years
later, Berlin still offers wall places where both residents and guests can write graffiti. Unquestionably, this continues to be possible because of the extremely big size of the Wall. At
the same time, in the recent years there have been several projects aiming at the erection of
different artistic substitutes for the Berlin walls.
Thus, at the beginning of the twenty-first century Christof Blaesius suggested building a
huge plastic copy of the Berlin Wall on its initial place (Aris 2003). The basic idea was to
show that the forthcoming Football Finals in Berlin would unite the world rather than dividing it like the Wall did (Guy 2004: 88-89). However, the idea was considered too expensive.
Later, Korean artist Lee Eunsook installed her Vanished Berlin Wall light installation, sym-
8
Immediately after the opening of the Wall on 9 November 1989, many GDR citizens crossed the border on
their Trabants. Thus later these cheap cars became the emblem of the opening of the Wall.
9
The images in the Gallery were strongly damaged by weather conditions and by tourists, so many of the
pieces were whitewashed and re-painted in 2009.
156
Miglena Ivanova
bolizing divided Korea (Patterson 2007; Sunoo 2013). Another idea of a huge copy of the
Wall was realized in 2009 by the Berlin based Kulturprojecte group with the support of the
Municipality of Berlin and Goethe Institute. It was a temporary installation where segments
of the Wall were represented by giant dominoes painted by thousands of children and artists in Germany and abroad. On 7 November 2009, two days before the twentieth anniversary of the Fall, the segments were displayed as an open air gallery. Two days later, on
9 November, they were symbolically toppled down during the official celebrations of the
twentieth anniversary. This spectacular enactment of the effect of the domino symbolized
the enormous impact of the Fall all over the world (see Symbolic Toppling 2009 as well as
20 Jahre 2009 for more details about the project). Owing to live media broadcasts, the image
of the falling dominoes reached extremely wide audiences and turned into a central media
event. The segments in particular brought to new life the memory of the Berlin Wall covered
with graffiti, as they were deliberately accomplished in styles resembling graffiti writing.
Besides, on 9 November 2009, graffiti styles were for the first time incorporated as a key element of official celebrations of the highest rank.
Artistic “Berlin walls” were also erected in different, far-flung places of the world. Such
an artistic wall was, for example, erected in Los Angeles for the twentieth anniversary (Wagley 2009). Also very popular was the Berlin Wall on the social network Twitter. Another
unquestionably unique Wall, built in France on the occasion of the anniversary, was made
from black chocolate and covered with bright colorful chocolate graffiti (Berlinska stena
2009). Two different symbolic Berlin Walls were erected in Bulgaria as well. The first one
was built in August 2009 on the island of St Anastasia (former Bolshevik) – a notorious
prison place for political prisoners. The installation was made of big concrete blocks and
covered with symbolic paintings done directly on the concrete by prominent Bulgarian artists. The images depicted the cruelty of the communist regimes as well as the Berlin wall
(Kehayova 2009; Melnishka 2009). Another Berlin Wall installation was mounted on one of
the central squares of Sofia during the anniversary celebrations. Well-known Bulgarian graffiti writers, former dissidents and some young people were invited to paint it together (Stroyat berlinska stena 2009). Thus, the country which in 1989 was still remaining in the Eastern
Block and, at least for a short period of time, was separated from everything connected to
the Fall, also joined its efforts in the dismantling of the Berlin Wall on the occasion of its
twentieth anniversary.
To sum up, when remnants of the Wall entered museums, galleries and other representative exhibition places, they were carefully guarded and valued in a completely different way. At the same time, the desire to experience again and again the Fall of the Wall
has often found expression in a number of symbolic activities evoking the dismantling act.
Writing Wall graffiti has unquestionably been one of them and the reason for the continuing creation of Wall graffiti or Wall art – both in Berlin and across the world – despite the
physical absence of border fortifications. This has been possible because of the specific
way of thinking about the sight of the falling Wall. Such thinking admits forgetting or
skipping certain details, as well as constructing erroneous but nevertheless useful mental
models, and even cherishing small deceptions. Due to such “adjustments”, one is able to
perceive the graffiti on the inner wall and on other replicas as genuine Wall graffiti. Sometimes, these late graffiti enjoy greater popularity than the earlier originals of the western
side.
157
Conclusion
Berlin is a city where the influence of the unceasing global flow of humanity can
be felt easily, and this is clearly illustrated by the variety of languages used in the graffiti
writing. Thus, German was not the language of the Reichstag graffiti, and also was not the
predominant language of the graffiti on the Berlin wall.10 Interestingly, while the graffiti of
the Red Army soldiers were declared unwanted, somebody else’s inscriptions, the complicated linguistic and stylistic mixture of the graffiti connected to the Berlin Wall have not been
alien to the citizens of Berlin, or to the wide circles all over the world.
Unquestionably, the reason behind these disparate attitudes lies in the fact that Wall
graffiti were powerful transgressive symbols done with the aim to change the meaning of
the Wall, endowing its presence with messages radically different from the ones which
were intended by those who ordered to erect it. Thus, while the GDR authorities saw in the
last modification of the Berlin Wall a perfect barrier against negative western influence, the
numerous Wall art and graffiti pieces on it turned one of its sides into a kind of a screen,
projecting western values, images and ideas. Secondly, it is also important to mention that
the Soviet graffiti on the Reichstag also possess strong transgressive power. And this is the
very reason for them being hotly debated: their appearance or restoration on the building
symbolizing German statehood lies at the very core of the problem. For the Soviet veterans
the inscriptions might be signs of the triumphant march of the Red Army to Berlin, but for
German citizens they are scribbles re-opening the painful memories of their defeat (Baker
2002: 22-23). Thus, it becomes clear that evaluation of transgressive symbols is not simply
connected to irrational love or contempt. Rather, it strongly depends on the point of view
and more often than not generates approval or rejection in respect to the particular positions
of those who are involved in the debate. At the same time, Wall art and graffiti more or less
constitute an exception to this rule. Today, when the GDR regime, which created the Wall,
belongs to the history, all the social and political ideals and values which contributed to the
dismantling of the Wall enjoy popular support. Thus one of the opinion poles is actually
missing.
Last but not least, because of their connections to the popular images of the crumbling
Wall, the art pieces and graffiti continue to be re-used in a number of exemplary cases, in
which they are called forth to symbolize the dismantling of the Wall itself, the changes
made possible after the Fall or the new political aims such as the building of Europe without
walls, etc. As a result, the Wall graffiti have gradually become part of prestigious albums
and ceremonies taking place in re-united Germany and Berlin. Thus they have become
an extremely important precedent, enhancing various types of artistic decisions such as
restorations and monumentalizations, as well as in performances, multimedia products or
other creative initiatives.
Bibliography
20 Jahre (2009), 20 Jahre Mauerfall, Berlin: Kulturprojecte.
Aris Ben (2003), Artistic Aims to Rebuild the Berin Wall, http://www.guardian.co.uk/
world/2003/aug/13/arts.football/ last accessed 23 March 2013.
10
Those written in German are considerable in number, yet the number of the graffiti written in English is
definitely larger. At the same time, there were a lot of graffiti written in other (mainly European) languages. Even
more importantly, symbolic drawings and pictures have often turned out to have stronger influence than
inscriptions.
158
Miglena Ivanova
Arms Simon (2011), The Heritage of Berlin Street Art and Graffiti Scene, “Smashing Magazine”,
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/07/13/the-heritage-of-berlin-street-art-andgraffiti-scene/last accessed 23 March 2013.
Ausfeldr Kurt (1990), Kunst oder Chaos? Graffiti an der Berliner Mauer, Darmstadt: Verlag
das Beispiel.
Baker Frederick (1993), The Berlin Wall: Production, Preservation and Consumption of a Twentieth Century Monument, “Antiquity” 67, pp. 709-733.
Baker Frederick (2002), The Red Army Graffiti on the Reichstag. Berlin Politics of Rock Art in
the European Urban Landscape in: C. Chippindale & G. Nash (eds.) European Landscape of
Rock Art, London: Routledge, pp. 20-38.
Baker Frederick (2005), The Berlin Wall in: P. Ganster & D. E. Lorey (eds.) Borders and Border Politics in a Globalizing World, Oxford: SR Books, pp. 21-50.
Berlin Wall Mural (2009) Berlin Wall Mural, http://keithharingfoundationarchives.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/794/last accessed 7 April 2013.
Berlinska stena (2009), Berlinska stena ot shokolad [Berlin Wall Made of Chocolate], http://
world.actualno.com/Berlinskata-stena-ot-shokolad-news_269574.html/ last accessed 2
April 2013 (in Bulgarian).
Bogavac Nebojša (2001), Yazak za boyata. Grafitite na Belgrad [What a Pity for the Paint. Belgrade Graffiti], http://liternet.bg/publish6/an/grafiti.htm/last accessed 23 March 2013 (in
Bulgarian, translated from Serbian).
Burkhardt Heiko (1997–2006), Berlin Wall Online, http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/
last accessed 23 March 2013.
Chmielewska Ella (2008), Writing on the Ruins or Graffiti as a Design Gesture: On the Paradoxes of Lettering Place and History, “Edinburgh Architecture Review” 31, pp. 5-13.
Dolf-Bonekämper Gabi (2002), The Berlin Wall: An Archaeological Site in Progress in:
W. G. Johnson & C. M. Beck (eds.) The Archaeology of 20th Century Conflict, London:
Routledge, pp. 236-248.
Drechsel Benjamin (2011), The Berlin Wall from a Visual Perspective: comments on the construction of a Political Media Icon, “Visual Communication” 9 (1), pp. 3-24.
Feversham Polly & Leo Schmidt (1999), Die Berliner Mauer heute: Denkmalwert und Umgang = The Berlin Wall today: cultural significance and conservation issues, Berlin:
Bauwesen.
Girot Christophe (2004), The Eulogy of the Void: The Lost Power of Berlin Landscapes after the
Wall, “DISP” 156 (1), pp. 35-39.
Greverus Ina-Maria (2000), Poetics with Politics. Towards an Anthropology of the Own, “Anthropological Journal of European Cultures” 8 (The Politics of Anthropology at Home
2), pp. 7-26.
Guy Simon (2004), Shadow Architecture: War Memorials and Berlin’s Future, in: St. Graham
(ed.) Cities, War and Terrorism: Towards an Urban Geopolitics, Malden and Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 75-92.
Kehayova Maria (2009), Berlinskata stena na ostrov Bolshevik [The Berlin Wall on the Island of
Bolshevik], http://www.trud.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=201943/last accessed 23 March
Keith Haring (1986), Keith Haring Paints Mural on Berlin Wall, “New York Times”, 24 October 1986 (http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/24/arts/keith-haring-paints-mural-onberlin-wall.html/last accessed 7 April 2013).
Kimvall Jacob (2010), The Border Fortification as Symbol of Freedom, “Eurozine”, http://www.
eurozine.com/articles/2010-07-16-kimvall-en.html/ last accessed 5 April 2013 (translation from Swedish).
Kuzdas Heinz (1999), Berliner Mauer Kunst/Berlin Wall Art, Berlin: Elefanten Press.
Ladd Brian (1997), The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape,
Chicago and London: the University of Chicago Press.
Light Duncan (2000), Gazing on Communism: Heritage Tourism and Post-communist Identities
in Germany, Hungary and Romania, “Tourism Geographies” 2 (2), pp. 157-176.
Manghani Sunil (2008), Image Critique and the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Bristol: Intellect.
Melnishka Мariana (2009), Komunizmat si otiva. Exit. Instalatsiyata “Stenata 20” sabira hudozhnitsi i skulptori ot nyakolko pokolenia [The Fall of Communism. Exit. An Instalation Dedi-
159
cated to the Twentieth Anniversary of the Berlin Wall Gathers Artists and Sculptors from
Several Generations], http://www.capital.bg/issue.php?issueid=1843/ last accessed
7 April 2013 (in Bulgarian).
Mur (1995), Mur au Vatican, http://archives.lesoir.be/mur-au-vatican_t-19950306-Z0973X.
html/ last accessed 8 April 2013.
Neef Sonja (2007), Killing Kool: The Graffiti Museum, “Art History” 3, pp. 418-431.
Nemskata politsia (2005), Nemskata politsia vklyuchi i helikopter v borbata sreshtu grafitite
[The German Police Used a Helicopter to Stop Graffiti Writing], “Dnes”, 11 April 2005
(http://www.dnes.bg/mish-mash/2005/04/11/nemskata-policiia-vkliuchi-i-helikopterv-borbata-sreshtu-grafitite.4909)/last accessed 7 April 2013 (in Bulgarian).
Noir Thierry (n.d.), The Story of the Berlin Wall, http://www.galerie-noir.de/ArchivesEnglish/walleng.html/last accessed 23 March 2013.
Patterson Kaarin (2007), Vanished Berlin Wall: Eun Sook Lee, http://www.topophilia.org/
blog/vanished-berlin-wall/ last accessed 5 April 2013.
Ritter Gert & Joseph G. Hajdu (1989), The East-West German Boundary, New York: American Geographical Society.
Scollon Ron & Scollon Suzie Wong (2003), Discourse in Place. Language in the Material World,
London: Routledge.
Siegel Paul (2005), Counter-Monuments – Criticising Traditional Monuments, http://www.
goethe.de/kue/arc/dos/dos/zdk/en204638.htm/last accessed 23 March 2013.
Stahl Johannes (2009), Graffiti and Other Art at, with, about, next to the Berlin Wall, http://
www.j-stahl.de/texte/mauer09_eng.html/last accessed 29 April 2013.
Stein Mary Beth (1989), The Politics of Humor: The Berlin Wall in Jokes and Graffiti, “Western
Folklore” 48 (2), pp. 85-108.
Stroyat berlinska stena (2009), Stroyat berlinska stena v centara na Sofia [A Berlin Wall in the
Center of Sofia], http://news.ibox.bg/news/id_190667020/last accessed 29 April 2013 (in
Bulgarian).
Symbolic Toppling (2009), Symbolic Toppling: A Berlin Wall Made of Giant Dominos, “Spiegel
Online International”, 23 March 2009, http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/
symbolic-toppling-a-berlin-wall-made-of-giant-dominos-a-615014.html/ last accessed
23 March 2013.
Sunoo Brenda Paik (2013), Neon Lights at the DMZ? — Interview with Lee Eunsook, “Seoul
Magazine”, http://magazine.seoulselection.com/2013/02/21/neon-lights-at-the-dmzinterview-with-lee-eunsook/last accessed 5 April 2013.
Till Karen E. (2005), The New Berlin. Memory, Politics, Place, Minneapolis, London: University of Minnesota Press.
True.2.the.Game (2003), Power of Style. Berlin Stylewriting, Aschaffenburg: Publikat Verlag.
Van der Hoorn Mélanie (2003), Exorcizing Remans: Architectural Fragments as Intermediaries
between History and Individual Experience, “Journal of Material Culture” 8 (2), pp. 189213.
Wagley Catherine (2009), Looking at Los Angeles; Berlin Wall Falls in L. A., http://blog.art21.
org/2009/10/01/looking-at-los-angeles-berlin-wall-falls-in-l-a/last accessed 23 March
2013.
Wolfrum Edgar (2009), Die Mauer: Geschichte einer Teilung, Munich: C.H. Beck.
Young James E. (1992), The Counter-monument: Memory against Itself in Germany Today,
“Critical Inquiry” 18 (2), pp. 267-296.
Biographical note: Dr Miglena Ivanova is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
E-mail: [email protected].
160
Miglena Ivanova
Vol. 2/2013
p. 161–176
Anthropology of folk music, folk dance
and role-playing games
Natalia Rashkova
Performing Folk Instrumental Music:
An Anthropological View
Abstract: The paper presents a study of instrumental music performance by applying an anthropological
approach to field materials obtained from Bulgarian folklore culture (interviews, observations, folklore
texts). Manifestations of physical, social and verbal behavior in making and playing music are considered.
The author examines the relationship between the body of the musician and musical instruments and the
effects of specific use of bodily parts and organs on instrumental sound and on folk music styles. Development of the musical skills of folk musicians, and their involvement with musical activities and social roles
played in a community’s life, are studied at different age periods of a musicians’ life time. It is argued that
verbal folklore texts (songs, narratives, etc.) provide valuable information about music and musicians. The
case of shepherd as a musician exemplifies verbal folklore knowledge, joining the real and mythological
worlds.
Keywords: instrumental music performance in folklore, human body and music instrument, folk musician’s
age periods, folk music knowledge
Research insight into music is possible using methods and approaches inherent
to musicology and anthropology. For a long time, a musicological approach to the study of
musical facts in the oral tradition has dominated in ethnomusicology. Emphasis has been on
analysing musical elements and forms, structural features of melody and rhythm, etc., while
contextual data about the functioning of music have remained on the periphery of interest.
Actually, ethnomusicology is concerned with more than the structural analysis of musical
sounds. In an anthropological approach to the study of music, formulated about a half century ago (Merriam 1964), music is regarded as a cultural phenomenon. ‘Anthropologizing’
the musical process is a form of ‘humanization’ of the study of music, shifting interest from
the sound product towards man creating, performing and listening to it. Music is a human
phenomenon, produced by people for people and existing and functioning in a social situation (Merriam 1964: 184). Music is a product of the behaviour of human groups; it is humanly organized sound (Blacking 1976: 10). Particular emphasis in musical anthropology is
placed on human behaviour, which creates music in a human community. Key investigations in the anthropology of music identify several types of musical behavior: physical,
verbal, social, and learning behaviour (Merriam 1964).
During the last three decades, I have persistently applied the anthropological approach
in my fieldwork and in the research of folk musicians and instrumental music performance in Bulgarian folklore. Analytical studies of field interviews with folk musicians,
various folk texts, and field observations on folklore events show manifestations of the
mentioned types of human behavior related to the playing of folk music in a traditional
musical culture. The following pages present a part of my general conclusions regarding
this topic.
162
Natalia Rashkova
Physical behaviour: The human body, folk musical instruments and music
The human body holds a special position in the relationship between nature and
culture. As a structure, it is an organic, physical ‘creation’ of nature; simultaneously, physical capabilities are the foundation of the human ability to create culture. Interpretation and
‘usage’ of the body has its own biological and cultural conditioning. The real sources of all
culture technology are founded in the human body and in the interaction of human bodies
(Blacking 1976: 116). Certain notions about the body also shape perceptions of the human
being and the human world (Bogdanov 1989: 26).
Further, my intention is to explore the objectification of the body in the beliefs and practices of instrumental folk music performance. Ethno-musicological observations lead to the
important conclusion that people representing different cultures have principally similar
attitudes to the realization of music. Presumably, musical cultural patterns of different communities and societies actually express “variations of man and his integrity” (Zhivkov 1994:
7) in a similar way. In Africa or Siberia, South America and Europe, from antiquity to the
present day, man has compared musical instruments and their sound with his own body
and voice.
Human body as a musical instrument
According to research on the origin of music and the history of musical instruments, man initially found instruments on his own body. Music begins as a movement of the
body (Blacking 1976: 111). Clapping of hands, clattering of feet, beating the thighs are first
‘instrumental’ accompaniments to dance. Such body movements are a special feature of
many Bulgarian dances and are preserved in both the kinetic and musical folklore dictionary. In their construction and character of the sound, most ancient instruments are instances
of objectification and intensification of clapping hands, clattering feet, beating the thighs
and, generally, bodily produced ‘music’ (Sachs 1962: 93). They are an extension and enlargement of body organs as well as other instruments of human activity: the fork is an extension
of the hand and fingers; the spoon – of the handful; the hammer – of the fist.
Both in the distant past and today, people in the world have been making gadgets which,
although not qualifiable as musical instruments, are designed to help create sound and melody with available resources taken from nature (plants, minerals, etc.).1 The sound and timbre that man aims to obtain but his body is unable to produce are achieved by adding new
elements to it. The human body as an instrument acquires the opportunity to sound in a
different way.
Such forms of instrumental body expression can be found in Bulgarian masquerade
games (mummers) performed on the first Sunday before Lent, or the New Year. The only
‘voice’ of the masked men observing the ritual of silence is the sound of pastoral bells knotted around their waist. Body movement and rhythm cause the instruments to sound, encoding the semantic notion of man identified as a bell (Zaharieva 1987: 65–78). Rhythmic and
sound effects of the traditional chain dance (horo) during rituals and holidays are produced
by items of female clothing, or adornments such as multiple silver necklaces, pendants,
breastplates appliquéd with coin decorations. They become a part of the body, and their
sound depends entirely on movement. Despite their secondary music-making function,
strings of coins find their place in the classification of Bulgarian folk music instruments
1
For example – little ‘bells’ made out of fruits and filled with small stones, and attached around the legs of
dancers; fruits hollowed out and filled with grains that dancers hold in their hands (Harrison 1973: 16).
Performing Folk Instrumental Music: An Anthropological View
163
(Atanasov 1977: 47). Quite similarly, the clapping of hands during a dance can be substituted for by wooden spoons. During wedding dances in the Varna region, dancers emphasize the beat not only with hands, but also with wooden spoons, caught between their fingers with the handle pointing outwards (Todorov 1973: 31).
Using the body as an instrument comes closest to the united body music – movement
that produces music represents dance movement as well. Instrumental development breaks
this direct bodily link with dance. The musical instrument acquires its own ‘voice’ and
‘body’.
Musical instrument as a ‘body’
Historically, a musical instrument is separated both from body gestures and from
mouth-produced sounds, i.e. it offers a new quality, a new synthesis (Zemtsovskiy 1987:
127). At the same time, in folklore culture, man identifies musical instruments with his own
body, attributing to them his own bodily traits and characteristics, and associating their
sound with his voice. The independent objective existence of a musical instrument does not
totally eliminate it from the human body at a mental level. Sometimes this can be a reflection
of mythological thought. There is information from different cultures about instruments
containing parts of dead human bodies.2 This associates with mythological thinking and
with ritual practices that have reached us as an echo of the ancient times, manifesting a tangible, physical connection between man and the musical instrument separated from his
body.
Some musical instruments in Bulgarian folklore are related to mythological knowledge
of the beyond. According to an etiological legend, the bagpipe (gaida) player is a son of the
devil, who has taught him how to make an air stopper in the blow pipe in order not to let
“the soul” get out of the bagpipe.3 There exists a belief that in the world beyond the devil
makes bagpipes from the skin of dead men. Therefore, the following precautionary practices have been carried out at traditional funerals: “In earlier times people used to cut the leg
or arm of the deceased with a sharp knife to cause bleeding. In this way they prevented the
devil from making a bagpipe from the damaged skin and thus turning the dead man into a
vampire” (Zahariev 1935: 260).
In many traditional cultures, there are notions of the musical instrument as a magical
miracle, a “self-sounding” phenomenon, and it is considered a living thing. Instruments are
identified by gender or kinship relations.4
We can find such ‘humanizing’ of musical instruments, described as a man with bodily
organs and properties, in the image world of Bulgarian riddles. Possessing parts of a human
body and voice capabilities, the shepherd’s bell is described like this: “It has a mouth, a
tongue but neither eats nor speaks; shake it and it will start singing” (Burmov 1930: 189).
The sound of the bagpipe when someone touches it, is likened to a baby crying: “I have a
baby. If I take him, he cries. If I leave him, he shuts up” (Stoilov 1914: 105). The shape of the
tamboura and the way of playing (strumming the strings on the body of the instrument) are
presented in the riddle “I tickle it on the tummy and then it plaintively cries” (Stoychev
1915: 127).
Anthropomorphic signs of musical instruments are preserved in the construction and
names of their constituents. In many traditional cultures, artistic elements in the shape of a
human head have been used (and still are) in bow string and wind instruments in Europe,
2
3
4
See Harrison (1973: 23); Jenkins (1983: 76).
Archive of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Fund Tsani Ginchev (№ 129 к), а. е. 44, pp. 171–172.
See, for instance, Zemtsovskiy (1987: 128); Harrison (1973:23); Collaer (1965: 110–113).
164
Natalia Rashkova
in African harps, in flutes of the North American Indians, etc. (Mačak 1987: 56–57). In Arabic
music, as well as in the string instruments of Central Asia, the shape of the instrument and
the combination of the strings emphasize similarity between the instrument and the human
body.5
Bulgarian folk terminology has preserved names that duplicate some parts of the human
body as constructional elements of instruments. Our folk culture manifests similar, transcultural principles of understanding the instrument as a synonym for the human body. Generalized field information and research on Bulgarian folk musical instruments show that masters and players look for words to designate parts of instruments after parts of the human
body. This fact points to a way of thinking seeking to determine the musical instrument as,
to a certain extent, a human equivalent. Besides physical characteristics, musical instruments have more qualities peculiar to man. Building on the intended use for producing
sound, they naturally relate to the ability to ‘speak’ and ‘sing’, as man does. Bulgarian folk
music includes plenty of instrumental tunes originated from songs. When listening to the
melody, the mode of rhythmic fragmentation and phrasing often reflects the rhythm of the
song lyrics as they exist in mind of the musician. The relationship between music and language is outlined in the famous verse “the kaval is playing and speaking” found in hundreds
of folk songs.
The analogy between playing and speaking is not random, but seems to be deeply rooted in musicians’ knowledge and understanding. They identify the sounds of folk instruments with “voice.” Interviewed folk musicians say “the bagpipe is a loud voice” and the
tamboura has “a soft and low voice.” They describe the timbre of a small djura gaida (bagpipe) by means of voice qualities: “It was a very shrill and screaming bagpipe.”
Instrumental sound, understood as speech, storytelling and message transmission, represents a ‘bodily’ property of the instrument. The musical instrument is silent and not ‘alive’
before it gets into the hands of a musician, who can make sound and create a melody with
his fingers, mouth, tongue, etc. To ‘speak’ or ‘sing’, the ‘body’ of the instrument should interact with the body of the performer.
The body of the musician and the ‘body’ of the instrument
The concatenation of the relationship man – instrument – music comprises the actor of the musical performance, the mediator, and the result. Movements of the body exert
influence on the instrument; they evoke its musical acoustic capacities, and create music. In
other words, man must master certain physical behaviors of execution – shrinking of fingers, the use of the lips and the diaphragm – for sound to be produced by a musical instrument (Merriam 1964: 103). Moreover, the musician has to comply with his physical capabilities for an optimal choice of a musical instrument.
The arguments concerning musicians making the right choice of an instrument are varied
and individualized. Most often, they depend on the physical comfort of the musician searching for the most convenience in playing. The effort required to play leads to certain instruments being avoided. For instance, blowing a zourna is harder compared with a bagpipe, and
zourna-players must be physically stronger. Correlation between the size of musical instruments and the musician’s physical qualities is a contributing factor for choosing an instrument. In the process of initial music training, children play small whistles especially made for
them. Afterward, the size and qualities of the selected musical instrument depend again on
individual qualities of the players – if they have a large figure, they will take a bigger flute
(kaval); and if they are shorter in stature, they will play a bagpipe with a smaller bag.
5
See more in Zavadovskiy (1969); Vinogradov (1969).
165
Photo 1. Finger technique for playing the bagpipe (gaida). Photo by Natalia Rashkova
Each type of instrument requires a specific technique of using bodily parts and organs
for creating music. Data from field studies indicates the priority of fingers for playing almost all folk musical instruments. In the process of learning the folk wind instruments, the
bagpipe (gaida) and the flute (kaval), one of the main lessons is to learn how “to stir fingers
correctly” and how “to let the melody into the fingers.” The use of another body organ in
the playing of wind instruments – the mouth – is emphasized mainly as a facilitator for
playing the flute in comparison with the bagpipes.
The relationship between the human body and the ‘body’ of the instrument persists during a musical performance. Based on centuries-old practice, instrumental performance in
Bulgarian folk culture has created postulates for a folk theory of music. Therefore, folk musicians have convincing explanations of the relationship between the qualities of the physical body and successful handling of musical instruments. The analyzed dependence between musicians and their instruments focuses on the physical dimensions of the relationship.
The next logical step is to address music itself, as the third component of the concatenated
sequence introduced above.
Body organs, instrumental sounds and regional folk music styles
The identification of a musical instrument with the human body also manifests in
its understanding as a vehicle through which the player expresses himself. A melody performing instrument can enrich and develop the musical features of the human voice. In
Bulgarian folklore, the ‘voice’ of the instrument represents an altered voice of man, more
precisely of the male. Thereby, the main gender differentiation is manifested in musical activities – women sing while men play instruments. There are performing techniques for the
166
Natalia Rashkova
simultaneous mixing of vocal and instrumental timbres while playing wind instruments.
Throat tones and instrumental sounds merge into a peculiar timbre. In Bulgarian folk culture, this old musical practice is resorted to when playing the duduk. Today, we can hear it
in the masterly performances of the famous kaval player Theodosii Spassov, who finds different timbre nuances to enrich instrumental capabilities.
Improvement of instrumental timbre is the main measure of a musician’s skills. Timbre
diversity in different types of instruments is achieved with the use of different body organs
or their substitutes. In the case of percussion instruments, playing with fingers, palms of the
hands or a wooden stick (a hand extension) produces a lot of sound colors depending on the
materials that interact. The softness of the direct contact between human fingers and hands
and the animal leather of the tarambuka and the daire (tambourine) produces an organic,
warm, ‘lively’ sound. It is heard well, but only in a close, intimate circle and in the accompaniment of songs. Mediating between human hands and the leather membrane of the tapan
(drum), thin and thick sticks make a louder, harsh, public sound. Therefore, the functional
use of the drum is mostly at the joint horo dances in the village square.
The mutual relationships and the effects of the body parts and organs on the quality of
instrumental sounds are deeply conscious in musical practice. Folklore instrumentalism has
built its own system of music norms, which are strictly followed by musicians. Moreover,
repetition and adherence to these norms provide for the stylistic specificities of instrumental
folk music.
Certainly, the stylistic features found when playing different instruments represent a
complex set of cultural prerequisites, regional requirements, technological music factors,
potentialities of performers, etc. I will focus on some differences in local folk styles created
by the manner of playing. What is important for this research topic is to see how the interaction between the instrument and the musician’s body affects some characteristics of the folk
musical styles.
Specific kaval playing styles depend on the position of the lips and fingers, their movement and manner of vibration. The Thracian instrumental style from South-East Bulgaria is
remarkable for its soft articulation and, accordingly, deep and soft sounds. The Shopp kaval
players from the West Bulgaria (Sofia region) articulate with the tip of the tongue, so the
tone is sharp and staccato. A salient feature of the Thracian kaval style is a softening sound
realized through horizontal movements of the fingers, unlike the vertical movements of the
West Bulgarian players, which produce melodies fragmented into a staccato. The same applies to the West Bulgarian gaida playing manner, also resulting in sharp and strident sounds.
Playing the gadulka (a string bowed instrument) depends entirely on the finger and bow
techniques. Their specificity determines the performing styles, as well as the varieties of instruments. The gadulka players from Dobrudzha (North-East Bulgaria) have used an old
fiddler instrumental technique: the left hand is stationary, playing in one position and with
three fingers. This manner strongly impacts on the distinctiveness of the Dobrudzha gadulka
playing style. The Thracian performers have a more developed technique; their left hand is
movable, and they play with four fingers in different positions. Therefore, they have achieved
an advanced instrumental style with rich ornamentation and improvising possibilities. The
use of strokes and the speed of the bow movement complement the stylistic features. The
Thracian flowing melody is produced due to gentle movement of the bow while the sharp
melody of the gadulka from West Bulgaria is the result of jerky frugal movement of the
bow.
These examples summarize a small part of the vast research field into the practice of folk
music instrumentalism and the relationship between instrumental technique and style. The
essential conclusion is that the real distinctions between instrumental folk musical styles
started with different acts of the body upon the musical instrument.
167
Photo 2. Playing the Thracian gadulka. Photo by Natalia Rashkova
Social behaviour: The ages of the folk musician
There is a specific division into periods of human life formulated in different societies and cultures. Separating chronological sections on the basis of meaning, people have
attempted to structure the passage of time. The periodization of the lifecycle always correlates with the norms of culture (Kon 1988: 65, 99). In the early stages of the development of
society, the individual lifespan was directed by the system of age groups passed over at different periods of a person’s life. Transition from one age period to another was performed
simultaneously for all members of the relevant age group, along with changing of their social status. Studies on the perception of a life course in traditional (folk) culture show that
man is included in the cycles of nature, the rotation of the agricultural cycle; his lifetime is
arranged according to the cyclical sequence of related activities. Changes in human lives are
associated with the replacement of some social roles and the acquisition of others. In this
sense, the importance of the human chronological age dissolves in the social age, which is
more considerable for traditional culture (Bokova 1992: 115–120).
The study of Bulgarian folk musicians’ individual lifetimes reveals specific attitudes towards age periodization. The life course of members of a folk culture is destined to pass
according to the rules of their community, within the frames of social roles and types of activities outlined for each age period. According to studies of traditional society, interrelations within the age groups are strictly regulated; everyone knows his/her place and no
disputes arise (Mead 1970: 21).
The musician’s lifetime contains all the activities that are part of the life of each member
of the community. He learns and practices all the skills and responsibilities of everyday life.
168
Natalia Rashkova
Together with his coevals, the folk music player passes through the rituals of transition and
enacts social roles relevant for each age period. At the same time, by virtue of his musical
talent and playing skills, his personal life is organized through the implementation of a specific social role for carrying out rituals and feasts in the community’s life.
Research analysis of the Bulgarian fieldwork materials indicates that the lifespan can be
generally split into four stages: childhood, bachelorhood, adulthood (after marriage) and
old age. The informants specify and distinguish these periods focusing not just on the completed years, but on a particular social identity (Bokova 1994: 47–48). The interviews conducted with folk musicians of various generations confirm the validity of ‘folkloric’ age periodization with regard to the development and changes in the life course of an individual
involved in artistic activities. Playing musical instruments also has been specifically arranged in the sequence of age stages and ranges. Different degrees of musical skills and
knowledge mark segmentation in the growth of an instrumentalist. The collected materials
show chronological ages most often mentioned and important for the growth of a musician:
6-8 years, 12-13 years, and 14-16 years. After that, chronological age is not mentioned explicitly, and the informants use combinations of words for designating social ages: “when I took
getting a bachelor”, “as a grown bachelor”, “when I became ready for marriage”, “when
I finished the army service”, “when I got married”, “as an old man”. It appears that chronological age has no importance for the age coordinates of the individual after he has left the
childhood stage. This point correlates highly with the entrance of an individual into social
roles, required by the community in certain periods of his life course.
Childhood
Interest in music occurs around the age of 6, when a little boy with musical abilities begins to consciously listen to the sounds of the world around him and to develop his
own musical talent. Early vocation for music is manifested by playing handmade sound
toys made of natural materials – whistles made of elderberry, rye straw, willow bark, pear
leaves, etc. During the so-called “play age” (Erikson), children begin to understand the roles
that they are expected to play later in the world of adults. Thus, the prospective folk musician gets into the mood of preparing his own way for learning and playing music.
The real training in folk instrumental music starts a little later – at school age. This is a
short but intensive period for the gifted boys to build themselves up as musicians. Most of
the rural musicians interviewed had attended primary school and at the same time been
actively involved in the labor activities of their families. Children begin to understand and
learn some instrumental technologies of the culture to which they belong. The biographies
of many folk musicians start with them making musical training instruments for themselves
– with their own hands. Other musicians begin by learning real musical instruments which
are easy to play – pastoral whistles, an ocarina, a bagpipe without a drone (a long threepiece tube).
The choice of such instruments is not only because of children’s musical inexperience,
but also due to physical factors. Although rarely mentioned in the interviews, physical capacities are quite important for the musician during the period of childhood. In contrast to
the kaval, the shepherd’s whistle or the duduk require less effort in blowing, and the distances
between the finger holes are accessible for the children’s hands. The bagpipe is an instrument that is much harder than those suitable for a player not yet grown up, and it has been
often adjusted to children’s physical capacities. Instrument makers have also made special
small chanters (melody pipes) for children.
Along with getting to learn instrumental music techniques, young musicians begin to
accumulate aural experience, retain tunes, construct folk-type musical thinking, and learn
the regulatory requirements of their folk culture. All these activities unfold implicitly and
169
Photo 3. Children playing the bagpipes without drones. Photo by Natalia Rashkova
progressively, through steady listening to the ambient music world and by attempting to
adapt to it. Playing musical instruments is done in parallel with the work activities in aid of
the family which are inherent to that age – shepherding and herding. In the musicians’
memory, this is a key relation, which provides the possibility of training in instrumental
playing. Stabilization of the folk sound system in the mind of the musician continues simultaneously with the improvement of his technical skills in the next age period.
Bachelorhood
The period of bachelorhood, which in folk culture begins around the age of 15, is
extremely intense and fruitful for the development of a musician. Along with continued
instrumental training, the young player is loaded with social obligations related to his musical skills. His life comes under increasing normative regulation from the cultural community, as required by virtue of his specific musical specialization. The player simultaneously
performs the roles imposed on him on account of his social age.
A typical example of a situation combining the defined roles of a bachelor and a musician is that of Christmas carolling. This is one of the best known Bulgarian folklore rituals,
with the mandatory participation of bachelors, through which they gain the right to marry.
In many Bulgarian regions, the groups of young men going and singing around the village
are accompanied by a musician performing song tunes called “on the way.” If the music
player is a bachelor, he repeatedly changes his activities during the ritual. Along the way, he
acts as the musical leader of the group, playing the instrument, and then, upon entry into a
house, he associates with the group as a carol singer. Thus, he performs the actions required
to implement his own socialization as a member of the bachelors’ group. Moreover, his mu-
170
Natalia Rashkova
sical skills put him in a position of a special ceremonial person distinguished to assist with
the music ritual passage of the young men.
The importance of social age in a musician’s life is confirmed when considering the same
ritual situation but with the participation of an already married musician. When the player is
a married man at a mature age, he enters into a completely different relationship with the
group of carol singers. Being an external person with respect to their age group, he must be
specially invited to play for them, and in most cases he should receive a pre-arranged fee.
Because of his elevated social position, he has a choice to participate in the ritual or not. When
the musician participates in a ritual situation as part of the group of his coevals, he performs
the act of playing for free by applying his specific talents and skills for the benefit of the community. But when he has a higher social status, his ‘return’ to serve with music to another age
group of a lower position in the community seems to be a fulfillment of a cultural order.
On other musical ocasions during the age period described, the musicians manifest the
experience achieved in playing the instruments and the scope of their musical repertoire.
The folk musician first demonstrates his skills inside the group of his coevals. One of his first
musical appearances is at a working-bee. This is an event where young people – girls and
boys – perform collective work, communicate, choose a future marriage partner and conduct varied artistic activities (Ganeva 1991: 259). Girls sing a special folk song repertoire,
and the musical participation of young men comes from those knowing how to play a musical instrument. The emphasis obviously falls on the individual skills and abilities of the
players, who excel their peers in musical talent and therefore occupy a special position
among them.
The acquired self-confidence in playing and the grown repertoire, including more and
more music from the village and the region, allow young musicians to face a wider audience
than their peer group. They get the opportunity to present themselves as musicians to the
local community at festive ring and chain dances (horo) organized on every Sunday in the
village square. For the musician, bachelorhood is a time to strengthen his position as a music player in the local community. In the development of young musicians, playing at a horo
dance confirms their public recognition. At such an event the music player joins the rural
musicians’ community, complements his musical knowledge and improves his instrumental
mastery. The hierarchic arrangement of the rural musicians is reflected in the order and
manner in which they provide the horo music: in compliance with both chronological age
(the younger bachelors being ‘lower’ musicians than the elder ones) and the social age (bachelors playing voluntarily and gratis, while elderly married musician – for a fee). Field research suggests that feast dancing performed in the village square functions primarily as a
venue for pre-marital communication, so the interest of an already married musician is reduced. Young musicians are preferred by their coevals for playing at horo dances because
they ‘serve’ the cultural needs of the respective age. They know and play new tunes that
come into fashion. Older musicians are fans of the traditional repertoire and are less flexible
in adopting news. Thus, successive generations change the concrete repertoire contents of a
village’s musical culture.
The period of bachelorhood is a relatively short part of folk musicians’ life course. For
5-10 years, young men develop intensively as musicians and enter the social life of their
community.
Adulthood
In the folkloric age periodization, adulthood encompasses the course of life after
marriage. For the next several decades of his life, a man in a traditional society establishes
himself in the roles of the husband, the father, the member of the patriarchal kin, and the
head of the family. The studied interviews with folk instrumentalists show a typical musical
171
Photo 4. A kaval player with his listeners. Photo by Natalia Rashkova
pattern. In contrast to bachelorhood, which is marked for accelerated musical progress and
saturated with important events in a personal life, stimulating musical activities and the
growth of musical knowledge and skills, the period of adulthood seems to be calm and even
monotonous. In their biographical stories, musicians do not report impressive events. These
merge in the musicians’ memory because of the multiplicity of the performances given. The
only mentioned life events from this age period are the marriage and the army service. Playing music has become an almost professional activity by then, associated mainly with rituals
(weddings) and festivities in the village culture. At the time of adulthood, chronological age
differentiation by years is not mentioned. The segmentation of this period is usually described by comparative degrees such as “younger” and “older”, but actually covers the
longest age stage of a lifetime.
At his mature age, the folk music player is confident about his good playing skills; he
proves to be a master of his instrument, well versed in the local musical repertoire and instrumental style. Together with other musicians, he shares and deepens his musical knowledge and demonstrates his own creative talent. His position strengthens in the village and
in the local community owing to his achievements as a musician. The criteria for success are
that the musician is sought-after to play at local and family holidays; he gets approval,
praise, and wins public recognition from the users of his music.
Old age
The category of old age does not belong to commonly accepted and accurately
described scholarly concepts, and varies for different cultures in different moments of their
historical development. In folk culture, the beginning of old age is not defined in precise
172
Natalia Rashkova
chronological parameters. The signs of aging appear in a different manner for musicians.
When the musician has left his active middle age, his social functions gradually drop out.
The reason for this is mainly attributed to the loss of physical strength, which leads to thinning of the instrumentalist’s social obligations. At the time of interviewing, old age was the
current age stage for several musicians. They shared both their individual experiences, and
memories of previous generations of musicians, whose renowned playing acts they had
witnessed. Descriptions of the musicians’ old age phase emphasise physical incapacity and
the weakening of musical memory. Not least vital is the fact that the cultural space in the
musical folklore is dominated by the next generation of mature musicians, who are in the
prime of life and skills and who have thus displaced older players. The younger musicians,
however, notice and respect the experience of the older ones; they play together with them
and learn from them. In this way, continuity of the oral culture is accomplished.
Irrespective of any changes resulting from advancement in years, the vocation and the
longing for music do not go out for most players. Some of them practice untiringly until
a late age if their health allows. Nevertheless, the period of old age is characterized by
a decrease and almost total exhaustion of playing activity. Elderly musicians cease their
activity, giving up their place to the next generation accustomed to their musical heritage.
Verbal behaviour: Folk knowledge about the shepherd as
a musician
Collective memory consists of traditional knowledge about the folk musical culture as well as the role and behavior of musicians. Verbal texts in the Bulgarian folklore retain a lot of information about music and musical activities. Folk knowledge can be extracted
from song lyrics and narratives (tales, stories, legends and mythological beliefs).
A good part of this interesting knowledge relates to the musical behavior of shepherds.
Folklore texts regard the shepherd-player as a ‘magician’ who performs miracles with his
wind instrument – honey (or copper)6 kaval, golden pipe, silver whistle (tzafara). On the
mythological level, pastoralism comes closer to rituality than to labor practices. Music information appears in texts in which mythological knowledge is coded – etiological legends,
fairy tales, ballads, epic songs and other song lyrics. By using his pipe, the shepherd comes
into contact with the beyond, with demonological beings, and becomes an intermediary
between the natural and the cultural worlds.
According to a folk legend, the shepherds’ skill of playing a wind instrument is derived
from God. During summer time, his sheep used to stand still in one place. The shepherd
could not make them move. Then came the Lord, stood in front of them and blew a wooden
flute (kaval). The sheep went after him. Ever since then the shepherds played the pipe ahead
of the flock to lead it. The Lord himself had taught them how to play.7
Playing near the flock, and keeping and leading the sheep with the tune of his pipe are
the typical functional uses of the shepherd’s music. The ability to influence the herd with
music is a recognized quality. Playing the kaval is considered a shepherd’s acknowledged
professional attribute. In a popular song theme, a shepherd, accused of robbery and impris6
There is a common word in Bulgarian language – meden – translated with the attributes of honey and copper.
The first meaning characterizes the sound timbre, and the second one relates to the material of which the instrument is made.
7
The folk legend is from the village of Gurmazovo, Sofia region (Talkuvania 1893: 135–136).
173
Photo 5. A shepherd from the Strandzha Mountain playing the kaval. Photo by Natalia Rashkova
oned, insists on being given his kaval and plays a short tune. He manages to call his flock and
dogs with his melody, which is sufficient to prove that he is a shepherd and not a robber.8
In the actual practice of pastoralism, playing a wind musical instrument is an inherent
skill. Playing for the flock marks the whole process of the training of the musician – learning
the instrumental techniques, creating a repertoire, improvisational skills and masterful
playing of the special melodies, which guide the grazing sheep.
Bulgaria’s most widespread masterpiece of instrumental shepherd music, the “Lost
flock” melodies, are an authentic expression of the improvisational freedom of performance. This is a program melody, performed on a kaval or gaida. The musical structure is based
on a story narrative that the performers can express in both verbal and musical language.
The tune portrays with sounds the following story. A shepherd fell asleep and lost his sheep.
He was at a loss about what to do, so he took out his kaval and, playing a sad melody, went
looking for the flock. Seeing some white stones in the distance, the shepherd thought these
could be his lost sheep and started a joyful horo-dance melody. On nearing, however, he saw
that he had been misled and so he again played the ‘heartbreaking’ melody. The shepherd’s
dog barked, the cocks crowed, and still the sheep were missing. He sadly blew his pipe
again. Suddenly he heard bells clang and sheep bleat, but again they were not from his flock,
so he went on. When he finally found his sheep, he was filled with joy and played a cheerful
dance melody. Depending on the figurative intension, emotional attitude and narrative abilities of the players, this story is told in a more or less expanded form.
8
See, for instance, song texts № 1370 and № 1372, Baladi (1994).
174
Natalia Rashkova
In folklore texts with a mythological basis, the shepherd and his kaval are often represented in connection with the cult of chthonic beings. The dual nature of the snake (Benovska-Sabkova 1992: 23-41) is interpreted through its contradictory effect on people – both good
and evil. In fairy tales and song lyrics, the shepherd rescues a snake from a fire, reaching out
with his kaval to the snake and getting it out of the fire9. The grateful snake gilds the shepherd’s kaval10 or sends him understanding of animals’ language by “spitting” into the instrument. In another story, the snake, a bearer of death, re-uses the pipe to sneak through it and
bites the shepherd fatally on the tongue.11 The shepherds-music player’s extraordinary impact on the surrounding world suggests that his wind instrument is loaded with magical
powers to mediate between the cultural and the natural worlds whilst the shepherd masters
the art of applying these powers.
In stories about encounters with demonological characters, in fairy tales and song lyrics,
the shepherd’s music attracts the fairies (samodivi), devils, vampires. Again, the position of
the musician reflects a duality of positive and negative terms. For example, a shepherd playing in the forest with a shupelka (a whistle) is blinded by fairies; he plays a second time – they
punish him by drying his hands.12 Another story tells of a shepherd-musician who plays his
“whistle – the nice chatter”; on hearing him play the fairies “rob him of his voice.”13 In contrast to these risks of the contact with demonological beings, in some texts the good effect of
music overcomes the “wickedness”. Another song describes a bet on endurance between
fairies and a shepherd – he plays, they dance. The shepherd wins and takes one of them as
his wife.14
This brief overview of folklore texts containing information about the shepherd as a music player outlines his overall image as a culture hero. His musical activity follows a mythical prototype. In the long journey through time, folk musical knowledge comes to us amazingly intact and the contents of verbal texts related to music seem to inhabit the borderline
between the mythological and the real.
***
The anthropological view of music is a way to observe, reveal and explain the variety of
models and processes embedded in music cultures. Linking music to the anthropological
approach continues to provide beneficial results. Musical anthropology is an established
research field with broad perspectives for studying the position of music in human life and
for understanding human musical behavior within culture.
Bibliography
Atanasov Vergiliy (1977), Sistematika na balgarskite narodni muzikalni instrumenti [Systematics of Bulgarian Folk Music Instruments], Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na
naukite (in Bulgarian).
Arnaudov Mihail (1905), Balgarskite narodni prikazki. Opit za klasifikatsia [The Bulgarian Folk
Tales. An Attempt at Classification], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis” 21,
Sofia, pp. 1-110 (in Bulgarian).
Arnaudov Mihail (1930), Narodni pesni i prikazki ot s. Svoge [Folk Songs from the Village of
9
10
11
12
13
14
See song № 992, Rashkova (2009); Arnaudov (1930: 27).
See song № 188, Baladi (1993).
See song № 1006, Rashkova (2009).
See Arnaudov (1905: 42).
See song № 114, Gorov (1983).
See song № 2, Miladinovi 1981; Kepov (1936: 226–227).
175
Svoge], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis” 38, Sofia (in Bulgarian).
`Baladi (1993), Balgarski narodni baladi i pesni s miticheski i legendarni motivi [Bulgarian Folk
Ballads and Songs with Mythical and Legendary Motifs], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia
i narodopis” 60 (1), Sofia (in Bulgarian).
Baladi (1994), Balgarski narodni baladi i pesni s miticheski i legendarni motivi [Bulgarian Folk
Ballads and Songs with Mythical and Legendary Motifs], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia
i narodopis” 60 (2), Sofia (in Bulgarian).
Benovska-Sabkova Milena (1992), Zmeyat v balgarskia folklor [The Zmey (Dragon) in Bulgarian Folklore], Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite (in Bulgarian).
Blacking John (1976), How Musical Is Man? 2nd ed., London: Faber & Faber.
Bogdanov Bogdan (1989), Choveshkoto tyalo i kulturata [Human Body and Culture], “Filosofska misal” 4, pp. 26-31 (in Bulgarian).
Bokova Irena (1992), Chovekat i negovite vazrasti [Man and His Ages], “Izvestia na Istoricheskiya muzey – Kyustendil” 4, pp. 115–120 (in Bulgarian).
Bokova Irena (1994), Kategoriyata ‘vazrast’ vav folklornata kultura [The Category of Age in Folk
Culture], “Balgarski folklor” 2, pp. 47–53 (in Bulgarian).
Bratya Miladinovi (1981), Balgarski narodni pesni. Fototipno izdanie (1861) [Bulgarian Folk
Songs. A Phototype Edition (1861)], Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo (in Bulgarian).
Burmov Aleksandar (1930), Narodni umotvorenia ot Byala cherkva [Folklore from Byala Cherkva], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis” 38, Sofia, pp. 1–192 (in Bulgarian).
Collaer Paul (1965), Ozeanien in: H. Besseler & M. Schneider (eds.) Musikgeschichte in Bildern, Band 1, Musikethnologie, Lieferung 1, Leipzig: Veb. Deutscher Verlag für
Musik.
Talkuvania (1893), Talkuvania na prirodni yavlenia, razni narodni vyarvania i prokobyavania
[Interpretations of Natural Events, Various Folk Beliefs and Portents], “Sbornik za narodni
umotvorenia, nauka i knizhnina” 9, Sofia, pp. 126–136 (in Bulgarian).
Ganeva Bozhanka (1991), Peeneto v sedyankata vav vrazka s neynata predbrachna funktsia
[Singing at the Working-bee in Connection with its Pre-marital Function] in: S. Stoykova et
al. (eds.) Problemi na balgarskia folklor, Vol. 8, Balgarskiyat folklor v slavyanskata i balkanskata kulturna traditsia, Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite, pp. 259–262
(in Bulgarian).
Gorov Goro (1983), Strandzhanski folklor [Folklore from Strandzha], „Sbornik za narodni
umotvorenia i narodopis” 57, Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite
(in Bulgarian).
Harrison Frank (1972), Time, Place and Music: An Anthology of Ethnomusicological Observation c. 1550 to c.1800. Amsterdam: Frits Knuf.
Jenkins Jean (1983), Man and Music. A Survey of Traditional Non-European Musical Instruments. Edinburgh: Royal Scottish Museum.
Kepov Ivan (1936), Narodopisni, zhivotopisni i ezikovi materiali ot s. Boboshevo, Dupnishko
[Folklore, Biographical and Language Materials from the Village of Boboshevo, Dupnitsa Region], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis” 42, Sofia (in Bulgarian).
Kon Igor (1988), Rebenok i obshchestvo [Child and Society], Moskva: Nauka (in Russian).
Mačak Ivan (1987), Problemy nauchnoy dokumentatsii muzykal’nyh instrumentov [Problems of
Scientific Documentation of Folk Musical Instruments] in: I. V. Matsievskiy (ed.) Narodnye
muzykal’nye instrumenty i instrumental’naya muzyka, vol. 1, Moskva: Sovetskiy kompozitor, pp. 56-67 (in Russian).
Mead Margaret (1970), Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap, American
Museum of Natural History: Natural History Press.
Merriam Alan (1964), The Anthropology of Music, Evanston: Northwestern University
Press.
Rashkova Natalia (2009), Folklor ot Sakar (Pesni i instrumentalni melodii) [Folklore from Sakar
(Songs and Instrumental Melodies)], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis” 62,
Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov” (in Bulgarian).
Sachs Curt (1962), The Wellsprings of Music, The Hague: Martnus Nijhoff.
Stoilov Hristo (1914), Klasifikatsia na balgarskite narodni gatanki [Classification of Bulgarian
Folk Riddles], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis” 30, Sofia (in Bulgarian).
Stoychev Krastyu (1915), Tetevenski govor [The Dialect of Teteven], “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis” 31, Sofia (in Bulgarian).
176
Natalia Rashkova
Todorov Manol (1973), Balgarski narodni muzikalni instrumenti [Bulgarian Folk Musical Instruments], Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo (in Bulgarian).
Zahariev Yordan (1935), Kamenitsa, “Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis” 40,
Sofia (in Bulgarian).
Zaharieva Svetlana (1987), Svirachat vav folklornata kultura [The Player in Folk Culture], Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite (in Bulgarian).
Zemtsovskiy Izaliy (1987), Muzykal’niy instrument i muzykal’noe myshlenie (k postanovke
voprosa) [Musical Instrument and Musical Thinking (Towards the Formulation of a Question)] in: I. V. Matsievskiy (ed.) Narodnye muzykal’nye instrumenty i instrumental’naya
muzyka, vol. 1, Moskva: Sovetskiy kompozitor, pp. 125–131 (in Russian).
Vinogradov Viktor (1969), Kirgizskiy narodniy muzykal’niy instrument – komuz [Komuz –
A Kirghiz Folk Musical Instrument], “Izvestia na Instituta za muzika” 13, Sofia: Izdatelstvo na Balgarskata akademia na naukite, pp. 65–74 (in Russian).
Zavadovskiy Yuriy (1969), Vnesistemnaya semiotika zhesta i zvuka v arabskih dialektah Magriba [Outsystem Semiotics of Gesture and Sound in Arab Dialects of the Maghreb], “Trudy po
znakovym sistemam” 4, pp. 415–424, Tartu (in Russian).
Zhivkov Todor Ivanov (1994), Antropologia na folklora – zashto ne? [Anthropology of Folklore
– Why Not?], “Balgarski folklor” 2, pp. 4–11 (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: Dr Natalia Rashkova is an ethnomusicologist and university lecturer in ethnomusicology, Associate Professor in the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her main research areas are: musical
anthropology, local ethno-cultural and musical traditions, cultural identity, collective
memory, migration and music, Bulgarian communities abroad.
Vol. 2/2013
p. 177–194
Evgenia Grancharova
Folklore Dance Clubs: A New Phenomenon in
Modern Bulgarian Urban Culture
Abstract: Subject of research interest is a new phenomenon in modern Bulgarian urban culture – folklore
dance clubs. Their history is briefly presented and three main periods of development of folk dance are
traced (early to mid-20th century, during the years of communist rule in Bulgaria and after 1989). Special
attention is paid to the idea and essence of folklore dance clubs – a specific dance phenomenon that appeared in late 20th century. First attempts to create club dance form in Bulgaria are made in the mid-90s,
and after 2005 there is a ‘boom’ of such groups. The research is focused on issues of interpretation and
analysis in terms of overall understanding of folk dance club as a culture phenomenon. The structure of a
dance club and its distinctive characteristics are described in details. The motivation of founders and participants in dance clubs is also considered. Their social aspect is accentuated.
Keywords: Folklore dance clubs, urban culture, Bulgaria, amateur activities, dance group, choreographer,
dance art, folk dance, folklore dance festivals
In the last few years a new wave of ‘return’ to traditional dancing and to mass
horo folk dancing is laid on in Bulgaria. A latest specific example of training in folk dances
learning are the Bulgarian folklore dance clubs – the so called “Bulgarian revival” (IvanovaNayberg 2011: 391).
First attempts to create a club dance form in Bulgaria are made in the mid 90’s, and after
2005 there is a ‘boom’ of folklore dance clubs where such an environment is created that folk
dance performing turns out to be a particularly attractive occupation for more and more
Bulgarians. The task of the research is to turn to issues of interpretation and analysis within
the entire rationalization of the folklore dance club as a phenomenon of culture.
1
Background
During the Bulgarian National Revival from the early 18th to the late 19th century
folklore had still vital and productive forms of existence. At the beginning of the 20th century
the importance of the folk dance was affirmed as an educational factor and a helpful folk
entertainment. It occupied an important part of people’s life imposing itself as one of the
most widespread public cultural events in time, and it enjoyed wide and versatile popularity
– by means of its introduction into the syllabus, through amateur art and media. Along with
teaching of Bulgarian horo dance at school, in-school and extracurricular dance amateur per1
Horo – a collective dance in a chain or a circle that is performed at different feast days from the calendar
and life cycle.
178
Evgenia Grancharova
formances emerged. Amateur art or the unprofessional (amateur) art originated in urban
environment: “Historically, amateur art is a product of urban culture” (Zhivkov, 1981: 305)2.
In this period the first folk dance groups (amateur dance art teams) are formed and their participants are representatives of different stratum of the population who are voluntarily and
organized occupied with art in their spare time. The troupe / folk dance group3 is one of the
forms in which traditional dance continues its existence. It appears to be the successor of the
folklore samples which it interprets and subordinates to the laws of the scene. The amateur
team is generating and distributing a certain type of dance and cultural behaviour – it is imposing a model of interpretation of the folklore dance. The Bulgarian folk dance choreography school is emerging having its leading names and styles of stage performance laid down.
The institutionalized forms of amateur art also appear (chitalishte culture center4, house
of culture, pioneer house of culture5), which played an important role in investigating, storing and promoting the Bulgarian traditions. In the years of communist rule in Bulgaria the
folk dance troupe was differentiated as a specific socialist phenomenon – as a new unit of
culture with its own characteristics. The communist government had patronizing attitude
towards dance folklore which led to its popularization in the 70s and 80s of the last century.6
The state was allocating large funds for cultural activities and for the development of amateur art. All amateur troupes had funding provided and they received an annual budget
covering the costs for their maintenance (remuneration of instructors, material and technical
securing of the activities, economic expenses). Participation in amateur groups was free of
charge. Funds were also provided for art camps, participation in festivals, tours abroad, etc.
The mass deployment of amateur art activities led to the formation of a central national
public authority7 to lead cultural life.
In the new political-economic and social situation after 1989 dance art underwent further development and renewal. Amateur troupes suffered a lot of hardship and they were
forced to cope with a number of difficult situations: seeking of new funding alternatives
upon the withdrawal of the state support; resolving issues related to new forms of education; creating of other options for disseminating and promoting of the dance heritage in relation to the challenges of the new situation in Bulgaria. The economic and political changes
in the country turned out to be crucial to the destiny of a considerable number of amateur
dance art groups. Due to the loss of state funding of their activities, some of them could not
withstand the financial pressure and were decomposed/closed. Other troupes were transformed into schools where education was already paid. During the transitional period some
new choreographic searches were commenced too (experimental introduction of choreographic training in folk dances in Bulgarian comprehensive schools was conducted; new
In fact, urban culture creates conditions for the amateur art birth, this is the natural way of nascency –
workers, mostly of peasant origin, continued their traditions in town circumstances. For more details about amateur art see Zhivkov 1977, Zhivkov 1981; Shtarbanova 2006; Santova, Nenova 2006; Peycheva 2008.
3
For dance troupe as a cultural phenomenon in Bulgaria see Ivanova-Nayberg 2011.
2
4
Chitalishte – а specific Bulgarian cultural organization with active community participation in governance.
The culture center is a civil institution, arosen during the period of the Bulgarian Revival to service the cultural
needs of people. The culture center was initially established as an educational and teaching center, growing into
a cultural institution and a center of a rich spiritual life. Almost every settlement in Bulgaria has its own culture
center. Amateur art is the main mechanism that the cultrue center uses to carry out transmission of folklore culture. For more details about the culture center as a cultural institution please see Santova, Nenova 2006.
5
Pioneer – a member of a children’s organization during the socialist regime.
6
Amateur art became one of the most important tools for education and cultural advancement of people and
for satisfying their political and social demands. It also became an important means of propaganda.
7
An Amateur Art Center was created at the Ministry of Culture and it has subdivisions throughout the
country.
Folklore Dance Clubs: A New Phenomenon in Modern Bulgarian Urban Culture
179
private folk dance formations emerged, offering an opportunity for physical survival of
professional dancers; a new stage genre was created by the appearance of new forms in the
area of culture – dance show, folklore performance, artistic modern project, etc.; a new type
of experimental forms interpreting dance folklore arose).
As a result of these searches the club form emerged. Thus Bulgaria joined other European countries where it is a common practice for many years.8 The dance club very quickly
became quite popular among people, it is enjoying great interest and growing very rapidly.
Hundreds of dance clubs were created is short terms in all regions of the country. This is the
core reason the emergence of folk dance clubs to be defined as a phenomenon.
What is the club like?
The club is bringing together people with similar interests and common views
associated with particular ideas or topics.9 After regular meetings approved the abidingly
established group of supporters turns into a club, having its own structure, organizers (administrators), program with specific goals and objectives and procedure developed for new
members recruiting. It is a space for sharing ideas and inspirations of all kind. The Club – it
is a place where everyone may meet interesting people that have similar to his own interests
(i.e. – people to whom one has something to say to); to establish stable contacts based on
common values and principles; to learn something new; to fully communicate; to have fun.
The clubs are usually associated with leisure – they create an environment to understand
and take it up. The specialized dance clubs bring together people with similar interests in
dance art, who share in real time and space the pleasure of dancing.
The folk dance club10 in its idea is a place where everyone willing to play horo dance is
welcome. Dancing is performed mainly for the joy of the specific movement that brings
great delight. Accordingly, usually a fee is paid for this pleasure, which can be either monthly or per one-time visit. This is a new form of dance training in Bulgaria,11 which emerged
after the democratic changes in 1989. The dance club is an urban phenomenon the appearance of which was preceded by a long period of development of the Bulgarian folk dance
activities – from the first groups at the beginning of the 20th century performing a traditional repertoire, followed by the great achievements of the stage dance art on a folklore
basis to the return back to the traditional Bulgarian horo folk dance. The main idea of folk
dancing clubs is to enable everyone willing to dance, without any age restrictions nor preliminary preparation, to touch the unique Bulgarian folklore and discover the true nature of
dance art. The aim is dancing people to feel the tremendous sense of satisfaction, emotional
and mental intensity and pleasant fatigue after playing the Bulgarian horo dances.
There are several institutions that shelter folk dance clubs. As a successor and follower
of amateur dance art troupe the new club is opened at chitalishte community centers and
houses of culture. A large number of clubs are private formations that use sport halls, school
gyms or build their own dance hall.
For dance clubs and their equivalents in Europe see Nayberg Ivanova, 2011: 321–334.
They could be in different fields – art, business, tourism, eccentric ideas, etc. The motto of most clubs is:
“Leisure – free choice.”
10
The problem of the folk dance club as an effective modern form kindred to the dance troupe has been
reviewed by Daniela Lyubomirova Ivanova-Nayberg in the book “The folk dance troupe as a cultural phenomenon in Bulgaria” – see Ivanova-Nayberg 2011. For more details under this topic see Shtarbanova 2006; Peycheva
2008.
8
9
11
This coincides with a similar pattern of dance clubs that emerged in the West still in the 1960s–1970s.
180
Evgenia Grancharova
The founders (heads) of the dance clubs state their motivation to open such: “in order
to store, promote and develop Bulgarian folklore”; “people to break free from the daily
grind”; “for professional realization”; “for meeting the needs of people to perform folk
dances”. The data quoted is taken from questionnaires cards completed by heads and participants in dance clubs (DC) from all over the country12. Avalanche-like growth of dance
clubs is defined as a “fashion”:
„This became a fashion. Many people chose to dance in order to be fashionable. Others who have
played as children and want to dance again, also joined these clubs”;13 “At the beginning these
clubs started to exist as a ‘folk fitness’ and then it became fashion”;14 „In the recent years, they
turned out to be a unique outlet for working people – tense and mired in problems. With the accompaniment of folk music and having their hands strongly entwined in the semicircle, people
break loose from everything happening around them, and their faces light up. That very magic
brings them to the dance hall. This, in its turn, is provoking the creation of a great number of
dance clubs. I am respected by the interest and love of people for the Bulgarian music and dance
folklore”.15
Participants / Horo Dancers in the Dance Clubs
It is well known that during the years of socialism until 1989 amateur art was
widely spreading and mainly children and young people were included in dance troupes.
Here, at the dance club, the focus is mainly brought into the older generation, into people
whose age does not allow (does not presuppose) participation in an amateur dance art
group, but who have desire for dancing. This is the place where former dancers (old hands)
can continue dancing after well advanced in age. Of course young people also join the clubs
– these are participants without any preliminary preparation, which the dancers have usually passed in school, students’ or other amateur dance art groups. People with experience
of life gathered participate in the dance clubs, they usually have different professions and
are heralds of various cultures (local, regional, ethnic). As far as the education of the participants in the clubs is concerned, the data show a high level of involvement in these activities
of people with higher education.
While the purpose and task of the dance troupe is to include persons wishing to and
mostly able to dance, the folk dance club is open to anyone desiring to play horo dances regardless of his dance skills and physical data. At the basis of the club is the love for folklore,
the flair and taste for Bulgarian music and dance, the desire to share the emotion from the
dance with a community of people with similar tastes. Bistra Yontcheva launches an appeal
to visitors of the Internet: “Bulgarian folk dances are our greatest fortune, which we should
preserve! Dance, no matter young or old!”.16
12
Respondents are folk dance clubs from different regions of the country: Sofia (DC “Tanchari”,
DC “Vangeloff”, DC “Balgarsko Horo”, DC “Rusalya”, DC “Bistritsa”, DC “Negovanski Ritmi”, DC “Tantsi
s Venko”, DC “Sedef”, DC “Balgarski Narodni Tantsi”), Gabrovo (DC “Igraortsi”, DC “9/8”), Stara Zagora
(“Horotrop”), Karlovo (DC “Trop and the Dance”), Blagoevgrad (DC “Zhiva Voda”), Polski Trambesh (DC
“Ludi-mladi”), Parvenets village in Plovdiv region (DC “Zharava”).
13
14
15
16
Borislav Mutafchiyski, head of DC “Zhiva Voda”, Blagoevgrad.
Participant from DC “Zharava”, Parvenets village, Plovdiv region.
Rangel Vangelov, head of Dance Club “Vangeloff”, Sofia.
www.horo.bg/ last accessed 3 March 2011 (in Bulgarian).
181
Motivation of the Participants
The participants in a dance club initiate motivation to be trained. They specify the
reason for the heightened interest in folk music and dances: the pleasure to dance; the dance as
one of the most important conditions for physical health and longevity; increased patriotism and
identity; the uniqueness of the Bulgarian dance; dancing in the club as a source of emotions and others. The enthusiasm for most participants comes from the need to dance and get mentally
relieved, as well as and social contacts in the club, i.e. dancing is for the aim of enjoying the
movement, involvement is for the sake of the pleasure of communicating.
“Dancing (only enough by itself) and the social aspect here go hand in hand” (IvanovaNayberg 2011: 331). Everyone is happy when he learns a new horo dance to be able to impress friends with or ‘flash’ at some party.
The data from the questionnaire cards reveal several main motivations when someone is
choosing which folk dance club to participate in: relieving from stress and hectic everyday life;
for good mood; for health; love for folklore; to maintain tonicity; for fun; for finding of new friends, etc.
The dance club is a place where people of different characteristics (occupation, age, social
status, ideals) meet, combined by the magic of Bulgarian folklore. The social role of the clubs
is also accentuated. Its participants state that there they “forget all their problems and make
friendships for a lifetime”.17 In this specific club network for informal contacts acquaintances between “nice people” in real environment is made. Socialization is performed and
contacts are established (not amorphous), but based on shared values, principles and
interests.
Respondents declare that their professional commitments do not interfere with their
favourite pastime: “there is time for everything”; “I combine work and dances”; “employers do not
mind practising dancing”. There are club participants for which dancing is a priority: “I do not
let work duties prevent me from dancing in the days for dances”; “I prefer to leave something else, but
not the dance rehearsals”. Somewhere workplace is also used for playing horo dances: “even at
work we had a day for folk dancing organized – after the working hours”. There are also examples
of institutions where the employees/workers play horo dances for some 10-15 minutes in the
morning or during the lunch break to stir themselves and relieve (for tone). Family duties
does neither impede participation in the dance club. In most cases, family members approve
this hobby: “everyone is glad that I occupy my time with something useful and pleasant, which
brings joy to me”; “I have the support of the family”; “Dances are some of the things I enjoy most –
therefore it is well assumed at home, my husband encourages me, even envies me”. A female dancer
from Bistritsa neighbourhood, Sofia – member of DC “Tantsi s Venko” says:
“My family is accepting this hobby with understanding, even cordially, because of the change,
which it brought to me – I feel better in my own body, my mood is better as a whole, I am more
energetic, my social contacts expanded. The change is visible and it had beneficial influence upon
my family life.”
Almost in each club there are participants of a same family (sisters, brothers, husbands,
parents and children, grandparents with grandchildren). The club may also be a place where
future spouses get acquainted.18
17
18
Data from a questionnaire card completed by a participant in “Igraortsi” Dance Club, Gabrovo.
In DC “Balgarsko Horo” (Bulgarian Horo), Sofia, Gergana and Yonko met each other and they became the
Nazarovi family. They had a folklore wedding with authentic costumes and ancient rituals, attended by all the
dancers from the club.
182
Evgenia Grancharova
Photo 1. Wedding of the dancers Gergana and Yonko Nazarovi from DC “Balgarsko Horo” (Bulgarian Horo),
Sofia. Photo: Georgi Velichkov
Size, Composition and Distribution of the Clubs
There are several categories of dance clubs depending on the number of their
participants. The first group (the smallest clubs) has about 10 participants. These clubs are
the fewest by number. Others include between 20-40 members – these are the most frequent
clubs. The third category is the so-called numerous dance clubs (with over 50 participants).
There are groups which involve more than 100 dancers in their structure. Women are prevailing on a mass scale in the groups, men are very limited in composition. There are clubs
entirely consisting of women.
Almost every town in Bulgaria has its own folk dance club. Due to the continuous creation of new groups it is now very difficult to cite any accurate figures about their number
and the range of their participants. According to data derived from Bulgarian folk dances
websites, there are such clubs in 85 towns and in the big cities there are several. The website
horo.bg have registered 62 dance clubs in Sofia, about and over 10 in each of the major cities
(Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora) and at least one in the smaller towns.19 In Sofia several dance clubs have branches in different areas of the capital city (“Folklorika” Dance Club
– 11 branches, “Chanove” Dance Club – 7 branches; “Gaytani” Dance Club – 5 branches).
Furthermore “Chanove” Dance Club has branches in the towns of Rousse, Plovdiv, Bourgas,
Varna, Stara Zagora and Haskovo, and “Gaytani” Dance Club has branches in the towns of
Plovdiv and Samokov. Urban fashion is transmitted in the villages and during the last one
– two years folk dance clubs have started to emerge there too.
19
A large number of folk dance clubs are not registered on the Internet.
183
Photo 2. DC “Chanove” at the National Festival „Bolyarsko nadigravane” (Boyar Outplay), Veliko Tarnovo,
2011. Photo: Diana Kolarova
Bulgarians living abroad also establish their dance groups, which work on a different
principle – some of them are established as clubs, others are formed by amateur groups/
ensembles, and third are spontaneous groups emerged in Bulgarian schools or cultural centers. There is evidence of such groups in Brno, Czech Republic (“Pirin” and “Kytka” Ensembles); Vienna, Austia – 2 groups (“Kitka” dance troupe and “Klub za narodni hora”); Cologne, Germany (“Ludi-mladi”); Liège, Belgium (“Sedyanka”); Paris, France (“Horo” Dance
Workshop); Seattle, USA (Folklore Ensemble “Radost”); Toronto, Canada (“Igranka” Folk
Dances Troupe); Chicago, USA – 2 dance groups (“Vereya” Folk Club); London, England;
Budapest, Hungary – 3 groups (“Martenitsa” Ensemble, “Yantra” Dance Troupe and “Tantsova Kashta”); Bratislava, Slovakia (Bulgarian folk dance classes at BSOOU – “Hristo Botev”
Bulgarian comprehensive school), etc.20 The idea of all these dance groups abroad is to teach,
preserve and promote the traditions of Bulgarian folklore. They have a specific purpose – to
provide practical assistance to newcomers to adapt as well as information on all cultural
events related to Bulgaria. Their founders are usually former dancers from Bulgaria with
long experience in folk dances. There are also groups spontaneously arisen by enthusiastic
young people, mostly students, wishing to revive Bulgarian folklore. Some of the heads are
foreigners who study Balkan/Bulgarian folklore and have specialized Bulgarian dances.21
20
The information is from personal research and from the website horo.bg.
The creators of “Sedyanka” group for Bulgarian folk dances are Ann and Alain Sansen from Liège, Belgium. They have studied Balkan folklore with specialization in “Bulgarian Dances and Traditions”. They enriched their knowledge also with the help of well known Bulgarian choreographers like Kostadin Ruychev
(“Pirin” Ensemble, Blagoevgrad), Belcho Stanev (from Varna), Gergana Panova (“Philip Kutev” Ensemble, Sofia), etc.
21
184
Evgenia Grancharova
The specialized courses and seminars for foreigners, led by famous Bulgarian choreographers who train such personnel are also not few.
The Head of the Folk Dance Club
The leader/trainer of the dance club has different names: head (the most common
name, which is typical mainly for the clubs at chitalishte community centers and cultural
centers), lecturer, instructor (for clubs at sports centers). Most leaders have secondary or
higher choreography education acquired in specialized schools. These are mostly professional choreographers who grew up in the rehearsal room of the dance troupe, passed
through the specialized National School of Dance Art in Sofia and/or the Academy of Music
and Dance Art in Plovdiv. Though more rarely, there are also heads without special choreographic education.22 Usually these are dancers (former or current) with good dancing skills
and extensive stage experience who possess a set of knowledge and skills learned primarily
in the rehearsal hall.
Most respondents say that the figure of the leader of the group is very significant. An
important requirement for attracting people and keeping them in a club is the personal charisma and professionalism of the head. A number of qualities, which a good leader should
possess, are indicated: special education; ability to teach and communicate with people;
understanding and tolerance; honesty; tactfulness; patience; sense of humour, which to contribute to the good mood during rehearsals; dedication and more. With the growth of the
dance clubs the requirements to the leaders are arisen too:
“Firstly the head must have a completely constructed understanding and correct internal feeling
and attitude towards the folk dances in their full diversity, which is achieved not only by dancing,
but also by studying relevant literature. Academic preparation is very substantial also for developing good pedagogical skills of the manager. In addition, the leader should be inspired so he/
she can transfer his or her knowledge and skills. It is very important that he or she has personal
qualities such as charisma and enthusiasm in order to infect others even with his/her presence
only”.23
Respondents also note that a club is existing due to its head. They emphasize their good
attitude to him or her, call him/her “the best”, “most liked”, “most loved”:
„The personality of the head is leading in the rehearsal process and in the social life of the dance
club. Personally, I was firstly impressed (and subsequently captured) by the group leader as a
person. I have not known another person in my life who is so tolerant, calm and patient individual. Irresistible professional, pedagogue and a wonderful person. Part of ourselves - in the
process of rehearsing, and in the travelling for festivals. Magnetic and at the same time very humble person. Erudite and educated professional, broad-minded as understanding and compassion
for others. It is a pleasure and privilege to have such a group leader. This example of behaviour
inspires me and gives me confidence for the purposes of the existence of this type of dance
formations.”24
22
During the communist rule in the country leaders of amateur dance groups without the necessary qualifications were not allowed.
23
The answer to the question “Does it matter to you who is the head of the dance club? What qualities and
skills should he/she have?” from the questionnaire card completed by a participant from DC “Tantsi s Venko
(Dancing with Venko), Bistritsa quarter, Sofia.
24
From a questionnaire card completed by a participant of DC “Balgarsko Horo”, Sofia.
185
Repertoire
The repertoire of the dance clubs necessarily includes the most popular Bulgarian
horo dances: pravo, krivo, dunavsko, elenino, daychovo, paydushko, chetvorno. Additionally, in the
repertory program are included more horo dances from different regions of the country. At
least 4-5 horo dances are selected from the five ethnographic regions – almost every dance
school has in its repertoire horo dances from Dobrudzha, Thrace, Shopp region, Pirin region
and Northern Bulgaria. The total number of horo dances, which are learned in a dance club,
is about and over 50. Usually these are horo dances studied by the head of the club during
his/hers training (in a special school or amateur dance art groups). In the past, amateur
dance activities were evolving in the direction of processing traditional dance pattern.25 In
the clubs performance of authentic horo dances is pursued and choreographic intervention
is avoided. This emphasis on the ‘antiquity’ is undertaken by all clubs and at the same time
this is putting them to a number of tests. Still at the beginning of its existence, the dance
club found itself in an odd situation. The managers have a wide repertoire of a great number
of dance combinations developed on the basis of authentic horo dances, but a very small
volume of the authentic prototypes. It is also hard to be determined how authentic the proposed horo dances in the programs of the dance clubs are. In many of them choreographic
processing can be noticed. Finding of old traditional dance patterns was widely started.
Published materials describing the dance steps and the development of dances are used.
Examples from music and dance archives from fairs and festivals of folk art, where authentic folklore is presented, are also searched. Unfortunately, this practice is rare. “DVD Tutorials for Bulgarian Folk Dances” appear on the market and specialized websites are
created.
Work Process (Training)
Like the case of the head’s name, two names have been established for the training process of learning dances: ‘rehearsal’ (in clubs at chitalishte community centers) and ‘training’
(in sports clubs). Currently there are three categories of dance clubs in Bulgaria between
which there are some differences in the learning process. Almost all classes usually begin
with exercise movements built on Bulgarian folk music. There are clubs where the dancers
begin without prior warm-up exercise but with some of the most popular and easy horo
dances such as pravo horo, dunavsko, etc., and then proceed to studying of new, more complex
horo dances. In the first category club (first steps) – in view of the fact that the newcomers/
beginners know the steps of pravo hoto at the most, group leaders begin their teaching with
the most popular horo dances. at their school. The repertoire in this category covers between
10-20 horo dances from different parts of the country (pravo horo, krivo horo, chetvorno, raka,
opas, maleshevsko, shirto, arap, daychovo, paydushko, elenino, kopanitsa, svornato horo, etc.). For
the second category of dance clubs (advanced) – these are groups that have several years of
history (three or four years) – the repertoire already includes both well known and relatively
simple and more complex horo dances (sitno vlashko horo, petrunino horo, yovino horo, complex
25
Many former dancers who have received their training in the years of socialism, when the upsurge of amateur art activities was, say that they know hundreds of dance combinations, but not authentic horo dances that
were played on the village square. Their repertoire of folk horo dances is limited to 4–5. These are mostly dances
that at some time were into the curricula for physical education in schools. This very desire to learn more authentic horo dances motivated them to enroll in dance clubs.
186
Evgenia Grancharova
types of kopanitsa, dzhanguritsa, sitno shopsko, etc.). Usually in this groups there are former
dancers, who definitely prefer the more complex material. The third category of dance clubs
are those which include in their programs stage performances too. For this purpose, besides
learning the horo dances, the head prepares also a stage repertoire, including staging of
dance scenes based on the Bulgarian folklore. While in the first two categories the horo dances are performed in their authentic form, in this case there is a horo ‘processing’ in terms of a
certain choreographic intervention. There is also a bit of desire to achieve professional level.
The head begins to mold the bodies of his/her dancers for an ‘almost professional’ stage
performance. There are dance schools of this category primarily at the existing institutionalized places (chitalishte community centers, culture centers) that support the activities of the
dance groups and have necessary conditions (national costumes, props).26 Developing in
this way, the folk dance club is gradually acquiring the appearance of the familiar amateur
dance art groups.
A great role for the ‘boom’ of the folk dance clubs played also the large advertising campaign aimed at studying of folk horo dances and games. The release of the “DVD Tutorial for
Bulgarian Folk Dances” is a part of it – it is a series of five DVD with a total of 20 of the most
popular Bulgarian horo dances from five ethnographic regions of Bulgaria and CD with music to them. The viewer is learning the horo step by step from video instructions and a voice
explanations. Teachers are the famous Bulgarian dancers and choreographers from Philip
Koutev Ensemble Milena Gospodinova and Konstantin Gospodinov. An important role
played as well the initiative of Balkanfolk “Ayde na horoto” (Come on to the Horo Dance) for
gathering donations in favour of the Bulgarian chitalishte community centers by means of
CDs with folk horo dances produced by them.
Another form of studying the folk horo dances and games are the offered by seminars on
Bulgarian folk dances. The company “Chanove” OOD is regularly organizing national seminars on Bulgarian folk dances and horo – the so called Chanove. The program of the seminar
is worked out for a week period and it provides for several groups of studies involving people with different levels of dance skill and knowledge. The training is divided into two
phases: 1) Practical activities – studying of Bulgarian folk horo dances (in groups depending
on the level of the people trained); 2) Theoretical classes – studying the ethnographic regions of Bulgaria with their specific features. The workshop is accompanied by a rich cultural program.
Musical Accompaniment
It is a common practice in the work of the dance clubs to use audio recordings,
only a few groups have ‘live music’ – an accompanist (accordionist). The questionnaire
cards reveal that a great number of dancers prefer the accompany of a musician present
during the classes: “The accompanist for folk dances creates a sense of celebration during the
rehearsals and of uniqueness of the event”.27 This is a ‘luxury’ for some teachers that they cannot afford due to financial difficulties. Most heads use ready-made recordings from the
Internet or audio CDs with instrumental folk tunes purchased from the market. This, in
some cases when choosing a melody for a specific horo leads to a wrong decision – namely
26
Clubs with stage activities appear also at the private formations that are gradually creating concert repertoire and stage wardrobe of their own.
27
Elena Milusheva, participat in DC “Balgarski narodni tantsi” (Bulgarian Folk Dances) at the Mining and
Geology University in Sofia.
187
the melody is unsuitable or irrelevant to the particular horo. Very rarely special studio recordings of authentic dance tunes are made. It is noticed that mainly widely circulated recordings on the Internet are used instead of looking for other sources (music and dance
archives).
Signs, Symbols and Attributes of the Dance Groups
There are several distinctive identification markers typical for the folk dance
clubs. The name of the group is most often chosen to be associated with dancing and folklore (“Horo”, “Igraorets” (Horo Dancer), “Balgarski narodni tantsi” (Bulgarian Folk Dances), “Za poyas” (Holding belts), “Nine eighths – 9/8”, “Horotrop” (Horo Dancing), “Trop
and the Dance”, “Gaytani” (Woollen Braids), “Chanove” (Sheep Bells), “Folklorika”, “Body
Folk”, “Folk-palitra” (Folk-Palette), “Lyubiteli na folklora” (Fans of Folklore), “Zhiva voda”
(Living Water), “Ludi-mladi” (Crazy-Young), “Zharava” (Glow), etc.).
The club with the help of a painter produces its own mark – a logo which usually includes folklore elements (parts of Bulgarian embroidery, ideograms of traditional Bulgarian
instruments, items from folk costumes) and always the group’s name. Most dance clubs
have their own flag (with the logo and the name of the group). Billboards and banners with
the hallmarks of the group are made. “(Fig. 3)” More and more clubs now have their own
websites, they form groups and register pages in Facebook.
Clothing
The clothing of the learning dancers usually consists of a shirt and pants (or leggings). Unlike the famous amateur dance art groups, where women must wear a skirt, in the
clubs this is rare. Each club chooses a colour for the T-shirt, by which to be recognized. For
this contributes the special sign (logo), which is printed in a visible place on the t-shirt. The
only requirement to attend rehearsal classes is to wear comfortable shoes. Most of the participants are equipped with special dancing shoes – so called skarpini.
Performances of the Dance Clubs
In the dance clubs the members dance “for their own satisfaction, but why not in
front of audience”, say most dancers. Soon after the creation of the dance clubs in Bulgaria
specialized festivals for them appeared. The first festival was “Horo se vie, izviva” (Horo is
Winding and Rewinding), organized by “Dimitar Dinev–1937” Community Center in Sofia
in the spring of 2007.28 After this festival was carried out, the situation in terms of interest in
the folk dance clubs in Bulgaria has significantly changed, and the desire for demonstration
has increased avalanche-like. Over 90% of the respondents say that public appearance is
very important, motivating and has a specific place in the life of the clubs. This demonstration is usually not associated with the scene. Most often the festivals are held in sports gym.
This is more like a meeting of like-minded people who share their experience, knowledge
28
About 20 folk dance club took part and in the next festival in 2008 – 37 groups from Sofia and Bulgaria, in
the third one (March 2009) – about 50 clubs, in the following festival (April 2010) – more than 70 groups with
over 1000 participants, etc. Each year the number of clubs participating is growing.
188
Evgenia Grancharova
Photo 3. DC “Balgarsko Horo” (Bulgarian Horo) at Bacho Kiro Chitalishte Community Center, Sofia, with its
own distinguishing marks. Photo: Evgenia Grancharova
and skills. There new friends are made, and new horo dances are learned. According to Anelia Hadzhieva29 “the role of these festivals is to meet people and to bring them together, to feel the
energy of the common love for folk dances, to compare the level of your club to that of others and to
provoke competitive spirit”.
Besides in Sofia, folk dance clubs and groups festivals are held in other cities too – in
Plovdiv (“Na horoto pod tepeto” (At the Horo Dance under the Hill)), in the town of Gorna
Oryahovitsa, in Pazardzhik (“Trakiyska broenitsa” (Thracian Rosary)), at Albena resort
(“Festival na horoto” (Festival of Horo Dance)), Rousse (“Ruschukliyska sreshta” (Ruschuk
Meeting)), Veliko Tarnovo („Bolyarsko nadigravane” (Boyar Outplay)), Pleven (“Mizia tantsuva” (Moesia is Dancing)), Velingrad (“Horo pri izvora” (Horo at the Spring)), Kazanlak,
Kyustendil, Targovishte and others. The objectives of the festivals are preservation and popularization of traditional dance heritage. Each festival organizer develops its own regulations, according to which the participants prepare themselves. Usually at these festivals
there are performances of two optional horo dances and a rachenitsa dancing contest. There
are some general conditions announced that all participants must comply with when submitting their application forms. All clubs, schools and groups in the country, studying authentic Bulgarian horo dances are invited. A participation fee is determined. There is no age
limitation for the participants. Clothing for the presentation is according to the desire of the
participants. Almost at all festivals the is a requirement musical accompaniment to be provided on CD. Most festivals are competitive, and prizes are provided for the best dancers.
Dancing outplay aims to achieve a festive spirit – the general mirth with music and dance is
accentuated.
29
Participant in DC “Balgarsko horo” (Bulgarian Horo), Sofia.
189
Photo 4. DC “Igraortsi”, Gabrovo at the National Festival “Trakiyska broenitsa” (Thracian Rosary), Pazardzhik,
2010. Photo: Evgenia Grancharova
At the festivals all participants are wearing individual uniform clothing for the group.
Most often the outfit consists of a T-shirt with the mark printed in it (group name and logo)
and black pants (less often leggings or skirt). Some clubs have their specially designed stylized clothes (tunics, shirts, pinafores). There are other groups who are dancing with stage
national costumes. The women are usually with a flower in their hairs, some have a string
of gold coins. Also special belts, waistbands, aprons and head scarves are used. For all performances of the folk dance clubs as their unifying symbol stands the enthusiasm and delight of the horo dancers.
The program of the festivals includes several key points: 1) Official opening with welcome greeting by the administrative management of the city; 2) Presentation of the groups
in the order pursuant to the lots drawn – the program of the competition; 3) Outplay on
rachenitsa dance; 4) Common merriment with music and dances; 5) Rewarding; 6) Gala closure of the festival. Often the festival program also includes the element “introduction to the
local cultural and natural attractions. The festivals for the dance clubs have a sustainable
practice – to present authentic horo dances. This is their main goal. This part is almost identical for all festivals. Furthermore, each organizer is trying to offer something new. A second
round appeared, which provides for choreographers’ processed dances (“Bolyarsko nadigravane”, Veliko Tarnovo). In Rousse the organizers of “Ruschukliyska sreshta” included in
their program a concert of the local “Nayden Kirov” Ensemble. The festival “Horo pri izvora”
in Velingrad offered in its program studying of the authentic “Pashovska rachenitsa” dance
from all dance groups. Besides the formal performances, a very typical feature of these festivals is the merriment with music and dancing. The dance festivals are extremely popular
and attractive to the participants in the dance clubs. The organizers are led by the common
desire of everyone to get relived and entertained. The participants themselves go to the festival specially to “outplay each other at horo dances” – both during the dancing contest per-
190
Evgenia Grancharova
formances and out of their official participation. The dancers highly appreciate the idea of
organizing such cultural events where they can meet like-minded people and juxtapose
themselves to other dance clubs:
“Although the festivals in Bulgaria have a lot more to develop, I think that they are exclusively
important because they create a sense of community among the people who dance. This is very
significant since it allows one to look beyond the limits of the individual dance club and to identify himself with quite a vaster environment that provides conditions for a more intensive exchange. And this on its part is leading to the development of folk dance art”.30
Shortly after the dance clubs emerged and after participating in the special festivals for
them, many dancers are showing a desire for real stage performance. There are festivals
appearing which replace the playground with stage or open stage in the square: “We decided
to change the gym with a stage to preserve the dance and the horo as an art rather than as a sports
event”31. The leaders of dance groups began to try to make stage dance productions. Their
idea is “to preserve the folklore patterns, to adapt them for stage without damaging their artistic
quality and authenticity”.32 Thus they approach the idea and nature of amateur dance art
group. Besides the festivals, many clubs have concert performances: they participate in the
chitalishte community center events, local festivals and other cultural events. For this purpose another repertoire is built and it is composed of processed stage dances. The participants are “overwhelmed by the excitement”, which the stage offers to them. It is a very exciting, refreshing and relaxing experience to them. “The concert activities are important,
they give a special emotional charge and should be present in the program of the clubs”.33
Others add that it is a condition for the development of their dance potential.
The folklore dance clubs are also “conquering” the biggest stage of Bulgaria – Hall No 1
of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. Still in 2000 “Folklorika” Dance Club made true
the dream or hundreds of dancers for a performance of this prestigious stage. Over 350 amateur dancers participated (people of different occupation and at the age of 6 to 65) in the
spectacular show “Ya izgrey, yasno slantse” (Rise, you bright sun), organized by the choreographer Evelina Pavlova (owner of DC “Folklorika”). This was an overall play presenting
dance patterns from the five ethnographic regions of Bulgaria. Choreographers from the
school relied entirely on the classics – the authentic sound.
“The advantage of organizing such a big concert with amateurs is only one – the endless desire
of the dancers, the fire, visible in their eyes. They will show that they can present the folklore on
a slightly higher level than that for fun in the hall”, the inspired Pavlova says.
Social Life of the Dance Clubs
It is known that there is quite an intensive social and cultural life in the clubs: the
participants see holidays in together (Christmas, New Year, Easter); celebrated name-days
and birthdays; they regularly go together to public houses where dancing is possible; organize trips in the country (excursions, hikes, summer dance camp-schools, etc.).
30
31
A participant in DC “Tantsi s Venko (Dancing with Venko), Bistritsa quarter, Sofia.
Rositsa Stoitsova, leader of DC “Rositsa”, Velingrad, organizer of the Festival “Horo pri izvora” (Horo at
the spring).
32
33
Mariana Stefanova, leader of the Folklore Club “Ludi-mladi” (Crazy-Young), Polski Trambesh.
^ Anelia Hadzhieva, member of DC “Balgarsko Horo (Bulgarian Horo), Sofia.
191
Communication in the social network Facebook is also active. The members of the club
network are informed by e-mail about upcoming club events that are published on the website, in the specialized groups and websites. The aim is everyone to be informed about the
time and place of an event and to manage to visit it, to feel quite at ease, to participate in the
party. The dancers are often meeting in the real environment outside the Internet and they
interact with each other – they get to know one another, discuss ideas, projects and initiatives announced or just make them happen.
A club is existing owning to its social life according to most of the respondents, members
of the folk dance clubs. Lilia Georgieva of DC “Balgarsko Horo”, Sofia says:
“We have an extremely rich social life – several times a year we are travelling outside Sofia to
participate in festivals and concerts, and we combine these trips with camping, sightseeing, spa
treatments and any other kind of amusement. However, the most interesting and already annual
event, is the dance workshop where we study new horo dances, exercise lessons of theory and folk
dance practice, we play dance sketches and improvise other type of dances (another dance styles
from different countries). All this is a great team building and contributes a lot to the team spirit
and unity of the group.”
The club is second home to some of the participants: “In our club we live very actively, we
have a common life. I feel the club as my second family and I love the people in it”. 34 The respondents are unanimous about the social life of the club – they define its role as the key one: it
helps the dancers to get to know each other and gain a sense of unity and belonging to a community,
the emotions are indescribable, it makes us more united and brings us out of our daily grind.
The massive expansion of the club dance form and the desire for communication and
sharing arose the need to fix a place where people could listen to their favourite folk horo
Photo 5. Dance workshop of DC “Balgarsko Horo” (Bulgarian Horo), Sofia. Photo: Evgenia Grancharova
34
Anelia Hadzhieva, member of DC “Balgarsko Horo” (Bulgarian Horo), Sofia.
192
Evgenia Grancharova
music, to dance without limitation, to meet kindred souls at any time of the clock round. In
2011 a kind of a horo dance home was established – “Horoteka Klub na Horoto” (Horo
Dance Club Horotheque – a public house with music, cosy and suitable for dancing). The
founders of the first folk discotheque in Bulgaria determine its origin as materialization of
the website horo.bg. Architect Stefan Dobrev, who is not a member of a dance club, has visited the horotheque spontaneously and being greatly impressed by what he saw and experienced there, he enthusiastically posted the following at the Internet:
“I have wandered at all kind of discotheques, piano bars, pop-folk clubs, as well as traditional
restaurants with folk music, but such a place I have never seen. In these times hard for all of us,
when many night clubs close due to lack of visitors, some enthusiastic amateurs have opened a
horo dance club and turned it instantly into a success! This is unbelievable. To me, “Klub na
Horoto” (Horo Dance Club) is the bright social phenomenon of 2011.”35
Instead of a Conclusion
Folk dances are enjoying an upsurge and unparalleled interest from the Bulgarians during the past years – the revival of the Bulgarian tradition. Bringing the folk dance
back to life is of great scientific and humane value for the contemporary culture. More and
more Bulgarians turn to their native folk traditions in search of their own true identity:
“This is a way not to be assimilated by the increasingly globalizing world, but to stay unique
and different – something that will attract even deeper interest to Bulgaria and the
Bulgarian”.36 Undoubtedly folk dance clubs are a striking phenomenon of contemporary
Bulgarian urban culture. This allows us to talk about a Bulgarian Revival.
Everyone – all heads, participants and spectators – believe that this form of dance is having fine prospects because “anyone who has once touched folk magic, that very magic which touches the senses – it remains forever in his heart”. In the social and cultural space the folk dance
clubs are qualified as pioneers and true Bulgarian Revival leaders, inspiring new life to the
Bulgarian folklore, by shaking the sterile ostentation off and turning it into a mass national
movement.
Bibliography
Dobrev Stefan (2011), Sotsialno yavlenie i svetal lach na 2011. Vazrazhdane na balgarskite traditsii v “Klub na horoto” [Social Phenomenon and a Ray of Light of 2011. Revival of Bulgarian
Tradition in “Club of the Horo Dance”], www.horo.bg/ last accessed 17 December 2012 (in
Bulgarian).
Ivanova-Nayberg Daniela (2011): Sastavat za narodni tantsi kato kulturno yavlenie v Bulgaria
[The Folk Dance Ensemble as a Cultural Phenomenon in Bulgaria], Sofia: „Mars 09” EOOD
(in Bulgarian).
Peycheva Lozanka (2008), Mezhdu seloto i vselenata: starata folklorna muzika ot Bulgaria v
novite vremena [Between the Village and the Universe: the Old Folk Music from Bulgaria in
Recent Times], Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Marin Drinov” (in Bulgarian).
Santova Mila & Nenova Stella (2006), Balgarskoto chitalishte [The Bulgarian Community
Center (Chitalishte)], „Balgarski folklor” 1–2, pp. 58–64 (in Bulgarian).
Shtarbanova Anna (2006), Folklorniyat tants v promenyashtia se kontekst [The Folk Dance in
the Changing Context], Habilitation, Sofia (in Bulgarian).
35
36
www.horo.bg/ last accessed 22 March 2012 (in Bulgarian).
Borislav Slavov, Executive Director of the website for Bulgarian folklore horo.bg.
193
Zhivkov Todor Iv. (1977): Folklor i hudozhestvena samodeynost [Folklore and Amateur Art],
“Balgarski folklor” 3-4, pp. 3-13 (in Bulgarian).
Zhivkov Todor Iv. (1981): Folklor i savremennost [Folklore and the Present], Sofia: Nauka i
izkustvo (in Bulgarian).
Web Sites
www.horo.bg/last accessed 11 December 2012 (in Bulgarian).
www.folklorika.com/ last accessed 3 March 2012 (in Bulgarian).
www.liragroup.eu/ last accessed 3 March 2011 (in Bulgarian).
johoho.ovo.bg/index/blgarski_narodni_tantsi/0-57/ last accessed 17 March 2012 (in
Bulgarian).
horoteka.bg/about.php/last accessed 17 December 2012 (in Bulgarian).
www.chanove.com/ last accessed 11 December 2012 (in Bulgarian).
www.bulgarian-folklore.com/ last accessed 3 March 2011 (in Bulgarian).
www.bghora.com/ last accessed 17 December 2012 (in Bulgarian).
www.gaitani.com/za-gaitani/ last accessed 11 December 2012 (in Bulgarian).
www.derida-dance.com/.../narodni-tantzi-nova-gru.../ last accessed 17 March 2012 (in
Bulgarian).
sportuvai.bg/Klub-po-balgarski-narodni-tantsi/ last accessed 22 December 2012 (in Bulgarian).
horeografia.start.bg/last accessed 3 March 2011 (in Bulgarian).
www.balkanfolk.com/bg/ last accessed 3 March 2011 (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: Dr Evgenia Grancharova is an ethnochoreologist, Senior Assistant
Professor at the Department “Ethnomusicology and Ethnochoreology” of the Institute
of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at Bulgarian Academy
of Sciences.
194
Evgenia Grancharova
Vol. 2/2013
p. 195–210
Angelina Ilieva
The Social World of Bulgarian Larp Players
Abstract: This article is an anthropological study of a cultural phenomenon that is new for Bulgaria: roleplaying games in which the actions of characters are enacted live. The article traces the emergence,
spread and evolution of larps, before focusing on the social world of players and its defining characteristic:
larp clans. Players are presented in both their social (larp clubs) and fictional (larp clans) structures. The
analysis focuses on the complex interrelations between clan characters and roles, and (perceived as real)
social roles and identities.
Keywords: live action role-playing games, micro-cultures, imagination
Introduction
A live action role-playing game, or larp1, is a form of role-playing game in which
players act out their characters’ actions in a physical space chosen or set to match the game
world setting as closely as possible. It has usually been included in a system of role-playing
games along with other forms of live (e.g. table-top) and digital games by RPG scholars (see
Hitchens & Drachen 2008; Tresca 2011), but it has also been connected to non-game cultural
phenomena such as historical reenactments, psychodrama, theme parties and festivals, improvisational theatre and experimental art (Tychsen et al. 2006; Morton 2007). Larp is considered to be the most peculiar, radical and even dangerous form of role-playing (Waldron
2005), and at the same time an activity inherent to humans – forming part of the human
experience from “any childhood game involving imagination and a role” to “shamans acting out mythological tales” (Tresca 2011: 181). A potential important feature of larp is its
ability to model various traditional social and cultural practices using the abstract idea of
role-playing and to create distinctive larp subcultures around the world.
Larp developed under the inspiration of table-top fantasy role-playing games, such as
Dungeons and Dragons, and historical reenactments, more or less simultaneously in the
United States and Northern Europe (UK and Scandinavia) during the early 1980s.
“Today, LARPing is a widespread hobby, especially within the United States and Europe, and
caters to at least 100,000 players worldwide. Games range in size from a handful to more than
4,000 players at the annual event of the Lorien Trust LARP organization in England. Exclusively,
the large LARPs with hundreds or more players are set in fantasy/medieval world settings, which
is the historic genre for LARPs.” (Tychsen et al. 2006: 258).
1
I prefer the usage of ‘larp’ as a noun, not as an acronym (L.A.R.P.), as accepted in Nordic larp theory.
196
Angelina Ilieva
In Eastern Europe, larps began mostly as a consequence of the first translations of J.R.R.
Tolkien’s novels and the subsequent evolution of the Tolkien movement in the post-socialist
countries in the early 1990s. Common features of those formative years of East European
larp cultures appear to be: exclusive use of Tolkien’s Middle-earth as a source of plots and
characters; absolute prevalence of games in the open, outside the cities, in the forests; and
emphasis on medieval or fantasy-like strong dual-sided conflicts and battles (see e.g. Kann
& Rozhkov 2010; Kovacova 2010). Bulgarian larp culture, perhaps among the youngest in
Eastern Europe, is no exception in this respect.
In Bulgaria, larps were introduced by a group of fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, united
into two club cores: the Bulgarian Bard Guild and Armenelos Online Tolkien University. The
first larp took place in August 2004 in the Rhodope Mountains. Initially, all games were set
in the open, in wild places. They had a simple system of rules and a markedly military character: participants would split into two teams (Mordor vs. Gondor); each team would carry
a standard and ten small flags and set up its base camp in the forest; the goal would be to
attack the enemy camp and capture the flags. The rules, written or verbally agreed upon at
the start of the game session, concerned mostly battles: there were rules for scoring hits and
taking damage as well as safety rules.
The phenomenon spread most actively from 2005 to 2007, chiefly via the communication
networks of science fiction and fantasy fan clubs: club meetings and celebrations, websites
and online forums, gaming ‘science fiction and fantasy conventions. At present, there are
groups of active larpers in the largest Bulgarian cities. The major larps, some of which are
called ‘national’, bring together over 100 participants each and last for two or three days. The
increasing number of participants has led to improvements in the role-playing combat rules,
with the introduction of more complicated goals and tasks (‘quests’), spell use rules, healing
rules, rules to concoct and apply potions, and diversification of the characters and concepts
used in describing the setting. Besides larps in the wild, there have emerged also urban or
indoor larps. Fantasy still prevails as the source of choice for setting up game worlds, but
other popular sources are science fiction (such as the series of Stalker larps based on the Strugatsky Brothers’ works, as well as steampunk larps), horror (‘vampire larps’), murder mystery and Western cinema genres, or certain periods from medieval Bulgarian history.
According to the established traditions, Bulgarian larps are entirely based on improvisation and free interaction among players. The initial setting is created by the organizing team
and seldom contains scripted elements: usually, it provides just a broad description and the
background of the game world. Players are free to choose and create their own characters,
in accordance with the description of the setting; the actual evolution of the roles happens
ad lib in the course of the game itself, as part of direct interaction between the participants.
Bulgarian larp culture has two main peculiarities: the prevalent competitive approach
and the emergence of larp clans. Players have come to expect that each larp will provide
them with a goal to pursue, competing against the others. There exists a popular distinction
between combat larps and social larps, which, however, denotes not different approaches, but
different means to accomplish the main goal and to win: either by using mostly combat action or by relying chiefly on social skills. Large larps always involve various trials based on
rivalry: fighting tournaments and demonstrations of martial skills, puzzles and logical challenges, public debates, diplomacy, and poetry contests. This dominant competitive approach
is directly related to the tendency toward team play and to the emergence of long-lasting
alliances of players, also known as clans. The largest, or ‘national’, larps in Bulgaria are usually organized as clan larps, i.e. clan tournaments.
My task here is to present some of the existing Bulgarian larp clans and the principles of
their emergence as micro-cultures, as witnessed and documented during my field work
among larpers from 2008 to 2010. I will describe the typical processes of creation, evolution
197
and disintegration of clans and illustrate them by focusing on five of the more than fifteen
clans that existed during the period in question. My choice to focus on the clans of Dulo, the
Armenelos Guards, Uruk, Warriors of the Seven Hills and Heralds of Chaos stems from the
observation made that the principles of their evolution and functioning, despite some specific elements, do not appear to be unique but representative models. Next, I will analyze
the relationships between social identities and roles that are, respectively, fictional or (perceived as) real. In the conclusion, I will examine imagination as a social practice in the contemporary world.
Bulgarian larp players: clubs and clans
A clan is a structure combining social, meta-gaming and fictional aspects; furthermore, the three aspects intersect, which makes their precise separation a difficult, sometimes
impossible task, both for the participants and for an analytical observer. In order to make the
following presentation clearer, I use three distinct terms, with the caveat that the distinction
is entirely a matter of personal perspective. By club, I denote the primary social group with
its characteristic informal relations; by team, I denote a group of participants in a larp united
by a common goal and strategy in the game; by clan, I denote the fictional make-up and
ideology of the group and the relationships between the roles it has chosen.
Clans frequently emerge and take shape between actual game sessions, behind the
scenes, during informal communication among members of various groups. Diachronically,
it is hard to determine which was the cause and which the effect: whether the competitive
gaming approach led to the emergence of larp clans, or whether, conversely, players’ disposition toward grouping into fictional structures resulted in the spirit of ongoing rivalry. At
present, the two are strongly related and determine the overall character of larp games in
Bulgaria. New players view belonging to no clan as a serious problem and acceptance into
a clan as a genuine act of socialization into the community. As a form of organization, clans
have existed since the very beginning of Bulgarian larps, and many people take them for
granted, never questioning the purpose or necessity of their existence.
Players’ ideas of what constitutes a clan are not homogeneous. Some players regard a
clan as a unifying ideology, common views that bring the members together, a characteristic
appearance and conduct, specific in-jokes. For others, a clan is a stable community of dedicated players with a similar worldview, an environment for communication, discussion and
mutual assistance. The former definition emphasizes role-playing ideology, the latter – the
primacy of a social group; they view the clan, respectively, as a mostly representative or a
mostly utilitarian form of connectedness. The two perceptions do not contradict each other,
yet they express two major approaches to creating clans: 1) the initial setup of a role-playing
ideology by one or two players, which eventually attracts and unites a team; or 2) a social
group of friends and like-minded people, who create their own game structure by jointly
choosing and developing an imaginary notion of who they are. Like any interactive game,
clan games take place within the dynamics of ideas, expectations, images and discourses.
Binding to the ethno-historical: Clan Dulo
The term clan as well as the main organizational principles were introduced and
established by the founders of the first Bulgarian clan – Clan Dulo2. It is worth noting that
According to historians, Dulo was the clan name of the first dynasty which ruled over Bulgaria in the 7th
and 8th centuries.
2
198
Angelina Ilieva
the emergence of Clan Dulo took place at the same time as the evolution of larp games in
Bulgaria. Clan Dulo’s self-definition as a ‘military club’3 and the initial constitution of larp as
a distinctly military game are closely related. The oldest club members came in roughly
equal measure from the Bulgarian Bard Guild, gathering fans of fantasy literature and related rock music, and from Bagatur – a school for martial arts, horsemanship and bushcraft,
professing a specific ‘proto-Bulgarian’ ideology and spirituality. The role-playing ideology
of Clan Dulo combines a fantasy worldview with elements of Bulgarian history and mythology; it borrows typical notions, characters and plots of fantasy and adapts them or simply
translates them into the Bulgarian language, naming them after Bulgarian mythological and
folklore creatures (e.g., elves are called samodivas, orcs – karakondzhuls, etc.) or concepts from
early Bulgarian history (e.g,, magicians are called kolobars, the name for pagan proto-Bulgarian priests).
Clan Dulo is a hierarchical structure organized around the number seven. For their clan
symbol, Dulo chose the seven-beam Rosette from Pliska4, with each beam of the rosette corresponding to an abstract element in the clan ideology and structure: Fire, Water, Wind,
Earth, Light, Darkness and Shadow. The seven elements govern the clan ‘families’, led by
boils. Each boil can be in charge of seven batirs, and each batir can be in charge of seven chigots5. The whole clan is led by the ichirgu-boil, the rosette center, who is annually elected by
the Council of Boils. Applicants for the clan are called oglans (squires) and must prove themselves by passing trials before they can be accepted as full members. Each ‘family’ has specific duties within the clan, in accordance with its element. The warriors of the Fire element
are the clan’s frontal combat force, and in ‘times of peace’, they are responsible for combat
training and manufacture of weapons or other fighting props. Water is seen as ‘an element
of change and boundlessness’; therefore, warriors governed by it are expected to ‘wash
away’ quarrels and enmities, to function as conciliators and arbiters. Warriors of Wind serve
as messengers and heralds, negotiators and traders, as well as chroniclers. Earth warriors
take care of the clan’s well-being, provisions, the camp; they are also healers who help the
wounded in battle. Light warriors are meant to inspire the others and guide them with their
wisdom. Shadow warriors guard the ichirgu-boil and engage in espionage and sabotage.
Darkness warriors hunt demonic creatures.
In order to be accepted as a full member of the clan, each squire must ‘perform a feat and
pass trials worthy of recognition’. Acceptance in the clan according to one’s merits reinforces
personal motivation and loyalty among group members; at the same time, it presents belonging to the clan as a desirable goal for all larp players, which can, however, be attained
only by the few elect. Some of Clan Dulo’s members have an extensive playing experience.
Before being accepted, newcomers ‘must be continuously tested, provoked and rejected so
as to ascertain how dedicated and steadfast they are’. In addition, they are carefully selected
from new players who have demonstrated notable skills or potential. The traits that Clan
Dulo values highly correspond to the personal qualities that most larpers regard as positive:
a dedicated attitude to the game, warrior skills, a competitive spirit and aspiration for victory. The emergence and evolution of the clan in parallel with the evolution of the game itself have fostered a state of interdependence: the playing style, the main principles and rules
as well as the most desirable qualities of a player were set up by the founders of Clan Dulo;
simultaneously, the evolution of the clan as a team and as a role-playing conduct style has
All the phrases in quotation marks have been cited from Clan Dulo’s website: http://clan-dulo.blogspot.
com/ (last accеssed 28.03.2013).
4
A bronze artifact discovered in the old capital of Bulgaria Pliska in 1961 and dated back to the 7th-9th century.
5
All of these terms belong to proto-Bulgarian military and state nomenclature.
3
199
Photo 1. The Council of Clan Dulo, 31 August 2010. Courtesy of Petya Spasova
incorporated the specifics of the game. Coupled with the unique fictional make-up of the
group, Clan Dulo has gained a reputation of being the best, those who always win in a contest. This image of winners derives to a large extent from a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’, from
refusing to accept any loss, because it cannot be reconciled with the clan’s (emphatically
military, romantic, glorifying) ideology and rhetorics. Out of a total of five clan larps that
took place between August 2008 and August 2010, the team of Clan Dulo formally won only
one, yet they left all of them as winners, owing to alliances, skillfully managed conflicts,
agreements or even the general impression of the public about their performance. The manifest, frequently proclaimed desire of newer clans to prove themselves in a direct clash and
victory against Clan Dulo has nourished the club’s cohesion and motivation while continuously reinforcing their image as the best group player.
Binding to a fictional universe: the Armenelos Guards and Clan Uruk
The Armenelos Guards and Uruk are larp clans founded by groups of fans of
J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, brought together by Armenelos Online Tolkien University, which
was active from 2005 to 2008. The conflict between ‘good’ and ‘evil’, and their champions in
Tolkien’s oeuvre, were reenacted in the early larps organized by enthusiasts from the virtual
university; this directly influenced the participants’ choice of characters: they belonged to
either the ‘good’ or ‘evil’ races of Tolkien’s. The choice of a character and a side in the conflict
led to the creation of larp teams and, later on, to the development of their stable fictional
image, that is, to the establishment of clans which were aligned unambiguously in conformity with Tolkien’s world: the clan of the ‘good’ Numenoreans (the Armenelos Guards), and
the clan of the ‘evil’ orcs (Clan Uruk).
The official announcement of the Armenelos Guards took place in the beginning of
2006, when the group appeared in uniforms and in a military formation at the grand opening of the Armenelos academic year. A prerequisite for joining the Guards was being a stu-
200
Angelina Ilieva
dent of Armenelos University; the Guards were envisioned as a substructure of the university, and the value they upheld the most was knowledge. Their members were unified by their
shared role-playing identification with the positive characters in Tolkien and a shared ethical code, as well as by the mission of Armenelos University, the unique fan initiative for
studying and promoting Tolkien and his works.
The establishment and maintenance of the positive image of the Guards was not merely
a choice but a mission in itself: according to their charter, the Guards were to serve educational, promotional and representative functions. These ambitious goals laid the groundwork for the development of complex inter-personal relationships and procedures, which
eventually turned out to be too burdensome for the fragile structure of an informal group.
Unlike Clan Dulo, the Guards were a democratic alliance of equal guardsmen led by a captain. All decisions concerning the Guards’ development and actions were taken by the general assembly after debates and voting; it was only during larps that the Captain had the
right to take one-person decisions about her or his team. During larps, Guardsmen wore
uniforms, with their coat of arms embroidered on them. This consisted of four images representing the fictional ideology of the group: the White Tree of Gondor, the symbol of the
royal power on the island of Numenor; an eagle’s head, the symbol of the power of Valar, the
supreme deities in Middle-earth, and a statement that Guardsmen were descendants of
those Numenoreans who remained loyal to the Valar after the sinking of Numenor; two
crossed arrows, the symbol of a warrior; and a ship, the symbol of Armenelos University.
The role-playing identification with Tolkien’s characters showed both in the semiotic structure of the coat of arms and in the players’ conduct during larp sessions: participants strove
to maintain their image of positive characters by serving all that was ‘pure, light and sacred’,
protecting good, justice and honour.
After Armenelos University stopped functioning, some members of the Guards left, and
in 2009 the Armenelos Guards announced their disbandment as a clan. They were suc-
Photo 2. Members of the Armenelos Guards, 18 October 2008. Photo by Angelina Ilieva
201
ceeded by the Order of the Eight, an alliance of those Guardsmen who were determined to
keep and uphold its mission and ideals to the very end. However, the succession took place
mostly at the club level: the group has been actively organized larps, several times a year,
contributing its own efforts and funds, but has rarely participated in them as a team and
even more rarely proclaimed a clan ideology. The principle of organization has thus
changed radically, from the unifying focus of ideology to the social bonds of a circle of
friends. The weakening of the clan connectedness and the shift toward a club community
have dramatically transformed the group’s behaviour from pursuing goals in the game to
preserving and developing the game itself. For ex-Guardsmen, fostering larps has become a
cause in itself.
Common ideas and the upholding of particular principles or convictions do not suffice
per se to provide strong inter-personal bonds in an informal group such as a larp club. Such
bonds require establishment of amicable relationships in a natural everyday environment
– and that is the leading principle of another clan of Tolkien’s fans, Clan Uruk. The clan is
named after the word Tolkien’s orcs use to denominate themselves: ‘uruk’ translates as ‘orc’
in the Black Speech used by evil creatures in Middle-earth. Clan members name their characters by borrowing from the Black Speech (for instance Gash, ‘fire’) or from characters in
The Lord of the Rings (e.g. Shagrath, Gorbag, Ugluk). Players deliberately make their appearance ugly, deformed, terrifying. However, their likeness as Tolkien’s creatures ends here.
During larps, Uruk members talk and behave in an emphatically provocative manner, aiming to evoke mostly laughter.
Clan Uruk’s aggression during a larp session is that of jokes and ridicule, invariably involving self-irony. The ‘depravity’ demonstrated by the group consists of constantly defying
accepted norms of conduct, using obscenities, parodying genre clichés. Their image is constructed through open proclamation of immorality and foolishness, or negatively, through
rejection of virtues:
Photo 3. Members of Clan Uruk holding the clan standard, 9 August 2009. Courtesy of Nikola Balimezov
202
Angelina Ilieva
“You are a skillful, famed fighter, having waded through a string of victorious battles?
You are deeply aware of the meaning of honour and dignity, your word is law, and your leadership undeniable?
You can fence, play a musical instrument and recite poetry, all at the same time?
You are ambitious and demand that others treat you with the respect you deserve?
Well, SCREW YOU. We want orcs!”6
Clan Uruk’s game conduct distinguishes clearly between permissible and impermissible
provocations. Crude jokes, inane talking or behaviour and sexual innuendo are permissible
as long as they are part of the chosen roles. However, breaking the larp rules is impermissible, as players believe that it would compromise and threaten the most valued aspect of
the game: entertainment. In the context of romanticism and heroics, characteristic of fantasy,
the choice to assume the role of the hideous, evil and ignorant character presupposes a
higher level of self-reflection and the ability to make fun, not only of others, but also of oneself. Being good and being evil are equally acceptable roles in a larp; the choice between
them is ethically neutral. What matters is personal choice, individual disposition and preference. Uruk’s role-playing ideology and rhetoric constitutes a carnival reversal of the values
and notions of ‘high’ fantasy literature; its motivation is best summed up by the popular
larp saying, ‘Good is goods!’. Within the framework of the black-and-white opposition between good and evil, which characterizes much of fantasy, evil turns out to be the champion
of the ideology espousing rebellion against the established rule.
Binding to the local: The Kingdom of Seven Hills
The Kingdom of Seven Hills is a fictional world that brings into a common imagined space players who live chiefly in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, known as the City of
Seven Hills. The kingdom is made of three separate larp clans: Warriors of the Seven Hills,
Heralds of Chaos, and The Dark Guards. It expresses its members’ sense of local identity:
they have chosen to declare themselves a ‘kingdom’, which implies their connection to a
particular territory, having their own space.
The club was established with the active involvement of a member of the local Tolkien
movement, Biology teacher Petar Gyudzhenov, who was appointed the clan leader, wearing
the title of ‘King Beren Erchamion’. The group, initially consisting mostly of high school
students of P. Gyudzhenov, quickly grew and had its first team participation in the Spring
2008 national larp, calling itself Warriors of the Seven Hills. The initial attempt to organize
the clan members into various brigades according to military rules, depending on the weapons of choice, with each brigade commanded by a captain, soon gave way to a tendency to
form subgroups based on the participants’ preferred fictional roles and game strategies.
There emerged individual clans and factions with their own independent, and sometimes
competing, teams. The first such clan, Heralds of Chaos, gathered players whose common
ideology rejected hierarchy and who chose their characters to be ‘free citizens and craftsmen’, counting on cunning and ingenuity for the achievement of their purposes. The Dark
Guards are a strike force of assassins, ‘dark elves’, relying on surprising and swift combat
action. Besides the above clans, a few more subgroups have been created among the Warriors of the Seven Hills, inspired by their leader Petar Gyudzhenov. Their purpose is to diversify and enrich the role-playing conduct during a larp session. What brings all of them together is their imagined connection to a common territory denoted as the Kingdom of Seven
Hills. Since these clans are younger, their desire for individuality and differentiation from
Cited from the website of Bulgarian Larp Players: http://larp-bg.org/forum/index.php?topic=2066.0/ last
accеssed 28 March 2013.
6
203
Photo 4. Group photo of Heralds of Chaos, 1 August 2010. Courtesy of Radoslav Radev
already existing clans is particularly strong; they reject the idea of order, of hierarchic structure and of following common models. Their leading trend is the right of free choice and of
expressing one’s own will.
This trend has crystallized into a clan ideology for the Heralds of Chaos. The philosophy of ‘chaos’ is that of anarchism, founded upon the ‘belief that freedom is the sublime
human value’. Freedom is regarded as both a right and a duty, and anarchy as an environment where individual abilities and personal potential can thrive best (‘Chaos is the sea
where the skilfully steered ships of individualities can reach the farthest horizons, owing to
their boldness but also to mutual respect and help’7). Heralds’ role-playing conduct is ideologically subjected to the notions of freedom, right of choice and mutual respect, and their
game strategy leans toward social interaction, intrigues and machination. The philosophy of
anarchism has attracted mainly the older Plovdiv larpers, uniting them into the Heralds of
Chaos clan. The others—‘the king and his warriors’—interact among themselves mostly according to their social roles and statuses.
The considerable age difference and the existing social relations—a teacher and his students—have been transferred both to the fictional worlds of larps in Plovdiv and to the
system of clan characters and roles in the Kingdom of Seven Hills. They involve entrusting
the leader with role-playing as well as organizational duties, seeking his approval and counsel, placing him in the center of both the fictional and the real world—which effectively
amounts to reenacting the work environment characteristic of his profession. In ‘translating’
the social roles into clan ones, formal relations transform into informal ones, yet they retain
status distance: the ‘king’ is surrounded by ‘children and grandchildren’, ‘princes and prin-
Cited from the website of Heralds of Chaos: http://www.chaosbg.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2/ last
accеssed 28 March 2013.
7
204
Angelina Ilieva
Photo 5. The sovereign of the Kingdom of the Seven Hills dubs a knight, 20 September 2008. Courtesy of Asen
Iiliev
cesses’, ‘counts and lords’. The model of distributing clan roles according to age and social
status has solidified and has been accepted as ‘natural’. The trend is for clan aristocratic titles
to be ‘conferred’ on older and more experienced members, committing them, however, to
mostly club responsibilities, and new members of the group often assume the roles of sons
or daughters of already existing ‘counts’ and ‘lords’.
Identities and roles
According to theorists of social constructionism, both identities and roles are socially
determined, imagined and dynamic. Stuart Hall claims that identities are constituted within, not outside, representation, that they are constructed within, not outside, discourse, and
through, not outside, difference.
“They arise from the narrativization of the self, but the necessarily fictional nature of this process
in no way undermines its discursive, material or political effectivity, even if the belongingness,
the ‘suturing into the story’ through which identities arise is, partly, in the imaginary (as well as
the symbolic) and therefore, always, partly constructed in fantasy, or at least within a fantasmatic
field” (Hall 1996: 4).
The dynamic aspect of identity concerns its presentation, not so much as being, but as an
uninterrupted process of becoming: an identification that takes place and changes its content
all the time. Role itself, having originally emerged as a dramaturgic term (drama, Hellenic:
‘action’), inherently contains the idea of dynamics, of conduct and interactions. In his seminal
work The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956), Erving Goffman defines social role as the
enactment of rights and duties attached to a given status in front of an audience of observers
or co-participants. He also defines the ‘performance’ of a role as ‘all the activity of a given
205
participant on a given occasion which serves to influence in any way any of the other participants’ (p. 8). At the same time, identity is experienced as totality; it is a sense of selfsameness and continuity in time, provided by the group’s background or the individual’s
personal memories (as per Erikson 1968). Roles, on the other hand, are often perceived as
something external and transient; we take on a role, switch between various roles, like skins
that an actor can put on and then cast away: “A role, then, may be defined as a typified response to typified expectations. […] The individual actors, therefore, need but slip into the
roles already assigned to them before the curtain goes up” (Berger 1963: 112). Identity
means constituting oneself in a process of identification and differentiation with respect to
others; whereas roles determine our relations with others. Every role in society has a certain identity attached to it:
“The person is perceived as a repertoire of roles, each one properly equipped with a certain identity. The range of an individual person can be measured by the number of roles he is capable of
playing. The person’s biography now appears to us as an uninterrupted sequence of stage performances, played to different audiences, sometimes involving drastic changes of costume, always demanding that the actor be what he is playing” (ibid.: 123).
At the abstract level of theory, it seems easy to distinguish the fictional identities and
roles chosen or invented by players and performed during a larp, from the social identities
and roles assumed by them, or attributed to them, in everyday life. The task appears simple
if we choose to trust common sense and explanations provided by the players themselves:
in the former case, we put on a show, we pretend, and all of this is make-believe; in the latter,
we are ourselves. Bulgarian larpers insist that in-game and off-game events, roles and relations should not get mixed. However, to what extent is such a division genuine, and
how much of it is only a defensive rhetoric? The following analysis aims to answer this
question.
The transfer of concepts from dramaturgy and classical theater to role-playing games
poses the risk of numerous misunderstandings, including the idea that a character precedes
a role, both logically and chronologically, i.e. that a role is originally a text and only then its
‘reading’8. In Bulgarian larps, players usually create their character and role simultaneously,
and the ad lib development of the two is much more socially determined than stemming
from a preliminary text or intent. The logic here is the opposite of theatre: a character-text
comes after a role-performance; it becomes complete only during the narrative (re)construction
of the action, which usually takes place after the end of the larp session. During the game
itself, the role is simultaneously ‘written’ and ‘read’ within the tension of two interrelated
but opposing tendencies: players become what they play and play what they are. The former
tendency is fictional in nature, insofar as it seeks to create the illusion of transforming oneself
into another; the latter aims to destroy this illusion and keep the performance within the field
of social interactions, with their norms and sanctions. Together, the two determine the role,
with the former shaping its fictional, or clan, aspects, and the latter shaping its social, or club,
aspects.
Given the tension defining clan roles, neither individual nor group identities can be positioned entirely within one field; they are simultaneously fictional and socially attributed,
they constitute dynamics between what the person or group imagine themselves to be and what
they are. Interestingly, this is a conscious process of deliberately sought-for and chosen identifications. Constructing a group (clan) identity is perceived as a game and therefore as free:
The etymology of ‘role’ takes us back to ancient Greek and Roman theatre, where the word signified the
roll of parchment on which an actor’s part was written (see Pavis 1998).
8
206
Angelina Ilieva
a free choice within the field of imagination. Besides freedom, however, a game presupposes rules, and the regulating mechanism here are systems of inter-group and intra-group
control, of actions of social recognition. Perceiving clan identities as a game element does not
deprive them of their potential for totalization, nor does it decrease their ability to consolidate or motivate confrontation. Clan game is not about playing with identities; it is a play of
identities.
Identity is ‘a culture privatized by a person or group’, a proclaimed ‘ownership over a
certain set of cultural qualities’ (Dichev 2002). In this particular instance, the main source are
popular texts, whose borrowing, rearranging and interpreting follows specific narrative, pictorial and symbolic strategies for constructing identities. The starting point, basis and framework of this construction is the personal or group clan name.
A name does not merely signify: it creates the essence; neither clans, nor clan characters
can exist without a name, because they are the name. Each new clan first announces its name
and offers it for public sanction: whether the other players will welcome it or contest it. The
‘clan history’, which is written and published online, aims to interpret and legitimize the
clan name. Once chosen, the name sets the direction and content of all subsequent choices
of cultural qualities; it becomes a meta-linguistic dominant. For instance, choosing the name
‘Dulo’, so as to signify what is ours (e.g. the Bulgarian ethnic history and mythology) and
distinguish it from what is alien (the fantasy genre), entails the (alleged) proto-Bulgarian
state and military terminology, which serves as a metalanguage: boils, batirs and chigots denote not merely ranks, but the Clan Dulo ranks. Choosing proto-Bulgarian names appearing
in historical texts as the names of clan characters (Bayan, Kosara, Malamir) designates players as members of Clan Dulo. The narrative strategy for constructing the group deliberately
mimics the stylistic features of historical novels (the ‘annals’ of Clan Dulo are a conscious
imitation of the Bulgarian writer Anton Donchev); while the pictorial strategy, the choice of
outfits, hairstyles, objects and organization of the clan role-playing space, draws from the
images and sets of historical cinema.
The clan name also determines the reception of the group by other larp groups, becoming a generalizing stereotype: Clan Uruk are ‘the orcs’; Warriors of the Seven Hills are ‘the
Plovdiv folks’, Clan Bdin9 are ‘the Vidin folks’; the Pack Clan are always called ‘the mercenaries’, even though they always participate as a separate team in larps. A character’s personal clan name is subjected to the metalanguage established by the group name and is invariably sanctioned by acceptance or rejection. After leaving one clan and joining another,
the player whose character is known as ‘Lieutenant Helen’ in the Armenelos Guards may be
accepted by the Heralds of Chaos as ‘Herald Helen’, and the change of clan may lead only
to a change of role; in this case, the new and the old role can be combined into a common
biography, i.e. into the structure of a single identity. However, ‘Baradj the Mage’ must transform into ‘Savrog the Kolobar’ before he can join Clan Dulo: by changing his clan, the player
also changes the name of his character, and changing the name entails changing the
identity.
Once established, clan identities cannot survive without being reinforced by gestures of
recognition, which leads to the accumulation of differentiating qualities, i.e. totalization processes. When participating in a clan larp, a clan chooses its banner and coat of arms (construction through symbols); states goals and aspirations, names ‘friends’ and ‘foes’, motivates its
participation in the game (construction through narrative); devises a characteristic appearance – uniforms or common props, sets (tents and a camp), common physical features (e.g.
teeth and masks, black mascara for the ‘orcs’ of Clan Uruk or pointy ears for the ‘elves’ of
9
Bdin was the medieval name of the Bulgarian town of Vidin.
207
Clan Noldor) (construction through images). Symbols and images always take precedence
for the ease with which they can be borrowed and their ability to code identifications: to
show rather than tell.
The identity portrayed by images or signified by symbols is in most cases perceived as
complete and sufficient. Figures of identity are meant, first and foremost, for the others; they
are the facade of the construct, a display. Narrative strategies are employed when there is an
external pressure, when an identity has been challenged and must be fixed in history, ‘pieced
together with a story’. Then the clan needs to imagine itself in time. The narrative, the ‘clan
history’, is deemed significant mostly by its authors; it is a tool of self-legitimization. Paradoxically, an intentionally invented history of a deliberately imagined community cannot serve
its functions if it is entirely fictional: the ‘annals’ of all clans are always bound to real events
from larp sessions; they are allowed to be a free ‘literary’ interpretation of these events, but
can never be a ‘cock-and-bull story’, because the group requires its collective memory. Clan
annals cannot be pure fiction: they must relate to events that the group has experienced together, contain at least a speck of ‘real truth’, in order to serve their purpose of bonding real
(social) personalities.
So far we have examined clan identities mostly as a static construct. To reveal the dynamic aspect, i.e. to see identity as becoming, we have to see how roles create identities. The
choices of identity and role are parallel, insofar as ‘I want to be like’ presupposes ‘I want to
act like’ (as per Dichev 2002). In Clan Uruk, for instance, the choice of ‘race’ determines both
a specific appearance and a characteristic behaviour. The choice of sobriquets (e.g, Natan the
Lion, Shegor the Bull, Bayan the Bear – in Clan Dulo) is an attempt at predicative expression
of personal traits related to a particular type of conduct. The performance of a role, however,
being entirely impromptu, is governed not by a preliminary text (a dramaturgic character),
but by the dynamics of social interaction. The resulting conduct, imposed by the social definition of a concrete situation, may correspond to, but also contradict, the selected fictional
model. Roles are the dynamics between the mimicked behavioral model chosen by a larper
and the socially imposed model in a concrete interaction.
One typical situation in clan larps is that of competitive group confrontation, implying
an overt conflict, or a ‘combat situation’, where the universal role is that of ‘warriors’. The
‘Dulo member’ and ‘Seven Hills member’ identities are both constructed through the imaginary roles of ‘warriors’, but are effectively almost oppositely modified by their attributed
social roles: the former belong to the oldest generation of larpers, those who have been inventing and enforcing the game rules, which provides them with the identity of ‘founders,
the best’; the latter take on the role of followers, who have to learn already established rules
and so are ‘the young ones, the pupils who make mistakes’. The former have the right to
adopt roles and identities and also the right to attribute them to the latter. The latter have to
pass procedures of socialization and to ‘gain recognition’. However, recognition has to be
gained as a clan, i.e. through the conduct models of the chosen fictional roles: ‘Seven Hills
members’ have to act convincingly as ‘warriors’ during a clan larp. A successful performance would change the social identity of their group toward ‘grown-up, more experienced’
and toward the social role of peers capable of victory, and therefore of renegotiating the
game rules.
The identity of Heralds of Chaos has emerged from their rejection of the subordinate
‘pupil’ social role of ‘Seven Hills folks’ and from constituting themselves as the Other to the
fictional roles of ‘warriors’: assuming the roles of predominantly ‘civilian’ citizens and craftsmen (blacksmiths, innkeepers, healers, etc.). This rejection, however, is not merely a choice;
it has been acted out as a rebellion against the established order, as a form of upholding the
ideals of free egalitarianism and anarchism. In social relations, the Heralds take on the role
of Clan Dulo’s opposition, turning ‘the Dulo folks’ into the basis of a negatively constructed
208
Angelina Ilieva
identity. Constant confrontation between the two groups is, effectively, ongoing struggle for
recognition. The conflict has taken place at the levels of both social and fictional roles, as
follows:
Adhering to their own, i.e. Other, larp conduct models based on avoiding overt confrontation, ingenuity and social skills, the Heralds managed to beat Clan Dulo in a series of clan
larps in 2010. Their victory transformed their social identity from ‘still socializing’ into ‘already socialized and equal’; the recognition of this identity by Clan Dulo led to the beginning of ‘diplomatic negotiations’ in August 2010, some taking place during the actual larp
session, and some behind the scenes. As a result, the Heralds recognized Dulo’s claim to
supremacy, that is, their identity as ‘the first and the best’. Convincingly played fictional roles
transform social identities, and social roles determine what fictional identities will be recognized.
This applies to both group and personal clan identities and roles, with the caveat that the
latter have more nuances (and therefore fuzzier boundaries) due to the greater number or
inter-personal relationships. For instance, the social role of a teacher is what assigns to P.
Gyudzhenov the fictional role of ‘good King Beren’; it not only establishes his position as a
leader, but also predetermines the necessity for his fictional character to behave in a ‘caring’
liberal way. His social identity as a ‘Tolkien buff’ obliges him to assume the role of a ‘friend
and ally’ of the Armenelos Guards. His fictional role of a sovereign obliges all Warriors to
behave as friends and allies of the Guards, which creates tension within the group as it contradicts the deep-rooted social opposition between people from Sofia and people from
Plovdiv.
Both social and fictional roles and identities are assumed or attributed, maintained and
transformed inside the social subworld of larpers, where playing and imagining are a social practice. Attempts to divide it into an in-game and an off-game world, as two separate,
independent social spaces whose inside interactions do not affect the other space, remain a
purely rhetorical gesture, because role-playing and non-role-playing social worlds are defined not by the physical costumes and sets, but by the social actors taking part in the
interaction.
Conclusion
In Modernity at Large (1996), Arjun Appadurai announces “something critical and new in
global cultural processes: the imagination as a social practice” (p. 31, original emphasis). This
study has attempted to examine imagination as an organized field of social activity from the
opposite point of view: through its manifestations and functions in local micro-cultures. To
the relatively small community of Bulgarian larpers, imagination as a social practice is a
justification for the community’s existence: larps are a hobby based on imagination, creativity and artistic interaction.
Clan identities and roles are fictional and entirely dependent on a concrete situation: they
are manifested only within the social subworld of larp players. Yet, within this world, they
are real because they have been created and experienced collectively, because they are governed by social processes much like the processes of everyday life. They exist as alternative,
or rather supplementary, social identities and roles of the larpers; they get bound to the players
and mutually shape one another: just as actual social identities and roles supplement and
shape one another in our daily life. What distinguishes them is that identities and roles typical of the contemporary world, such as ‘student’, ‘teacher’, ‘accountant’ or ‘father of two’,
supplement and interact there with ones that no longer exist, such as ‘chigot’ or ‘kolobar’, or
that have never existed, such as ‘orc’ or ‘Numenorean’. It may sound excessive, yet I am
tempted to claim that identities of this kind have become available in our present reality.
209
Mentioning our present reality also tempts me to wonder about the degree to which
(post)modernity and its characteristic social structures and relationships are still a norm, or
a matter of choice. Those who prefer to spend at least part of their time in a feudal system of
interactions, or another entirely fictional social model, seem to have no difficulty in creating
it and experiencing it as real. At the very end of their graphic guide Introducing Postmodernism (2005), Richard Appignanesi and Chris Garratt conjecture that the postmodern will be
succeeded by a new Romanticism. If they are correct, then perhaps the new knights, ladies
and their social worlds, “luxurious in imagination and filled with mysterious delights” (Fine
1983: 72), are already here.
Bibliography:
Appadurai Arjun (1996), Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Appignanesi Richard & Garratt Chris (2005), Introducing Postmodernism, Cambridge: Icon
Books & Totem Books.
Berger Peter L. (1963), Invitation to Sociology. A Humanistic Perspective, England: Penguin
Books.
Dichev Ivaylo (2002), Ot prinadlezhnost kam identichnost. Politiki na obraza [From Belonging
to Identity. Politics of the Image], Sofia: LIK (in Bulgarian).
Erikson Erik (1968), Identity: Youth and Crisis, New York and London: W. W. Norton &
Company.
Fine Gary Alan (1983), Shared fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds, Chicago and
London: The University of Chicago Press.
Goffman Erving (1956), The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Edinburgh: University of
Edinburgh.
Hall Stuart (1996), Introduction: Who Needs ‘Identity’? in: S. Hall & P. du Gay (eds.) Questions of Cultural Identity, London, California, New Delhi: SAGE Publications, pp. 1–17.
Hitchens Michael & Drachen Anders (2008), The Many Faces of Role-Playing Games, “International Journal of Role-Playing” (1) 1, pp. 3–21.
Kann Taisia & Rozhkov Viacheslav (2010), Larp Instead of Communism. History and Evolution of Live Action Role-Playing in Russia in: A. Castellani (ed.) Larp Graffiti. Preistoria e
presente dei giochi di ruolo dal vivo, Larp Symposium, Trieste 2010, http://www.larpsymposium.org/?page_id=409/ last accessed 27 February 2013.
Kovacova Dominika (2010), Heroes in the Heart of Europe. A Nostalgic History of Larp in Slovakia in: A. Castellani (ed.) Larp Graffiti. Preistoria e presente dei giochi di ruolo dal vivo,
Larp Symposium, Trieste 2010, http://www.larpsymposium.org/?page_id=414/ last accessed 27 February 2013.
Morton Brian (2007), Larps and Their Cousins Through the Ages in: J. Donnis, L. Thorup &
M. Gade (eds.) Lifelike, Copenhagen: Knudepunkt, pp. 245–259.
Pavis Patrice (1998), Dictionary of the Theatre: Terms, Concepts, and Analysis, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Tresca Michael J. (2011), The evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games, Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers.
Tychsen Anders, Hitchens Michael, Brolund Thea & Kavakli Manolya (2006), Live Action
Role-Playing Games: Control, Communication, Storytelling, and MMORPG Similarities,
“Games and Culture” 1 (3), pp. 252–275.
Waldron David (2005), Role-Playing Games and the Christian Right: Community Formation in
Response to a Moral Panic, “Journal of Religion and Popular Culture” 9, http://www.
usask.ca/relst/jrpc/art9-roleplaying-print.html/ last accessed 27 February 2013.
Biographical note: Dr Angelina Ilieva is a Senior Assistant Professor and researcher at
the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
210
Angelina Ilieva
Vol. 2/2013
p. 211–222
Narration and identity, everyday narration
Galina Lozanova
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia
On the Use of the Islamic Formulae Basmala
and Shahada Among the Pomaks in Bulgaria
Abstract: The subject of research in this paper is the use of the Islamic formulae shahada (the Islamic credo
lā ilāha ’illallāh, Muhammad rasūlu-llāh – ‘There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of
God’) and basmala (bismi-llāhi r-rahmāni r-rahīm – ‘In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful’) by
Bulgarian Pomaks. Historically, both formulae became part of the Pomak vocabulary after the conversion
to Islam. They permanently penetrated the basic word stock of the Pomaks and were actively used in
concrete situations.
On the basis of several examples (cases) of the use of shahada and basmala (i.e. in religious education, in
Muslim-Christian relations, in rituals of protection from demons, etc.), some conclusions are made about
the variety of their functions in specific everyday and ritual (crisis) situations, which appear not to differ
much from how these formulae function in traditional cultures of other Muslim communities.
Keywords: shahada, basmala, Pomaks, religious education, Muslim-Christian relations, religious integrity
and identity
The Pomaks, or Muslim Bulgarians, are a comparatively small community of
some 250,000 people who inhabit mainly the Rhodope Mountains on the Bulgarian-Greek
border, some of them also living in several villages around the town of Lovech in Northern
Bulgaria. The Pomaks speak Bulgarian as their mother tongue, but their religion is Islam,
and this circumstance has seriously influenced their worldview, language, mentality and
behaviour (everyday and ritual). Historically, the conversion to Islam took place over a
large span of time during the ages of Ottoman rule on Bulgarian soil, mainly in the 17th
century. The conversion was for different reasons (economic, spiritual, personal choice, etc.)
and initiated the formation of the Bulgarian Muslim community. In the course of time the
community became affiliated with those traditional societies whose value systems and stereotypes – both mental and behavioural – were based on the ideas of classical Islamic sources
– the Holy Quran and the hadiths (sayings) and the sunna (the example) of the Prophet Muhammad, as they are interpreted by Islamic scholars and as they are learned in the process
of religious education. The words of the prominent British researcher of the philosophy and
ethics of Islam, George Hourani (1985: 270), that “these sources were of predominant importance in all Muslim countries until the nineteenth century and still prevail in the more conservative countries and in all rural areas”, and that “[t]his was and is inevitable wherever
the basic education of children is the study of the Quran, with its well defined ethical perceptions and attitudes to life on earth”, have been proved true to the full extent for the Bulgarian Muslim community – even at the very end of the 20th century.1
I shall not discuss the reasons for the encapsulation and conservativeness of the Bulgarian Muslim community in the previous century; nevertheless, the assimilative state politics of several consecutive Bulgarian
1
212
Galina Lozanova
Over the course of history, a tradition of preservation, transmission and uninterrupted
reproduction of basic religious-ethical concepts and prescriptions which the basic Islamic
sources contain, established itself. This tradition to a large extent depended on the interrelations between (at least) three languages. (1) The first was Bulgarian – the language of
everyday communication, and also the language of adoption and transmission of religious
knowledge. (2) Secondly, Turkish (Ottoman Turkish) not only had been the language of
administration for almost five centuries of the Ottoman rule until early 20th century, but
also the language of literacy and education for all the Muslim subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Presumably, a great number of the Pomaks (especially men) were practically bilingual
at the time; alternatively, Turkish had, for a sufficiently long period of time, been the mediating language in the transmission of religious information for educated Muslims of different national descent, including Bulgarian-speaking Pomaks – via both personal communication and Ottoman literature (original or translated from the other two classical languages
of Islam, Arabic and Persian). In the 20th century, the role of Turkish gradually faded
and never recovered its previous significance, especially after 1989, when Islamic religious
books started to be published and disseminated on a large scale in the Bulgarian language.
(3) Finally, Arabic – the language of the Holy Quran – had also become a part of Pomak
everyday life not only in the sphere of religious practice (i.e. the five daily prayers), but
also by providing a multitude of religious terms and expressions (formulae). Most of them
had permanently penetrated the basic word stock of the Pomaks and were actively used in
concrete situations. Neither interpretation nor translation of these expressions was needed,
as most of the formulae were learned with the help of various ‘explanatory’ and ‘supporting’ texts (descriptive, interpretative, didactic, etc.) in Bulgarian, or acquired in specific
speech contexts. To illustrate this, below I will dwell on the use of two Islamic formulae –
shahada and basmala – in several situations and in connection with various traditional folk
beliefs.
Shahada and Basmala in the Islamic Tradition
Shahada (Arab. ‘witnessing’) in a religious sense signifies the Islamic profession of
faith (the Islamic credo), the act of declaring ‘There is no god but God, and Muhammad is
the Messenger of God’ (Arab. lā ’ilāha ’illallāh, Muhammad rasūlu-llāh). Shahada consists of
two statements (Arab. kalimatan ash-shahada, or, in the Turkish pronunciation as it is known
to the Pomaks, kelime-i shehadet), the first testifying to the Oneness and the Unity of God
(Arab. tawhid), an idea common to all adherents of monotheistic religions as opposed to
polytheists and unbelievers, and the second specific to Sunni Muslims and testifying to their
acceptance of the prophetic mission of the last of God’s messengers – Muhammad. The complete formula is not stated directly in the text of the Quran, though its two parts are present
in several suras, for example, in Q. 6: 19, 37: 35, 47: 19, 63: 1, etc. (Gimaret 1997: 201) Taken
in their unity, the two parts of shahada express the very spirit and the quintessence of the
Holy Book, as it is lengthily discussed in Islamic commentary literature (see, for example,
Ibn Kathir n.d.: Sura 3). The deep religious and philosophical meaning of shahada is probably best revealed in the second book of al-Ghazzali’s (450–505 AH /1058–1111 CE) “The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din)” (Ghazzali 2007).2 Shahada is the first and
governments and especially the role of atheistic propaganda during the socialist period deserve mentioning. For
more details, see Anagnostou (2005); Brunnbauer (1999: 35–50); Buchsenschutz (2000: 36–59); Gruev (2003).
2
See also Mac Donald’s translation of “A Short Creed by al-Ghazzali” (Mac Donald 1903: 300–307).
On the Use of the Islamic Formulae Basmala and Shahada Among the Pomaks in Bulgaria
213
the only indispensable principle (pillar) of Islam, and the earnest and public recitation of the
shahada in Arabic is all that is required for a non-Muslim to become a Muslim.
Due to its fundamental significance for believers belonging to the Islamic religion, shahada embraces all aspects of individual and social life of Muslims: it is whispered in the ear
of a new-born baby, and, at the end of a person’s life, it is pronounced in the ear of a dying
man; children are taught to recite it from a very early age, and later as part of their religious
education; it is a part of five daily prayers (Wensinck [Rippin] 2000: 340–341)] and determines the fate of a Muslim even in his after-life.3 In other words, as Samuel Zwemer put it,
“in the seven words of shahada [in Arabic] […] the whole system of Mohammedan theology
and philosophy and religious life is summed up” (Zwemer 1905: 15).
The second formula – basmala – is used in the Islamic tradition in two variations: complete – bismi-llāhi r-rahmāni r-rahīm (Arab. ‘In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful’)4, and abbreviated – bismi-llāh (Arab. ‘In the name of God’). The complete form
occurs at the beginning of all Quranic suras, except for S. 9;5 it prephaces also the instructive
letter of Sulayman (Solomon) to the Queen of Sheba (Bilqis), in which he urges her to accept
his religion and the belief in the One God (Q. 27: 30). The abbreviated form of basmala is
pronounced by the prophet Nuh (Noah) when he invites his adherents to embark on the
Boat of Salvation (Q. 11: 42).
Islamic jurists hold different opinions as to whether basmala appearing at the beginning
of the Quranic suras should be counted as a separate verse. Followers of the school of law of
Abu Hanifa (among them Bulgarian Muslims) refuse to accept this, as the formula, on the
one hand, fulfils merely technical functions, serving as a separator between particular suras,
and, on the other hand, it is a benediction. That is why they do not pronounce the formula
during ritual worship, in contrast to the followers of al-Shafii, who hold the opposite view
(Carra de Vaux [Gardet] 1960: 1084). Nevertheless, most Muslim scholars agree that basmala
is the first verse of the first sura Fatiha – the sura ‘opening the Scripture’, called also ‘the
Mother of the Book’ (umm al-kitab – Q. 3: 7), ‘the seven repeated signs’ (al-sab al-mathani – Q.
15: 87), and ‘the praise’ (al-hamd) (Paret 1965: 841; Ali n.d.: 42). During prayer, this sura, consisting of seven verses, is repeated at the beginning of each genuflexion (rak’a), and is also
independently pronounced as a principal devotional text at all significant events in the life
of a Muslim – weddings, funerals, etc.
According to some popular hadiths: “Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him)
as saying: He who uttered these words: ‘There is no god but Allah, the One, having no partner with Him.
Sovereignity belongs to Him and all the praise is due to Him, and He is Potent over everything’ one hundred
times every day […] there are recorded hundred virtues to his credit, and hundred vices are blotted out from his
scroll, and that is a safeguard for him against the Satan on that day till evening and no one brings anything more
excellent than this […]” (Muslim n.d.: 35/6508); “[…] [T]he Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said:
He who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, Allah would
prohibit the fire of Hell for him” (Muslim n.d.: 1/45, 46, 52. etc.); cf. “Narrated Anas: The Prophet added, ‘There
will come out of Hell (Fire) everyone who says: La ilaha illal-lah, and has in his heart good equal to the weight of
a barley grain. Then there will come out of Hell (Fire) everyone who says: La ilaha illal-lah, and has in his heart
good equal to the weight of a wheat grain. Then there will come out of Hell (Fire) everyone who says: La ilaha
illal-lah, and has in his heart good equal to the weight of an atom (or a smallest ant)” (Bukhari n.d.: 9/ 93: 507).
4
For other translations, see Carra de Vaux [Gardet] (1960: 1084) and Watt (1970: 60).
5
Islamic commentators point to several reasons for the omission of the formula basmala in the 9th sura of the
Quran. Some of them presume that this sura had been revealed shortly before Muhammad’s death and he did
not leave any instructions about the formula’s place in the text. Others say that originally suras 8 and 9 were one
sura, as sura 8 is too short for its position in the text (it is well known that the Quran was ‘compiled’ according
to the length of particular suras) and together with sura 9 they form a sura that is too long for its position. What
is important, in Richard Bell’s opinion, is that both explanations consider basmala “not a mere editorial formula”
but one belonging to the time of Muhammad (Watt 1979: 60).
3
214
Galina Lozanova
The efficiency of basmala comes from the fact that it comprises the first three of the traditional 99 Beautiful Names of God in Islam – Allah, ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim – and both arRahman and ar-Rahim derive from the same triliteral root r-h-m, ‘to feel sympathy, or pity’.
Thus, basmala is an invocation or mentioning of God and its recitation is known as tasmiyya
(Arab. ‘to pronounce the Divine name’), which is in itself an act of piety, considered to be
one of the most important Muslim virtues. Similarly to shahada, basmala bears the connotation of the belief in the Oneness of God: the Muslim tradition from the early ages of Islam
used it to invalidate the customary formulae of the time of ‘ignorance’ (jahiliyya), i.e. before
the prophetic mission of Muhammad, which contained invocations of pagan deities, such as
“In the name of al-Lat” or “In the name of al-‘Uzza”, etc. (Carra de Vaux [Gardet] 1960:
1084).
The formula basmala is also an irrevocable part of Islamic verbal etiquette and Islamic
jurists have worked out detailed prescriptions of its use on different occasions.6 Basmala
must be pronounced or written at the beginning of every important deed, considered to be
recommended or pious (praiseworthy) except in the prayer which begins with the formula
Allahu akbar (Arab. ‘God is great’) and in the recitation of a dhikr (repeated mention of a divine Name) (Carra de Vaux [Gardet] 1960: 1084). Even though the two forms of basmala are
almost equal in their functionimg, it is recommended to use the complete formula at the
beginning of manuscripts, in official correspondence and for the decoration of mosques,
while the abbreviated form is pronounced before the commencement of the approved acts
of daily life, especially before eating,7 etc. (Carra de Vaux [Gardet] 1960: 1084).
The frequent use of basmala is based on a popular hadith which says that “Every act that
does not begin with basmala will be cut off (in other readings – mutilated or amputated), or,
in other words – it will be defective and denied God’s blessing; and even if it is completed
– it will remain spiritually unaccomplished” (Ibn Hanbal 1998: 102 [2: 359]; Carra de Vaux
[Gardet] 1960: 1084). Thus, basmala not only invokes Divine benediction on the relevant undertaking, but it also consecrates it and makes it legal in a religious sense.
The belief in the benedictory power of the basmala makes it extremely suitable to be used
in talismans (Turk. muska) together with shahada and short citations from the Quran, especially the suras Ihlas, al-Falaq and an-Nas (S. 112, 113, 114).
Medieval Muslim tradition has connected basmala and shahada to Islamic sacred history.
According to some ‘stories of the prophets’ (qisas an-anbiyya), shahada has been inscribed on
the Throne of God and was the first thing that Adam saw after God had inspired soul into
his body (al-Kisai 1997: 71; Wherry 1882: 303; Kister 1988: 88); it was also written on Adam’s
thigh, upon the wing of the angel Jibrail, on the seal of Solomon and on the tongue of Isa
(Jesus) (Carra de Vaux [Gardet] 1960: 1085).
Shahada and Basmala in Pomak Verbal Etiquette and in the
Oral Tradition
The religious prescriptions for the use of formulae shahada and basmala are largely
discussed among the Pomaks and, as a rule, put in differing contexts, though sometimes
with overlapping functions. Both formulae occur in different kinds of oral texts – in mere
These prescriptions are based mainly on hadiths, cf. Bukhari n.d.: 8/73: 162; 8/78: 666.
Cf. “Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu’minin: The Apostle of Allah said: When one of you eats, he should mention Allah’s name; if he forgets to mention Allah’s name at the beginning, he should say: ‘In the name of Allah’ at
the beginning and at the end of it” (Abu Daud n.d.: 27/3758).
6
7
215
statements, reflecting religious attitudes of Muslims and their philosophy of life, or in larger
narrative plots. It seems that the texts illustrating the significance of basmala prevail over the
texts on shahada, as the latter has always been considered more of a matter of faith, pertaining to the fulfilment of religious obligations and to religious identification, since the acceptance of the idea of the Oneness of God and Muhammad’s mission makes a man a (true)
Muslim:
“There is a big difference from Muslim to Muslim. And when you pronounce La ilaha illal-lah
with all of your heart – then you become a true Muslim. […] It is the most important thing – to
accept these words with all of your heart”.8
The recitation of shahada is the first and indispensable step in the affiliation to Islam,
which will bring benefit in the long term by improving a man’s position in the hereafter.
Hence the widespread belief that a Christian who has accepted Islam immediately before
death will more easily enter Paradise than a Muslim, because – as a proselyte – he is
‘sinless’:
“Oh, how I envy you, Christians! If you say La ilaha illal-lah and then you die… it will be perfectly well, there will be no punishment for you [in the hereafter]. You immediately go to djennet
[Turk., ‘Paradise’], to the best place. While us [the Muslims]… You may have recited [the Quran],
prayed and went to the mosque and still be punished for your sins”.9
The religious standing of basmala is also very high among the Pomaks, but – since it is
apprehended as an invocation of God’s help and a benediction – it is also used to secure an
immediate benefit here and now – in the life on earth.
The formula basmala is used by the Pomaks mainly in its abbreviated form – and this is
quite natural as they pronounce it predominantly on daily-life occasions, and in the Turkish
phonetic variant Bismillya(h). During my fieldwork research in the mid-1990s10, the formula
basmala was a phraseоlogical unit in the speech of my Pomak respondents as part of their
intra-group communication; its use was mechanical, without interpretation, but most of the
respondents knew its meaning. When asked, “When do you say Bismillya?”, their usual
answer was: “You begin everything with Bismillya.” More detailed explanations on the necessity and the benefits of the pronounciation of the formula appeared almost incidentally
while discussing other topics, i.e. when the respondents themselves put the formula in a
specific context.
Basmala and the home education of children
In the summer of 1996, I had a conversation on the religious training and education of children at home with three women of different generations from the village of Chepintsi, Smolyan region: Z.L. (aged 75), her daughter-in-law N.L. (40) and her niece F.M. (31).
The eldest of the three women – Z., went with the reputation of a good connoisseur of religious traditions in the local community, as her late father-in-law and her husband were
‘learned people’ (she even boasted that her husband spoke seven languages!) and she had
K. M., born 1966, rec. 21.08.1996, Chepintsi, Smolyan region, see АIF VIII 39, p. 17.
F. M., born 1923, rec. 23.04.1996, Polyana, Smolyan region, see AIF I 287, p. 23.
10
The fieldwork research was carried out as part of the project “Islam and Popular Traditions” (1994–1998)
and was generously supported by IMIR Foundation – Sofia.
8
9
216
Galina Lozanova
been regularly present аt their conversations on religious matters. N. belonged to that generation of Bulgarian Muslims who had been denied the opportunity of systematic Islamic
education, as at the time of their childhood religious education was put under a ban by the
socialist state11. The youngest of the three women – F.R. – was nearly from the same generation, but she belonged to a good Muslim family where the children were educated in secret
in the recitation of the Quran and in the rules of prayer so that they could fulfill their religious obligations. The five-year-old son of F.M. – A.M. – was also present at our conversation, but was not paying much attention to us, unlike the fourteen-year-old son of N.L., who
was listening attentively. His mother was very proud of him as he had recently ‘made his
hatim’ – he had passed the exam in the general knowledge about religion and in reciting the
whole text of the Quran, furthermore with excellent marks.
Z.L. explained that when a Muslim mother brings up her child, she teaches him to pronounce Bismillya as the opening of each action:
Z.L.: “Bismillyah is said for every one thing”.
F.M.: “When I start knitting, I say Bismillyah!”
Z.L.: “When I am standing up – Bismillya, when I am sitting down – Bismillyah! And I teach the
kid to do the same”.
F.M.: “It is the same as you teach him to wash his hands before meals, to brush his teeth – it is the
same thing”.
After the rule was enunciated, the harmful consequences of its violation (unobservance)
were pointed out – the recording angels who appear on a man’s shoulders every morning
and write down his good and bad actions, designate his luck for that day accordingly with
a white or black banner:12
Z.L.: “And when you come out of the door in the morning – if you come out as a dumb animal,
you immediately will get a black banner – you’ll have a day! When coming out of the door in the
morning you must say Bismillya!”
F.M. participated actively in the conversation as an ‘interpreter’ because she was uneasy
that her aunt spoke too fast in the melodious local dialect and I could not follow her words.
That is why she not only interpreted but explained and ‘added to’ Z.L.’s phrases in literary
Bulgarian:
F.M.: “You start for work [and you have to say]: Bismillya! so that you’ll have good luck that
day”.
Z.L.: “No, no matter where you go. Not only when you start to work. The first time you get out of
bed…”
F.M.: “In short, if you want to have luck that day when you get up you should say Bismillya – and
then you may stand up and go. And you’ll have luck”13.
N.L., who was silently listening to our conversation, all of a sudden intervened and introduced
another theme, very popular in Muslim edifying stories:
The restraint and final abolishment of basic religious rights in Bulgaria was a gradual process that took
place in 1950s – after 1958 religious education was ultimately replaced by a secular education program.
12
On the functions of the ‘recording angels’ (hafaza) in the Bulgarian Muslim tradition, see Lozanova (2000:
440–444).
13
Z.L., born 1920; F.M., born 1966, rec. 21.08.1996, Chepintsi, Smolyan region, see AIF VІІІ 39, p. 25.
11
217
“Even Christians believe in the beneficial effects of basmala”
“We had a team-work leader – Katya Glushkova – in our dressmaking and tailoring shop.
(I worked as a tailor for ten years, but five months ago I moved to a cosmetics factory). We had a
team-work leader Katya Glushkova and every time we started a new dress design she told us:
“Chant your… [Muslim prayers].” And she wanted us to say Bismillya. But she is Bulgarian!
A Christian! […] So that our work proceeded smoothly when we started a new design because
sometimes we had difficulties… We had an Austrian boss who had sent us cut details in different
boxes. It was not easy to fit them… And then she always told us to say Bismillyah! – to make our
work easier”.14
This story comprises the respondent’s memories about repeated situations from her life
experience – the team-work leader ‘always’ asking Muslim women to refer to Islamic prayers
for help to prevent, or to cope with, difficulties that might occur in their work. Thus, on the
one hand, the story, approached from a formal point of view, reminds of a life story. But, on
the other hand, the motif of the ‘Christian’ (the Bulgarian), who as a rule is either not very
religious or does not in the least accept the prescriptions of Islam and nevertheless is convinced – in this specific case – of the efficiency of the Islamic religious formula, resembles
functionally the didactic stories of ‘religious disputes’ between a Muslim and a Christian.
These stories are usually structured as dialogues in which both parties expose their arguments in favour of their religion in the ‘question – answer’ form. The Muslim always wins
the verbal contest and the Christian has to acknowledge accordingly the excellence of the
Muslim religion. Interestingly, when such stories are told, the dispute from the plot is often
transferred and duplicated in the reality: the story-teller holds the active position of the
Muslim party, while the audience stands in the passive position of the Christian who has to
be convinced of the superiority of Islam. This is especially relevant when part of the audience is of a Christian (or non-Muslim) origin indeed. In this particular case, N.L., who did
not feel very well educated in the rules of the Islamic etiquette, but nevertheless believed in
the beneficent efficiency of the basmala, based her argumentation on the opinion of Katya
Gluskova in order to convince me – the outsider in the Muslim community.
Shahada and Basmala Help in the Protection from Demons
And in the Treatment of Diseases Caused by Them
The next text, referring to the functions of basmala in every-day life of the Pomaks, was
also incidentally recorded at the home of F.R. – a serious young woman whose life motto
could easily be regarded as “My home is my castle”, as her true vocation was to be a wife
and a mother. She was a typical modern Muslim woman whose daily round was distributed
between prayer, looking after her husband and the children (using all kinds of modern
household appliances), TV-series and garden work. At the same time, F.R. was an excellent
connoisseur of the oral Muslim tradition and helped our research team a lot – whenever it
was necessary she refined our questions and let other people talk while herself remaining
tactfully silent. She had invited several women visitors from the neighbourhood and the
conversation was about local demonic creatures – their names, features and means of protection from their evil effect. And, as it frequently happened on similar occasions, visitors
illustrated their explanations with stories from personal experience or hearsay about en-
14
N.L., born 1956, rec. 21.08.1996, Chepintsi, Smolyan region, see AIF VІІІ 39, p. 26.
218
Galina Lozanova
counters with people with nastrel, morava, djinn,15 etc. Suddenly the hostess announced:
“When you get sick at an evil place [inhabited by demons] Bismillyah and Lya illyahe16
could help…”.
R.D. – a smooth-tongued owner of a small coffee-shop in the village – immediately illustrated F.R.’s statement with a personal experience story:
“When I was pregnant with Kyursa [her daughter] I fell down from a plum-tree – I fell down
together with the branches, with the leaves, with everything. I had just collected a big bag of
plums. And then my mother came and helped me.
And then in the same evening I knew that I was sick. [When I was asleep] something raised
me in the air and said: “Pat, pat, pat.” It was something like a gigantic bird. It jumped up and
cried: “I’m gonna eat you!” Then I recited three times La illahe illal-lah: I sang it two times – nothing happened; and when I started to recite it the third time – then the bird little by little [started
to fade away]… and finally disappeared! I had not even finished reciting [the formula] when it
disappeared and I got down …
Those words [the shahada] are the most efficient – even when you pass a cemetery…
I got sick from the blood, from my own blood, because the wound on my shoulder was bleeding. And when I came back home in the evening I saw a big animal in my dream. Then I went
there [to the plum-tree] and I gathered some sweepings and burnt them with Bismillyah. You
may do it yourself, but you may also ask an old woman to do it. It is even better to go to an old
woman. […] You must do it three times in order to completely recover”.17
Not taking into account the almost complete set of “demonological” components of the
story, which display local (Rhodopian), common Bulgarian, Slavic and mostly typological
characteristics – such as getting sick at an ‘evil (unclean) place’ as a result of coming into
contact with spilled blood (in this particular case the blood of the respondent herself), being
treated by an old woman burning sweepings from the evil place, etc. – we could get the
impression that both formulae – shahada and basmala – when used simultaneously, fulfilled
different functions: the role of the shahada being to banish the demonic ‘gigantic bird’, while
basmala consecrating (making legal from the Muslim point of view) the magical treatment
and contributing to its auspicious result. This is not quite true, however, as there are ample
examples when basmala displays the same exortic and protective functions, as in the excerpt
below told by H.M., a retired mine worker:
“Well, talking about djinns… I wish our forest-guard could tell you his story himself… It happened nearby – in the outskirts of the village of Ogled.
And he went here down by the river to return home. He reached a small clearing – it was a
snowy night – and there he saw some people sitting on the earth, eating, drinking, meat-balls
[put] in front of them and so on. They were sitting on the snow. They invited him to share their
dinner, but he was scared a little.
“Sit down!”
But he was afraid and wondered what to do. Eventually, he decided to join the company. It
crossed his mind that old people had said to him: ‘When you meet a djinn you should recite ‘La
ilaha illal-lah – there is no God but Allah – and the djinn would vanish”.
And so he did – those people disappeared immediately and he saw on the earth little pieces
of excrements on the very place where previously the meat-balls were.
Later he told us that djinns were just like ordinary people, but there were no women among
them.”18
On local demons in the Rhodope mountains, see Troeva-Grigorova (2003).
This practice may be supported by a hadith, cf. “Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas: The Prophet used to say at the time
of difficulty, La ilaha il-lallah Al-‘Alimul-Halim. La-ilaha il-lallah Rabul-Arsh-al-Azim, La ilaha-il-lallah RabusSamawati Rab-ul-Ard; wa Rab-ul-Arsh Al-Karim’” (Bukhari n.d.: 9/93: 523; 8/356, 357).
17
F.R., born 1968; R.D., born 1944, rec. 34.08.1996, Chepintsi, Smolyan region, see AIF VІІІ 39, p. 70.
18
H.M., born 1946, rec. 25.08.1996, Chepintsi, Smolyan region, see АIF VIII 39, p. 101.
15
16
219
In these situations, based on the belief in human beings’ encounters with demons, both
Islamic formulae – shahada and basmala – are nearly functionally synonimous. Their protective and banishing effect on the evil forces is due, on the one hand, to the mentioning of God
(God’s name) and the invocation of his benevolence toward endangered believers (mainly
with basmala); and, on the other hand, to the verbalisation of the affiliation to the religion of
Islam – as it seems this circumstance in itself is considered sufficient to draw the border-line
between the world of humans and the demonic world. Of course, the same type of ‘popular’
religiosity is practiced by Christian believers as well – in similar situations they often turn to
liturgical means of protection.
The next didactic story on the use of basmala was told again by H.M., who was a brilliant
story-teller with a never-failing sense of humour. In his repertoire he always showed a preference for long, blood-freezing stories of demons who were then found to be cows lost by
the dairy-farmer, hay-stacks forgotten by the house-wife who had hung out the washing,
etc. Another beloved theme of his were relations between wives and husbands, or between
men and women generally. He often described ‘realistic’ situations when men usually appeared to be credulous simpletons, in contrast to women, who were always cunning, untrustworthy and boring creatures, whose only purpose was to harass and cheat their husbands. But in the short story cited below, H.M. chose another favourite motif from Muslim
exempla – the motif of a righteous woman and her sinful husband. The distinguishing traits
of the female character in the story are that she is pious, virtuous and patient; she humbly
endures her husband’s bad temper and often uses the formula basmala.
The story of the righteous woman and her drunkard husband
“There was a man. He was… drinking a lot, didn’t love his wife. But she always repeated Bismillyah. Takes something – Bismillyah; takes another thing – again Bismillyah.
And once he told her:
“What do you get from that Bismillyah of yours?” – And he took her purse and threw it into
the well. Her own purse.
She started to look for her purse and couldn’t find it. He said:
“Why don’t you ask your Bismillyah to help you to find the purse?”
And – lo! – the purse appeared at the place she had last put it. But it was dripping with water.
The husband was astonished at the scene and said:
“Maybe there is something [about Bismillyah] that I know nothing about.”19
The plot of this story is one of a typical Muslim miracle tale about local saints – evliya20
– who appear to live as ordinary people do, their daily life not differing from the rest of the
community: they marry and have children, they farm, and they practice various occupations. What makes them different is their great devoutness (as is the case with the righteous
wife) and possession of some supernatural qualities, the most important of which is miracle
working (the miraculous appearance of the purse). At the same time the story about the
righteous woman follows generally the scheme of stories of prophetic miracles21, which aim
at convincing unbelievers about a single all-powerful God. Only in the example discussed
here, instead of the conflict between the prophet and his nation of unbelievers, the opposition is between the quiet wife, strictly following the prescriptions of the Islamic etiquette,
H.M., born 1946, rec. 25.08.1996, Chepintsi, Smolyan region, see АIF VIII 39, p. 137.
On the beliefs in evliya and the basic narrative plots of stories of evliya, see Lozanova 2001: 470–489.
21
On the content and form of these stories in the Qur’an, see Piotrovski (1991: 44), and Watt (1970: 127–153),
and in Bulgarian Muslim oral tradition – Lozanova (2002: 36–52).
19
20
220
Galina Lozanova
and her sinful husband. Another typical motif is the husband’s verbal ridicule of his virtuous wife, which reaches its climax in an insult by action when he throws her purse into the
well. Eventually a demonstration of a miracle follows and a happy outcome – the sinner
hesitates (at least in this particular case) about whether his wife is not right when she uses
the religious formula basmala as recommended by religious authorities. Of course, in spite
of the formal similarity of this story to the stories of prophetic miracles, it would be an exaggeration to see in it the global confrontation between belief and disbelief. Rather, the story
tells about the ever-present Divine in the daily lives of ordinary believers.
Probably all these illustrative texts do not exhaust all the possible narrative types – edifying, descriptive, interpretative and didactic – which have led to the adoption and automatization of the use of formulae shahada and basmala by the Pomaks. Yet they are representative of the role of the oral tradition in the processes of learning, rationalization and
reproduction of the basic religious concepts and norms of conduct. Together with lessons in
religion and religious homilies, based principally on the text of the Quran and the hadiths
of the Prophet Muhammad, folklore has had a contribution of its own to these processes by
drawing on plots from various daily-life situations and by using well-known – which means
comprehensible and easy to perceive – narrative forms. The stable penetration of the two
formulae – shahada and basmala – into the language and verbal etiquette of the Pomaks was
most probably backed by ‘concomitant’ oral texts. Similar conclusions apply to the broad
range of functions of the two formulae, which do not differ much from their use in the traditional cultures of other Muslim societies. One of these functions has to be emphasized –
shahada and basmala contribute to the preservation of the religious integrity of the Pomaks;
although they are specific for the discourse of the believers, they are also used – or at least
they are recognized as Islamic – even by people who were raised in the tradition but are not
practicing their religion.
Bibliography
Abu Daud (n.d.), Partial Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud. Transl. Prof. Ahmad Hasan.
http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/abudawud/ last accessed 09 December 2011.
Ali Jusuf (n.d.), Talkuvania na Korana [Commentary of the Quran], vol. 1, Sofia.
Anagnostou Dia (2005), National Interpretations in Bulgarian Writings on the Pomaks from the
Communist Period through the Present, “The Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans” 7/1, pp. 57–74.
Brunnbauer Ulf (1999), Diverging (Hi-)Stories: The Contested Identity of the Bulgarian Pomaks, “Ethnologia Balkanica” 3, pp. 35–50.
Bukhari (n.d.), Al-Jami al-Sahih, translation of Sahih Bukhari, translator: M. Muhsin
Khan, http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/sbtintro.
html/last accessed 30 December 2011.
Buchsenschutz Ulrich (2000), Maltsinstvenata politika v Bulgaria. Politikata na BKP kam evrei,
romi, pomatsi i turtsi 1944–1989 [The Minority Policy in Bulgaria. The Politics of BCP to
Jews, Roma, Pomaks and Turks], Sofia: IMIR (in Bulgarian).
Carra de Vaux Bernard [Gardet, Louis] (1960), Basmala in: B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat & J. Schacht
(eds.) Encyclopaedia of Islam, New edition, vol. 1 (A–B), Leiden: E. J. Brill & London:
Luzac & Co, p. 1084.
Al-Ghazali (2007), The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din), vol. 2, The Foundations of the Articles of Faith, transl. Nabih Amin Faris, Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf
Publisher, www.ghazali.org/ihya/english/index.html/last accessed 30 December 2011.
Gimaret Daniel (1997), Shahada in: C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinricks &
G. Lecompte (eds.) Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition, vol. 9, (San–Sze), Leiden:
E. J. Brill, p. 201.
221
Gruev Mihail (2003), Mezhdu petolachkata i polumesetsa. Balgarite myusyulmani i politicheskiyat rezhim 1944–1958 [Between the Pentacle and the Crescent. Muslim Bulgarians and the
Political Regieme 1944–1958], Sofia: IMIR (in Bulgarian).
Hourani George F. (1985), Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Hughs Thomas Patrick (1885), A Dictionary of Islam, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
Ibn Hanbal (1998), Musnad in: Hrestomatia po islamu. Perevody s arabskogo, vvedenia i primechania, Moskva: Nauka, p. 102 (in Russian).
Ibn Kathir (n.d.), Tafsir: Tafsir al-Qur’ân al-Azîm,
http://mquran.org/en/tafsiribn_kathir.4830.html/last accessed 28 December 2011.
Al-Kisai Muhammad (1997), Tales of the Prophets (Qisas al-Anbiya), translated by
W. H. Thackston, Jr. Chicago: Kazi Publications.
Kister Meir J. (1988), Legends in Tafsir and Hadith Literature: The Creation of Adam and Related
stories in: A. Rippin (ed.) Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Qu`ran, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 82–114.
Lozanova Galina (2000), Veznite na sadnia den: obraz i naratsia [The Scales of the Judgement
Day] in: Balkanlar’da kültürel etkileşim ve türk mimaresi uluslararasi sempozyumu, Bildirileri (17–19 Mayis 2000, Şummu – Bulgaristan), C. 1, Atatürk kültür merkezi başkanliği
yayinlari, pp. 439–452 (in Bulgarian).
Lozanova Galina (2001), Local Saints (Evliya) among Bulgarian Pomaks in the Rhodopes: Idea
and Fable in: A. Zhelyazkova & J. Nielsen (eds.) The Fate of the Muslim Communities in the
Balkans, vol. 8, Ethnology of Sufi Orders: Theory and Practice, Sofia: IMIR, pp. 470–489.
Lozanova Galina (2002), “Znamenia” i “nepodrazhaemi” chudesa v myusyulmanskite razkazi
za prorotsi [“Signs” and “Inimmitable” Miracles in Muslim Prophetic Stories], “Balgarki
folklor” 2, pp. 36–52 (in Bulgarian).
Macdonald Duncan Black (1911), Aspects of Islam, London–New York: Macmillan & Co.
Muslim (n.d.), Sahih Muslim, Being Traditions of the Sayings and Doings of the Prophet Muhammad as Narrated His Companions and Compiled under the Title Al-Jami’-Us-Sahih by
Imam Muslim, rendered into English by ‘Abdul Hamid Siddiqi with Explanatory Notes
and Brief Biographical Sketches of Major Narrators, http://www.isna.net/library/hadith/muslim/default.asp/last accessed 12 December 2006.
Paret Rudi (1965), Fatiha in: B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat & J. Schacht (eds.) Encyclopaedia of Islam,
New Edition, vol. 2 (C–G), Leiden: E. J. Brill & London: Luzac & Co, p. 841.
Piotrovski Mihail (1991), Koranicheskie skazania [Quranic Stories], Moskva: Nauka (in
Russian).
Troeva-Grigorova Evgenia (2003), Demonite na Rodopite [The Demons of the Rhodopes], Sofia:
IMIR (in Bulgarian).
Watt William Montgomery (1970), Bell’s Introduction to the Qur’an, Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press.
Wensinck Arent Jan [Andrew Rippin] (2000), Tashahhud in: P. J. Bearman, Th. Blanquis,
C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel & W. P. Heinricks (eds.) Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, vol. 10. (T–U), Leiden: E. J. Brill, pp. 340–341.
Wherry Elwood Morris (1882), A Comprehensive Commentary on the Quran, vol. 1, London:
Trübner & Co.
Zwemer Samuel M. (1905), The Moslem Doctrine of God: An Essay on the Character and Attributes of Allah According to the Koran and the Orthodox Tradition, New York: American
Tract Society.
Abbreviations
AIF – Archive of the Institute of Folklore, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Biographical note: Dr Galina Lozanova is Associate Professor at the Department of
Comparative Folklore Studies of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia.
222
Galina Lozanova
Vol. 2/2013
p. 223–234
Stanoy Stanoev
There Comes the Wife’s Mum: About the Prevalent
Personage in Jokes
Abstract: The paper deals with the image of the mother-in-law, enjoying great popularity not only in Bulgarian jokes. Usually the mother-in-law is interpreted as one of the inevitable evils of marriage and often becomes the subject of her son-in-law’s aggression. The author aims at finding answers to the questions
concerning the occurrence of a new pair of characters, which were not to be found in the premodern comic
narrative tradition, and the implications of that occurrence. According to him, the images of the motherin-law and son-in-law and their relationships explicate the transformations that took place in the familykinship relations under the circumstances of modern culture. Those changes are related to the gradual
distinguishing of the family from the large kinship structures and to the new type of relationships between
the spouses, as well as to the intimization of the home domain wherein the cultural experience of the wife
has become a leading factor.
Keywords: mother-in-law jokes, family, modernity
There is one character in the international jokes repertoire that half of the mankind is eager to hear about. If we type “Witze, Schwiegermutter”, “jokes, mother-in-law”,
“blagues, belle-mere“, etc. into an internet browser, the search will bring up thousands of
web pages containing more or less witty texts.1 The fact that the kinship term in many languages is the same for the mother of the wife and the mother of the husband, does not significantly affect the results. As seen from the web pages opened randomly, usually the jokes
address the former term (comp. Davis 2012: 14). Those circulating in Bulgaria are not an
exception.2 Jokes about the wife’s mum have been collected on special web pages and feature endlessly in many internet collections.3 The popularity of jokes about the mother-in-law
is marked in printed publications as well. Moreover, they have a booked place in all book
collections, newspapers, magazines; they appear in multiple editions (Nikolov 1994) and
even multi-volume series (Stefanov & Stefanov 2006).4
1
On 11 January, 2013, Google results were: French 625,000, German 234,000, English 15,800,000. The Bulgarian references were 72,000, respectively. An overview of the mother-in-low jokes narrated in different countries
see by Davis 2012.
2
The Bulgarian terms are different: the wife’s mum is called ‘тъща’ [tashta], while the husband’s mother is
‘свекърва’ [svekarva]. Usually jokes about the husband’s mother are published in chapters about the wife’s mum
in internet collections of jokes. The number of texts about the husband’s mother is considerably smaller. E.g. on
11 January, 2013, a key word search for ‘husband’s mother’ in the chapter Mother-in-law of the jokes collection
Vicove.org (http://www.vicove.org) (in Bulgarian) yielded 8 texts out of 190 total.
3
Compare the web page http://gadmrusna.hit.bg/bg.htm, last accessed 19 March 2013 (in Bulgarian), which
– besides texts with a simple but explicit enough design – illustrates its title: The wife’s mum – a disgusting
reptile!!!
4
By this time, only the first of the six planned volumes has been published.
224
Stanoy Stanoev
Jokes about the wife’s mum might be regarded as part of a larger field which concerns
relationships within the family, first of all between the spouses. I will call them ‘spousal
jokes’ for convenience. These jokes are known in literature, internet and popular press as
marriage jokes/husband and wife jokes (comp. German Ehewitzе). The most used Bulgarian term
is vitsove za semeyni [jokes about family members].5 Regardless of the specificity of national joke
repertoires, there are significant similarities in themes, plots and ideas, with a considerable
degree of overlap or borrowing insofar as the interpretation of the character of the wife’s
mum is concerned. This should not be surprising in times of the Internet. On the other hand,
this would hardly be possible, if there were not some general features and stereotypes in the
background. The perception of the character of the wife’s mum might be regarded a universal one, combining tendencies that spread beyond particular national contexts.
The main idea, shared by all jokes of the kind considered, is that the existence of a mother-in-law (specifically the wife’s mum) is an unavoidable evil of marriage bonding:
“Dad, what did they call Adam’s mother-in-law?”
“Do you mean the mother-in-law of the Biblical Adam? What mother-in-law in Eden, sonny?”6
“Doctor, my ears are ringing, my knees are shaking, I am depressed – I feel an absolute squit ...”
“I see. So, when is your mother-in-law leaving?”7
The irritating presence evokes respective dreams about the mother-in-law’s absence,
which sometimes extend quite far. The absence spans a wide range – from the desire for her
leaving the house, or residing away from it, to the desire far beyond that – the longing for
the mother-in-law’s leaving this world:
“Here you are a 100 leva,” says the director to his secretary. “Go to the station to meet my motherin-law. Tell her I’m busy.”
“And what if she does not arrive?”
“If she does not arrive, you’ll have 100 leva more.”8
A man wins the loto jackpot. A friend asks him:
“How did your mother-in-law feel about that?”
“She simply died of joy!”
“Oh, my God, so much happiness at once.”9
In a number of jokes, the son-in-law does not simply dream of a mishap coming across
his beloved mother-in-law. Often the latter becomes the subject of rather harsh aggression,
which – at a first glance – seems to be groundless:
5
Compare http://vicove.gbg.bg/index.phtml?tid=20&oid=156, last accessed 15 March 2013 (in Bulgarian);
Vitsove (1995).
6
“Sega”, 1 September 2007, p. 47. The texts cited further on are from different sources. However, accuracy
wise, we should mention that a great part of those texts are found not only in the referred sources. There is an
intensive exchange of relatively established plots and topics between various internet web pages, collections and
separate publications in the press, reaching a point of complete overlap. Citing different sources herein aims at
illustrating the wide spread of the mother-in-law jokes, which have been enjoying a significant presence on all
of the more serious web pages and in all printed collections – either as a part of more general rubrics, or as specialized chapters or web pages.
7
http://vicove.gbg.bg/index.phtml?tid=20&oid=173&sid=&did=&search=&offset=151, last accessed 19 March
8
9
Vitsove (1995: 96–97).
“Sega”, 24 November 2001, p. 18.
There Comes the Wife’s Mum: About the Prevalent Personage in Jokes
225
Someone’s mother-in-law faints. He calls urgently a doctor.
“We should bring her back to consciousness immediately. The best way is to slap her on the
face.”
“Let ME do this, doc,” interferes the son-in-law. “I’ve been waiting to get such a chance for fifteen
years.”10
That is not the end to the son-in-law’s aggression in jokes. The idea of the mother-inlaw’s disappearance thematizes and deepens in various directions at different levels. Similar
to the case with dreaming, the aggression may reach the level of physical destruction. Those
jokes are not small in number and express the intention of causing pain and death to the
mother-in-law and even committing an act of murder:
Two friends meet. One of them is carrying a pair of earrings and a gun.
The other asks him:
“What do you need those earrings for?”
“Well, the mother-in-law has a birthday, so I got a present for her.”
“And what about the gun?”
“I need it to pierce her ears.”11
A kid asks his father:
“Why is grandma running in a zigzag, Dad?”
“For you that’s your grandma, but for me it’s my mother-in-law. Give me the second gun
magazine!”12
A man enters the pharmacist’s:
“Have you got arsenic?”
“We have. But it is prescription-only. Have you got a prescription?”
“I’ve not. But I’ve brought my mother-in-law’s photo.”13
A similar context is in the topic of a son-in-law’s trial, when the accused makes logical
explanations about reasons for having hurt his mother-in-law, or having allowed or caused
her death. In a number of cases those reasons find legal support both in the witnesses’ evidence and in the judges’ sentence, who obviously also can ‘enjoy’ the presence of a motherin-law at home:
In the court room:
“Defendant, tell us how all this happened.”
“In the morning I got up, went to the bathroom and started washing. Meanwhile my wife was
laying the breakfast table. She called me and I sat at the table to butter a toast. All of a sudden the
butter fell on the floor. I bent down to scribe it. At that time my mother-in-law passed by and fell
upon the knife. That happened seventeen times...”14
In the court room:
“Did you see him beating his mother-in-law?”
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you help?”
“He was managing quite well by himself.”15
10
11
12
Vitsove (1995: 76–77).
http://vicove.org/page/873, last accessed 19 March 2013 (in Bulgarian).
http://gadmrusna.hit.bg/bg.htm, last accessed 19 March 2013 (in Bulgarian).
13
14
15
http://jokesbg.com/smeshni-vicove/start/1344, last accessed 20 March 2013 (in Bulgarian).
http://gadmrusna.hit.bg/bg.htm, last accesed 20 March 2013 (in Bulgarian).
226
Stanoy Stanoev
A man is sued for having beaten up his mother-in-law.
“You are fined $1007,” says the judge.
“Why should I pay such a sum? Why shouldn’t I pay let’s say a $1000?”
“Your fine for beating someone is $ 1000, $7 is the local entertainment tax.”16
It should be mentioned that the aggression discussed is not unidirectional. As stated
earlier, the son-in-law’s feelings towards his mother-in-law are entirely reciprocal. In some
cases, jokes present the character of a shy and obedient mother-in-law, but often the situation is opposite:
“My mother-in-law is awful”, confesses to a friend Petrov. “She starts rebuking me immediately
upon my homecoming.”
“What about your coming home late?”
“In such cases she starts rebuking me prior to my return.”17
A son-in-law gets two neckties as a Christmas present from his mother-in-law. In order to please
her, he ties one of those.
The mother-in-law frowns upon him:
“It seems you don’t like the other one, ah?”18
At the funeral of a young man his mother-in-law is being asked:
“Do you remember what your son-in-law’s last words were?”
“Yes, I do.”
“‘What were those words?”
The woman ponders for a while and says:
“He looked at me and said: ‘You’re so clumsy. With this gun you’ll miss an elephant! ’”19
However, the examples just cited are fewer in type in the general corpus of mother-inlaw jokes. Most of them deal with the son-in-law’s viewpoint. All the same, milder aggression characterizes the jokes in which the mother-in-law is the main protagonist. Those jokes
incorporate well into the relatively ingenuous topics and plots of marriage jokes, also known
in traditional culture and gladly adopted in everyday life. The former gravitate towards
themes such as: the husband’s inability to ensure the well-being of the family or his failure
in cooking and bringing up children; the wife’s incompetence in keeping the house but
greedily looking at her husband’s pocketbook; the wife’s being constantly displeased and
grunting, especially when her husband drops at the pub on his way home; the man’s freedom chained by marriage; ceaseless discrepancies in the marriage bed and challenges of
spousal faithfulness (Stanoev 2005: 139-149), etc.
In this context, the way mothers-in-law are presented is somewhat perplexing. Although
the anecdotes presented could be considered a part of family jokes, they seem to have nothing in common with them with regard to the spirit and plot, not to speak of the degree of
aggression depicted. In the case of desire for violence and death, injuries are revealed fully
and the joy gained from violence is great and unconcealed. The mocking attitude towards
the mother-in-law is too radical to be accepted simply as a nasty supplement to the family
landscape. What are the origins of this cruelty and enjoyment in the narrated harm? What
evokes this maximum negativism emerging as a major tendency in the texts?
Usually radical questions presuppose radical answers. The mother-in-law’s character
appeared later than other ‘family’ personage in the folklore humour tradition. Obviously,
16
17
18
19
“Sega”, 12 February 2000, p. 14.
Vitsove (1995: 76–77).
Vsichki vitsove (2004: 721–722).
Stefanov & Stefanov (2006: 85–86).
227
this is connected with the changes in the kinship and family relations, which came along
with modernity especially at the time of industrialization. The said changes are known and
have been studied in literature.
Acording to Christie Davis: “ Where a country’s kinship order changes from the patrilineal joint family to the nuclear family […] the jokes about the husband’s mother-in-law
emerge and flourish” (Davis 2012: 12). Since the XVIIIth century the nuclear family model
has been the more common one replacing the preceding idyll of the big courtyard house
inhabited by several generations living in agreement. The domestic domain is limited to the
closest circle of the couple and their children (Bihr & Pfefferkorn 1998). This family model is
not a fortuitous phenomenon. The sociologists find it to be a structure which is more relevant
and adaptive to a world of enhanced mobility and dynamics (Götz n.d.: 35, see also the literature cited therein; Goody 2005: 180, 199). The core of the process is in separating the house
from the manufacturing sphere and turning it first of all into a place for consummation and
bringing up the children (Goody 2005: 225; Spasovska 1997: 418). The domestic domain is
closed, intimized, the access to it is traced and regulated (Hauzen 2002). The home is assumed as an island of harmony and peace providing shelter an opposite to the outer world
– the world of market racing, of efforts and laboring for a living (Götz n.d.: 31–34).
Unlike in the pre-modern times, when marriage was to a great extent dependent on economic advisability (Giddens 1993: 49), by binding the spouses to a new type of family, the
model takes into consideration more and more the right of personal choice guided by a
shared deep emotional attraction (Giddens 1993: 56; Bihr & Pfefferkorn 1998; Popova 2001:
391). Romantic love, which appeared in the late 1700s, outlined new directions of human intimacy and self-reflection, and positioned the family into a long lasting perspective of ‘mutual history’, which extracts the marriage bond from the rest of the family organization and
assigns to it special value (Giddens 1993: 56).
At the same time, one should not ignore objections to this view raised by some authors,
especially when arguments are based on rich factual material. They find it exaggerating to
speak of a radical change in the kinship and family relations either as a structure or as values
in family life (Goody 2005: 196-208). According to an alternative analysis, the matter should
rather be seen as an ideal model merging into real life practices. This concerns radicalism
and massive character, as well as novelty. There also have been forms of nuclearity prior to
the modern transition (Goody 2005: 15). It seems that the destruction of the complex family
has not been completed yet; on the contrary – the model is quite vital in some social and
cultural groups under particular circumstances (Goody 2005: 181; Benovska-Sabkova 2001:
45-163). The kinship and family relations, postulated mainly in terms of their joining functionality and content, even if exhausted in the times of modernity, continue to hold a significant identification potential (Götz n.d.: 36). So, we should rather take the advice of those
scholars who recommend focusing not so much upon the forms of the disappearance of
these relations, but upon the changes and new forms of their realization (Goody 2005: 222;
Giddens 1993: 109).
Doubts as to whether there have or have not been any great or radical changes, become
stronger when we turn our attention to the sphere of spousal relations. According to the
observations of one author, if we treat the arrival of modernity as a transition from a state in
which the group and the kind dominate over the individual into another one, wherein emphasis is put upon individual uniqueness, then “the modern scientific, social, political and
every-day discourses separate: the modern splits and its male half embraces the principal of
individuality, while its female half is entitled to take care of the species survival” (Gavrilova
2001: 261). The distinguishing of the home from economic activities, of the private from the
public, has its definite gender markers: the domestic domain is assigned to the woman,
while the major societal and historical problems are fields where the male narrative flows.
228
Stanoy Stanoev
Of course, all that at first glance leads to the indubitable, ‘natural’ gender distribution of
roles as in a traditional culture (Bochkov 1999; Elchinova 2001: 46-49). The difference is in
the fact that the same distribution acquires its ideological argumentation in the rational
world of modernity. The matter concerns the natural biological predisposition and binding
of the woman to the home and progeny upbringing (Dressel 2001). From this originate her
further social and cultural engagements. The image of the caring housewife, of the devoted
mother and of the obedient wife, has gained exceptional sustainability and a long time perspective, which can be found in the legislative, institutional and political texts and activities;
in literary and social thought; in everyday practices and media discourses; in the processes
of gender identification and self-identification (Götz n.d.: 32–33; Luleva 2003; Angelova
2001; Koleva 2001; Daskalova n.d.; Daskalov 2005: 316–329). Those stereotypes have been
talked about in traditional narrative forms, and they are still talked about, as indicated
above, in the types of jokes that appeared later on.
The character of a mother-in-law stands attractively explicit against the above described
irresolute background. First comes the fact of the very existence of such a character. A new
personage arrives in the talk of the kinship and family relations and, as is known, each new
character that appears in jokes (as in folklore in general) does not appear by chance. It can
be seen as a concept that expresses belonging to a current socio-cultural sphere (Stanoev
2005: 29–35). It should be reminded here that the matter does not concern a concept which
originates as a result of researchers’ efforts and operations: this concept is explicated by a
culture itself, i.e. it is important for the culture’s creating and sustaining its self-image. In
this context, several aspects attract our special attention and require particular treatment: 1)
As we shall see later, the mother-in-law’s character is not a conjectured one. It has a sustainable and happy joke history with an open end, which is as old as the family couple. This
means that the character of the mother-in-law is used to mark important features of the
modern social and cultural processes. The above is proven by 2) The mother-in-law being
subject to extreme aggression. Regarding the number of deaths, her character has no analogue in the gallery of joke personages. For instance, death also affects president characters
in political jokes, where, however, the desired death of the president, his assassination, placement in the other world, etc., correspond to the fundamental importance that the explication
of his/her figure has for the cultural and social identities of the joke tellers and listeners (Stanoev 2005: 63–65). Therefrom originates: 3) The emergence and life of such a personage as a
potentially reliable indicator of the contexts which, as a result of economic, social and cultural development, create difficulties for the researcher attempting to draw clearer and more
distinguishable contours of the modernization-based changes. Despite ‘patriarchality’ being
assigned to the Bulgarians in culturological, sociological, politological, etc. works until nowadays, a brief review of the humour press and popular literature of the period between the
two world wars (Nikolov 1994; Noev 1933) shows the mother-in-law to have already been a
character actual enough. The character had thus had its prepared audience, which had been
expecting it, regardless of whether the texts were translated texts or ones created locally. The
ways it was interpreted back then did not differ much from the laughter brought on by contemporary jokes. Moreover, some plots are still popular and can be found on the pages of
present-day collections, newspapers and magazines, as well as on the internet:
“Anyway, you waste a lot of money on touring cities with your mother-in-law. You’ve been travelling for several years.”
“That’s true but I hope to get a great bonus.”
“What bonus?”
“My mother-in-law has a life insurance with the railways.”20
20
Noev (1933: 45).
229
“You know, my mother-in-law is on the deathbed. Therefore, please, compose an epitaph for her
tombstone.”
“That’s a piece of cake. Just write ‘FINALLY’”.21
“Imagine! While the whole house was on fire he got inside to save his mother-in-law.”
“Well, under such circumstances one loses his whole mind.”22
If we continue to listen carefully to what culture narrates via the mother-in-law’s character in jokes, we will discover other interesting events and facts taking place in its environment. Regarding the type and degree of aggression exhibited in the mother-in-law/son-in-law
relationship, it comes across as comparable to the emblematic daughter-in-law/mother-in-law
pair from the traditional culture narrated amazingly by ballads (Boyadzhieva 1982). In ballads, as in other folklore forms, the tension between the mother-in-law and the daughter-inlaw draws a line followed by the more general own–foreign opposition (Elchinova 2001: 48).
In this context, the aggression undertaken by the mother-in-law towards her daughter-inlaw carries the sense of preserving the clan and the clan’s identity. No matter how well she
incorporates into her husband’s cultural domain and how well she bears the mission of extending the clan, the daughter-in-law will always be marked by a sign of foreignness. And
this continues until she herself takes the place of a mother-in-law.
Modern culture also relies on observations of the fundamental characters of the kinship
and family relations. It watches their confliction which, in ballads, reflects the processes of
problematization of the traditional social order (Nichev 1976: 185–186). At the same time,
modern culture has obviously judged the mother-in-law/son-in-law relation to be more relevant to the processes running in it.23 It is again the house where two cultures meet and
clash. If we trace the texts in which the mother-in-law is the main protagonist – the motives
for rejecting the son-in-law seem to derive solely from his foreignness. He is the least appropriate choice that her daughter might have made (Wikipedia/Mother-in-Law_jokes) and
probably this provides satisfying enough ground for the surveillance and constant interference into the life of the young couple:
The son-in-law unwraps his birthday present and sees the shirt he was given to be two sizes
larger.
“Mother, you know my size, don’t you?”
“I do, of course. Thought I did not want the saleswoman to learn what a midget I have for a sonin-law.”24
A mother comes to visit her daughter. Starting from the door she asks:
“What’s the matter with you? You look awful.”
“Nothing’s the matter, mum. All is fine.”
“You cannot lie to me. All is clear. That’s because of your husband.”
“Nothing of that, mum.”
“That’s because of him, I know. At night you go to bed tired with a headache and he begins to
torment you because he thinks only of screwing...”
21
22
Nikolov (1994: 45).
Nikolov (1994: 42). Compare Vsichki vitsove (2004: 726). Quite a lot texts known and circulating yet prior
to the mid-1950s can be found in contemporary editions – see Nikolov (1994). A strong stimulus for this phenomenon may have been the cited collection Tashtata. Anekdoti [The Wife’s Mum. Anecdotes] (Nikolov 1994), which
was a collection of jokes published in the humour press during the first half of the 20th century.
23
Christie Davies reveals that an analogous replacement of the pair mother-in-law/daughter-in-law well
known from the traditional folklore with the pair mother-in-law/son-in-law in jokes took place in Estonia during
the modernization.
24
Stefanov & Stefanov (2006: 46–47).
230
Stanoy Stanoev
“That’s not the reason, mum.”
“That’s not the reason?! I see. He wants you to do all kinds of sexual perversities...”
“Why perversities?”
“All men are alike. If not perversities, he wants to screw you ten times a night...”
“Nothing of that, mum.”
“You say nothing of that! So, where is that eunuch now?”25
A witty reply from the son-in-law is expected. The mother-in-law is “ugly, bossy, interfering and generally unpleasant” (Davies 2012: 12):
Between neighbours:
“Why don’t you put a scarecrow in the garden?”
“No need. My mother-in-law works there all day.”26
A man goes to see the psychiatrist and says:
“I had a horrible nightmare, Doctor. I dreamt my mother was walking a crocodile on a leash. Oh,
those yellow eyes! Oh, those large teeth! Oh, that rugged green skin!”
“That sounds horrible, indeed!”
“Wait, now I’m gonna tell you about the crocodile.”27
We have already seen the outcomes of such family disagreements. Something else is
more interesting and more important here. A change has occurred within the frames of the
conflict between both characters. The brief definition of this change should be: in comparison with the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law pair, the own side has become foreign and the
foreign – own. It thus turns out that the domestic domain has become a source of insecurity
for the man, instead of bringing him delight is in experiencing continuing patriarchality.
That is why he utilizes intensive identification strategies, which is what jokes about mothers-in-law actually are. The situation might be considered a consequence of the above-mentioned process of insulation of the domestic domain from public life. The usual interpretations of those processes in light of the continuing (perhaps immersing) bonding of the wife,
seem to shift our attention from the fact that closing and intimization of the domestic domain leads to the formation of a new world of more detailed and expanded knowledge and
experience. Some idea is given by the topics of so-called ‘ladies journals’ – spreading from
columns on home furnishing and housekeeping, cooking, interior, decorations, fashion and
clothes patterns to columns on marriage counselling, gender relations and children’s education and upbringing (Angelova 2001; Popova 2001). We also could mention the functioning
of such specialized mechanisms as the schools for housewives, which were very popular
during the first half of the 20th century (Popova 2001: 390). In that respect, the separation of
the workplace from the home, and the concentration of the husband and wife in those separate culture fields, create their ‘spheres of influence’, fields of power. That is not a simple
distribution of the roles and domains, but a coexistence and maybe a clash of two different
cultures having their own responsibilities, inner differentiations, complications and competences, where the women have a significant place of their own and a more independent
participation in the private and public life. Those facst should not be underestimated (Goody
2005: 184).
25
26
27
http://vicove.virtbg.com/jokes_cat_10_page_8.html, last accessed 20 March 2013 (in Bulgarian).
Stefanov & Stefanov (2006: 34).
231
Already in the past the husband used to be an external factor in relation to the home
(Elchinova 2001: 48). However, that did not put him into any identification collision, since
that home used to possess all the parameters of its ‘own’ culture. Now things are going another way.
In the family domain thus formed, life is shaped by rules and forms which to a great
extent come from the wife’s side as inherited experience and knowledge. And if such considerations sound rather definite or abstract, on the plane of particular practices, of the thousands of minor norms and activities shaping everyday order, they have their direct projections – e.g. what are the plates going to be filled with when the family sits at the table. The
tendency becomes more distinguishable and stable after the birth of children, whose being
the focus of the modern family is another of its main markers (Götz n.d.: 34–35). According
to Jack Goody, in those cases the mother-daughter bond becomes stronger psychologically
because of the stronger mutual identification of the two generations of women involved in
the same activities and relying on each other’s help (Goody 2005: 183).
The changes occurring in the gender relationships and their impact upon the nature of
the spousal relationships are expected to deepen the man’s feeling that he is living in a foreign culture. More and more women get paid jobs (Lipovetsky 2003: 318–327) and contribute
to the income of the family. That inevitably shakes the power balance in the home domain
and ruins the comfort of the previous virile charisma. In that sense, telling or even simply
enjoying the jokes about mother-in-laws the husband adopts one of the possible strategies for
lowering the tension (Davies 2012: 17) and ultimately for achieving a more stable identity.
Another important change which differentiates mother-in-law vs. son-in-law jokes from
daughter-in-law vs. mother-in-law ones is the absolutely reversed direction of the depicted
aggression. The main aggressor is the son-in-law, while the mother-in-law remains within
the frame of taking a negative attitude towards him without making more serious steps. The
script in both cases is identical – the family community receives a newcomer through the
marriage institution. The values of the traditional culture, according to which the voice of
the group is louder than that of the individual, predetermine the source of the pressure, its
direction, intensity and significance. The modern culture multiplies the relation – it becomes
fundamental enough to be an important theme of jokes as well. Modern culture also repeats
the dramaturgy of this relation as well as the degree of aggression. At the same time, it overturns the accents and changes the roles. The ‘own’ now has another face differing from that
of the big clan. The aggression stems from the newcomer to the community and serves to
distinguish the newly formed family structure. Of course, we could again recall arguments
that the nucleus model of the family in its factual existence is rather obscure and that we
could label it historically, socially and culturally. Nevertheless, we have enough grounds to
consider that in the thoughts of many women in the period between the two world wars,
this model, though not by common practice, was popular as a desired pattern of family organization and marital lifestyle.28
Remarkably, there is something that has not changed so far in the course of these developments. The modus of telling the stories is well known. The masculine principle is the
background determining the behaviour of the husband’s mother in the traditional culture.
It is again the husband who sets the new domestic and family borders: those are fragmentary illustrations of the authoritative presence of the male narrative in the past and nowadays (Daskalova n.d.; Duby & Perrot n.d.).
28
Compare the article by Kristina Popova, which deals with the topics and plots of embroidered wall hangings as a reflection of the existential worlds they are related to, with their historical context and social boundaries
of spreading (Popova 2001).
232
Stanoy Stanoev
Unchanged is also the ability of folklore to create its concepts of understanding and rationalizing and interpreting the processes occurring in the habituated reality. The son-inlaw/mother-in-law conflict is a means of explicating the significant changes in the kinship
and family relations caused by modernity. Unlike the scholar and his cautiousness, the joke
cannot afford to hesitate, since its goals are to create a world – foreseeable, ordered and offering safety.
Bibliography
Angelova Milena (2001), “Da badesh ocharovatelna – tova e dalg!”‘Modernata’ zhena, reklamata i ‘zhenskiat’ pechat v Bulgaria 1939–1944 [To be Charming is a Duty. The ‘Modern’
Woman, Advertisement and ‘Ladies’ Journals in Bulgaria 1939–1944] in: E. Tacheva &
I. Nedin (eds.) TYA na Balkanite, Blagoevgrad: Mezhdunaroden balkanistichen seminar, pp. 254–260 (in Bulgarian).
Benovska-Sabkova Milena (2001), Politicheski prehod i vsekidnevna kultura [Political Transition and Everyday Culture], Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov” (in
Bulgarian).
Bihr Alain & Pfefferkorn Roland (1998), Muzhchiny/Zhenshchiny. Dinamika Identichnosti
[Men-Women. Dynamics of Identity], “The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology” (1) 1, http://hq.soc.pu.ru/publications/jssa/1998/1/a12.html/last accessed 20 March
2013 (in Russian).
Bochkov Plamen (1999), Etnichnite obrazi na mazhkoto i zhenskoto – vlast i kompetentnost
[Ethnic Images of the Male and Female: Power and Competence], “Balgarski folklor” 25 (4),
Boyadzhieva Stoyanka (1982), Belezhki kam baladite za zla svekarva v balgarskia i gratskia
folklor [Notes on the Ballads about the Evil Mother-in-law in Bulgarian and Greek Folklore],
“Balgarski folklor” 8 (2), pp. 33–44 (in Bulgarian).
Daskalov Rumen (2005), Balgarskoto obshtestvo 1878–1939, Т. 2. Naselenie, obshtestvo, kultura
[The Bulgarian Society 1878–1939, vol. 2. Population, Society, Culture], Sofia: Gutenberg
(in Bulgarian).
Daskalova Krasimira (n.d.), Zhenskata identichnost: normi, predstavi, obrazi v balgarskata kultura ot 19 – nachaloto na 20 vek [Female Identity: Norms, Notions and Images in the Bulgarian
Culture of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries], http://www.ilit.bas.bg/bi/include.
php?file=daskalova/ last accessed 29 March 2007 (in Bulgarian).
Davies Christie (2012), The English Mother-in-Law Joke and its Missing Relatives, “Israeli
Journal of Humor Research” 1(2), pp. 12–39.
Dobreva Dorotea (1993), Pazi, Bozhe, ot zhenska belya! (Obrazat na zhenata v balgarskata anekdotichna traditsia) [Save, God, from Woman’s Trouble! (The Woman’s Image in the Bulgarian
Anecdote Tradition)], “Literaturna misal” 44 (3), pp. 65–81 (in Bulgarian).
Dressel Georg (2001), Ako otnovo stava duma za evolyutsiata – ese po temata [If it Be Speaking
of Nature Again – An Essay on the Subject] in: E. Tacheva & I. Nedin (eds.) TYA na Balkanite, Blagoevgrad: Mezhdunaroden balkanistichen seminar, pp. 405–416 (in Bulgarian).
Duby Georges & Perrot Michelle (n.d.) Rasskazyvaya istoriyu zhenshchin [Telling the Story of
Women], http://www.kcgs.org.ua/RUSSIAN/pub/gs12/7.pdf/ last accessed 18 March
2013 (in Russian).
Elchinova Magdalena (2001), Zhenata na Balkanite mezhdu traditsia i modernost: roli, status,
tsennosti [Woman on the Balkans between Tradition and Contemporaneity: Roles, Status, Values] in: E. Tacheva & I. Nedin (eds.) TYA na Balkanite, Blagoevgrad: Mezhdunaroden
balkanistichen seminar, pp. 46–53 (in Bulgarian).
Gavrilova Rayna (2001), Zheni v gradovete, detsa v selata [Women in Towns, Children in Villages] in: E. Tacheva & I. Nedin (eds.) TYA na Balkanite, Blagoevgrad: Mezhdunaroden
balkanistichen seminar, pp. 261–266 (in Bulgarian).
Giddens Аntony (1993), Wandel der Intimität. Sexualität, Liebe und Erotik in modernen Gesellschaften, Frankfurt/Main: Fischer.
233
Goody Jack (2005), Evropeyskoto semeystvo [The European Family], Sofia: LIK (in Bulgarian).
Götz Irene (n.d.), Familienkultur im Wandel – Perspektiven einer europäischen Ethnologie,
http://www.eundc.de/pdf/40006.pdf/ last accessed 19 March 2013.
Hauzen Karin (2002), Vsekidnevnata [The Living-room] in: Mesta na vsekidnevieto. Miniatyuri
ot evropeyskata kulturna istoria, ed. by H.-G. Haupt, Sofia: LIK, pp. 140–150 (in
Bulgarian).
Koleva Daniela (2001), Mazhki raboti, zhenski istorii: problematichnostta na opita i glednata
tochka na zhenite prez pogleda na ustnata istoria [Men’s Business, Women’s Stories: the Problems of the Experience and the View Point of Women Through the Oral History] in: E. Tacheva
& I. Nedin (eds.) TYA na Balkanite, Blagoevgrad: Mezhdunaroden balkanistichen seminar, pp. 254–260 (in Bulgarian).
Lipovetsky Gilles (2003), Tretia zhenshchina [The Third Woman]. Sankt Peterburg: Aleteia
(in Russian).
Luleva Ana (2003), Polov red (gender order) i transformatsia [Gender Order and Transformation], “Balgarska etnologia” 29 (2–3), pp. 96–110 (in Bulgarian).
Nichev Boyan (1976), Ot folklor kam literatura. Uvod v yuzhnoslavyanskia realizam [From Folklore to Literature. Introduction to the Southslavic Realism], Sofia: Balgarski pisatel (in
Bulgarian).
Nikolov Grigor (1994), Tashtata. Anekdoti [The Wife’s Mum. Anecdotes], Sofia: Reklamna
kashta “Vili” (in Bulgarian).
Noev Panayot (1933), Velikoto i smeshnoto. Anekdoti, smehorii i shegi iz zhivota na velikite
i prostosmartnite lyude. Prevel i dopalnil P. Noev [The Great and the Funny. Anecdotes, Funny
Stories and Jokes from the Lives of the Great and the Mortals. Translation and supplements by
P. Noev], Sofia (in Bulgarian).
Popova Kristina (2001), Istorii varhu plat. Edno populyarno zhensko rakodelie prez vtorata i
tretata chetvart na dvadeseti vek [Stories on Material. A Popular Woman’s Needlework During
the Second and Third Quarter of 20th Century] in: E. Tacheva & I. Nedin (eds.) TYA na Balkanite, Blagoevgrad: Mezhdunaroden balkanistichen seminar, pp. 386–394 (in
Bulgarian).
Spasovska Lilyana (1997), Semeystvo [Family] in: Entsiklopedichen rechnik po sotsiologia.
Vtoro izdanie [Sociological Encylopedic Dictionary. Second Edition], Sofia: M-8-M Mihail
Mirchev, pp. 416–418 (in Bulgarian).
Stanoev Stanoy (2005), Vitsat i negovite poslania [Jokes and Their Messages], Sofia: Akademichno izdatelstvo “Prof. Marin Drinov” (in Bulgarian).
Stefanov Ivan & Stefanov Vladimir (2006), 1001 i poveche vitsa za tashtite. Т. 1. Zashto petela
pee tsyal zhivot? [1001 and More Jokes About the Mothers-in-Law. Vol. 1. Why does the Rooster Crow All Its Life?] Sofia: Dimi 99 (in Bulgarian).
Uzeneva Elena (n.d.), Dzhendar i balgarski poslovitsi [Gender and Bulgarian Proverbs], http://
www.etno-institut.co.yu/GEI/GEI_LIII/Uzeneva.pdf/last accessed 10 January 2008 (in
Bulgarian).
Vitsove (1995), Vitsove za semeyni. 400 ot nay-solenite do nay-sladkite istorii za mladozhentsi,
rogonostsi pod chehal i stravni bulcheta [Jokes about Married Couples. 400 Most Piquant Stories about Newlyweds, Henpecked Cuckolds and Bait Little Wives]. Sofia: Flyorir (in
Bulgarian).
Vsichki vitsove (2004), Vsichki vitsove, koito tryabva da znaete. 3393 vitsa za dushata na vsyaka
kompania [All the Jokes You Should Know. 3339 Jokes for the Soul of Every Party] Ed. by Viktoria Dimitrova, Sofia: Knigoizdatelska kashta “Trud” (in Bulgarian).
Web sites
http://vicove.gbg.bg, last accessed 29 April 2013 (in Bulgarian)
http://www.gadmrusna.hit.bg/bg, last accessed 20 March 2013 (in Bulgarian)
http://jokesbg.com, last accessed 29 April 2013 (in Bulgarian)
http://www.vicove.com, last accessed 29 April 2013 (in Bulgarian)
http://www.vicove.org, last accessed 29 April 2013 (in Bulgarian)
http://www.vicovete.net, last accessed 29 April 2013 (in Bulgarian)
http://vicove.virtbg.com, last accessed 29 April 2013 (in Bulgarian)
234
Stanoy Stanoev
Wikipedia/Mother-in-Law_jokes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother-in-law_joke, last
accessed 20 March 2013
Biographical note: Dr Stanoy Stanoev is Associate Professor at the Department for
Comparative Folklore Studies of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. His main research interests are in the fields of jokes and
joke telling, contemporary folklore, urban culture, modernity.
Vol. 2/2013
p. 235–242
Intangible Cultural Heritage
Mila Santova
Human Rights and Intangible Cultural Heritage
1
Abstract: The text outlines meaningful relations between fundamental international documents on man’s
status in society and a very fragile side of his creativity observed in its aspect of cultural heritage. These
are The Universal Declaration of the United Nations on Human Rights (1948) and The Convention of
UNESCO on Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). We also have referred to The Stockholm
Declaration of IKOMOS (1998), The Declaration of the United Nations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(2007) and others.
It is emphasized that these types of documents focus on the processes of human cultural identity.
Some specific features of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) are outlined as possessing ancient cultural
roots being at the same time live heritage, its bearers being living people – directly leading us to the issues
of cultural transmission. The specific analysis of texts from The Universal Declaration and The Convention
outline the figure of man as being the focus of both documents. But since in the first document man has
been recognized as an individual bearer, the second one outlines three types of bearers – preserving and
recreating the intangible cultural heritage: communities, groups and individuals. The texts of the Convention elaborate two-fold rights of man: as an individual perceiver of cultural heritage taking part in its preservation and an individual bearer of cultural heritage who is subjected to safeguarding. The specific features of the subject of Intangible Cultural Heritage point towards the phenomenon of the so called ‘group
subject’ in traditional cultures whose model is recreated in the sphere of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Creativity in the sphere of Intangible Cultural Heritage relates to the so called group subject founded on its part
in the community form of cultural being. Contemporary legal documents more and more recognize the
‘group subject’ as active presence completely manifesting in the conditions of traditional indigenous communities and more and more acknowledge its collective rights on intellectual property which should be
preserved as right of the human creator of cultural values.
Keywords: intangible cultural heritage; human rights
The acceptance of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration 1948) by the General Assembly of the United Nations more than sixty years ago is undoubtedly an extremely important step that humankind made in the complicated process of
building up its own self-awareness. The document stated concisely the main parameters of
human presence, its basic human, cultural and social parameters. Explaining already in its
Preamble the need of a “general understanding of these rights and freedoms,” it turned into
a main instrument of people and of humankind for their own protection.
Numbering several decades already, the years that followed the acceptance of the Declaration, showed however that its clear and concise texts with a span of around 5 pages are
organized in such a way that enable opportunities for undertaking and interpreting even
1
Version of this text was published in Bulgarian language, cf.: Sanova Mila (2010), Pravata na choveka i nematerialnoto kulturno nasledstvo [Human Rights and Intangible Cultural Heritage], “Balgarski folklor” 3–4,
pp. 150–159.
236
Mila Santova
much wider fields than those that are directly stated in the separate formulations. Somebody may argue that the texts of the Universal Declaration have appeared polysemic. Thus,
for example, in 1998 through its Stockholm Declaration (followed later also by newer documents of different international organizations (e.g. the Council of Europe), ICOMOS – finding grounds in the Universal Declaration – interpreted the right of cultural heritage as an
inherent part of human rights (Krastev 2009). Taking a closer look at the texts of the Declaration provides a basis or offers possibilities also for other contemporary readings. Here is one
such interpretation:
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world
…
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national
or social origin, property, birth or other status.
…
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion …
…
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any
media and regardless of frontiers.
…
Article 26.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the
strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further
the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
…
Article 27
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the
arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any
scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
(Universal Declaration 1948 – my underlining, M.S.)
Far from being the only ones, the underlined formulations in the selected paragraphs of
the Preamble and of separate articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights point out
at an extremely important aspect of human presence and activity, whose enhanced interest
in identification and studying dates back to recent times. Human dignity, equality, freedom of
convictions, education, culture, the moral and material values, etc., which are treated in the document, draw the attention to identification, the human right of cultural identification. Actually,
without formulating explicitly this extremely important and delicate sphere of human
rights, The Universal Declaration unambiguously refers to it in almost all its texts.
In the complex processes of human identification, the intangible heritage has a
key role. Its elements are among the main elements of identity formation. The Convention of
UNESCO for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, accepted at the General Con-
237
ference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 17 October
2003 (called Convention 2003) explicitly states: […] This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted
from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their
environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity
and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity (Art. 2.1).
In fact Convention of UNESCO for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage is nowadays the only international document in this sphere and until October 2011 it has been ratified by 137 countries in the world. As the only document that relates to this part of the cultural heritage, on whose content the member states have reached a consensus, this Convention
turns into a major instrument in countries around the world for the protection of the intangible cultural heritage. Already in its Preamble, Convention 2003 states at the first place its
direct connection to the existing international human rights instruments, in particular to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights of 1948 (Convention 2003).
Intangible cultural heritage is a basic part of the cultural heritage of mankind – material,
intangible and natural (Convention 2003, Preamble). The comparison between the intangible cultural heritage and the material one outlines some substantial differences between the
two types of cultural heritage, whereas in the foreground, some core specificities prop out.
On the one side, intangible cultural heritage usually has deep roots, in some cases reaching at
the dawn of human civilization (concepts, structures, notions…). According to specialists,
for example, the archaic bi-vocal singing from Shoplouk region, which is performed until
today by Bistritsa grannies (and is the first Bulgarian masterpieces included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity) is a mark and expression
namely of such extremely old cultural layers. But, on the other hand, as this can be seen even
by the very mentioning of Bistritsa grannies, the intangible cultural heritage is a living heritage. It is maintained and reproduced in contemporary society by living people.
We may try to imagine in concrete parameters the substantial differences between the
material and intangible cultural heritage, using as a reference two widely known Bulgarian
examples of inclusion in the World Lists: Boyana Church2 and The Bistritsa Babi – Archaic Polyphony, Dances and Rituals from the Shoplouk Region.3 To the grand and the proud centuries-old
silence of the temple in Boyana, we can oppose the living performance of the specific tremolo, called
“shaking” of the female singers from Bistritsa. The differences are so apparent that we hardly need to
describe them here. What is most essential is that, in contrast to the silent world of artifacts from the
sphere of material cultural heritage, in the basis and the center of the intangible cultural heritage is
the living person, his or her knowledge and skills, his or her abilities to recreate what was
learnt from ancestors and to transfer it to the following generations.
Man is the main object of interest both in the Universal Declaration, and in the 2003 Convention of UNESCO.
By intangible cultural heritage, the Convention of UNESCO for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage understands:
Article 2 – Definitions
1. The “intangible cultural heritage” means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is
constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interac-
2
3
World Heritage List see in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/42/ last accessed 8 May 2013.
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity see in: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011&RL=00095/ last accessed 8 May 2013.
238
Mila Santova
tion with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus
promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. For the purposes of this Convention, consideration will be given solely to such intangible cultural heritage as is compatible with
existing international human rights instruments, as well as with the requirements of mutual
respect among communities, groups and individuals, and of sustainable development.
2. The “intangible cultural heritage”, as defined in paragraph 1 above, is manifested inter alia in
the following domains:
(a) oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural
heritage;
(b) performing arts;
(c) social practices, rituals and festive events;
(d) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
(e) traditional craftsmanship.
(Convention 2003 – my underlining, M. S.).
Following the definition of the quoted article 2.3 of Convention 2003, an interesting dichotomy can be formulated. According to it, a possibility for a direct expression of human
rights in the sphere of intangible cultural heritage will provide mutual respect between
communities, groups and separate individuals (subjects).
Human rights – mutual respect
of communities, groups
and separate individuals
(subjects)
Aside from stating yet again the presence of direct connections and internal relationships between the two world documents: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights и Convention of UNESCO for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, article 2.1 of the Convention (unlike the Universal Declaration that speaks exclusively about the separate person)
in practice introduces as a major concept three important forms of human presence, three
important types of subjects that are central to Convention 2003. Their presence directly refers
to the basic human right of identification. In fact, identification finds expression in the different forms of relationships of the three types of subjects with the forms of intangible cultural heritage (see article 2.2 quoted above). What is essential here is that the three types of
subjects are holders of intangible cultural heritage.
In order to avoid the varying and divergent interpretation of the contents of terms such
as communities, groups and individuals, in March 2006 UNESCO organized a special expert consultative meeting that took place in Tokyo, Japan, whose goal was to provide a relevant working definition of the three terms. Here are the results of its work:
• Communities are networks of people whose sense of identity or connectedness emerges from a
shared historical relationship that is rooted in the practice and transmission of, or engagement
with, their ICH;
• Groups comprise people within or across communities who share characteristics such as skills,
experience and special knowledge, and thus perform specific roles in the present and future
practice,re‐creation and/or transmission of their intangible cultural heritage…
• Individuals are those within or across communities who have distinct skills, knowledge, experience or other characteristics, and thus perform specific roles in the present and future practice,
re‐creation and/or transmission of their intangible cultural heritage…
(Expert Meeting 2006).
The need of including communities, groups and, where appropriate, individuals (Convention
2003, Art. 15) in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage is justified in a series of ar-
239
ticles of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, such as:
– article 2.1 that demands the identification of intangible cultural heritage by communities, groups and, where appropriate, individuals;
– article 11 that demands their participation in the identification and definition of the
intangible cultural heritage that is inherent to them;
– article 12 that refers to the identification and registering of the intangible cultural
heritage;
– article 13 that encourages states parties to ensure access to the intangible cultural
heritage, treating customary practices in full respect;
– article 15 that appeals to member states to ensure the widest possible participation
of communities, groups and, where appropriate, individuals in the safeguarding of their
intangible cultural heritage, etc.
And this active presence in the texts of the Convention means at least two essential
things.
It is apparent that on the one hand, about the intangible heritage, it is validated by all
clauses of the international documents related to:
– recognition;
– identification and definition;
– the access, safeguarding, etc., of cultural heritage in general. These are by themselves
clauses connected in principle with the human rights about the safeguarding of the cultural
heritage (Krastev 2009).
But, there is a slight specificity, which is related to the circumstance that in the sphere of
intangible cultural heritage, targets of safeguarding are not artifacts that originate from different epochs, but the living person – as a bearer of traditional knowledge and skills.
In such a way, with the intangible cultural heritage, people step into an ambiguous position. Man has rights:
– as a subject-consumer of cultural heritage and participant in its safeguarding (this role
coincides with the one that people have with regards to the material cultural heritage);
– as a subject – object of safeguarding, as long as he is a holder and performer of the different forms of intangible cultural heritage, and as long as he or she carries out the transmission of the knowledge about it to the following generations.
With regards to the first position, contemporary society has accumulated substantial
experience and several already established and practically used mechanisms of protection.
The pertinent issue both to the international community and to the Bulgarian state in particular is the care about the rights of the subject of intangible cultural heritage, the rights of
the holder of traditional knowledge and skills, or, in other words – the position of the human being as an object of protection.
In Bulgaria, the holders of intangible cultural heritage have as their brand territory the
National system “Living Human Treasures – Bulgaria”.4 It was carried out within the starting program of UNESCO5, which offered a possibility of adaptation on a national level, in
adherence with the national specificities. According to the hitherto accepted in Bulgaria
principles of system’s functioning – as developed by an expert team from the Institute of
Folklore at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences6, nominations for elements of intangible cul-
4
http://mc.government.bg/reg/index.php?act=content&do=detailed&rec=670/last accessed 7 May (in Bulgarian).
5
6
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=EN&pg=00061/ last accessed 9 May 2013.
Since 2010 – Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences.
240
Mila Santova
tural heritage are made every two years. The rights to prepare nominations belong to institutional structures of cultural centers (chitalishte)7 and museums in the country, as well to
experts. The nominations are selected by expert commissions on a regional level, appointed
by an Order of the Minister of Culture. This first selection leads to the outlining of one candidate from each administrative district in the country. The twenty-eight selected candidates
(twenty-eight districts) are discussed by the National expert council of intangible cultural
heritage and five of them are selected. These five candidates are included in the National
representative list of elements of intangible cultural heritage. The holders of intangible cultural
heritage of these five nominations are provided with certain material stimulus (in a similar
way, it is expected that the still about to be created National list of elements of intangible cultural
heritage needing urgent protection will also function).
Hereby we reach an interesting moment connected with the person as a subject-holder
of intangible cultural heritage who reproduces cultural values. It has become clear already
that in the intangible sphere of the cultural heritage, people have, so to say, triple appearance – as realized through communities, groups and, where appropriate, individuals (Convention 2003).
According to article 31 of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(United Nations Declaration 2007):
Article 31
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of
their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports
and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.
2. In conjunction with indigenous peoples, States shall take effective measures to recognize and
protect the exercise of these rights.
In fact, the problem touches closely at the phenomenon of the so called “collective subject” in traditional cultures (Santova 2001), whose model is reproduced in the sphere of intangible cultural heritage. It is well known that creativity in the realm of intangible cultural
heritage is connected with the so called collective subject, who is on its turn based upon the
communal form of cultural being. In contemporary legal sphere, the “collective subject,”
whose active presence is revealed at its utmost in the conditions of traditional autochtonous
communities, is increasingly recognized through the notion of collective rights of intellectual property that has to be safeguarded as a right of the human being – creator of cultural
values.
In synchrony to article 31.2 of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(United Nations Declaration 2007), the Bulgarian state could search for efficient measures
for recognizing these rights and ensuring protection to the holders of the performances.
Here the issue relates to the fact that in conditions of a state such as Bulgaria, the role of
communities and groups nowadays is largely “dissolved” within the parameters of the civil
society. In the Bulgarian conditions, we can outline the leading role of civil society.
Thus, for example, it is not occasional that Bulgarian cultural centers, which are institutional formations based mainly upon the territorial communal structure (Law of cultural
centers, article 2, article 3 et al.), are described mainly as civic associations based upon the
7
The cultural centers (chitalishte) are typical for Bulgaria cultural institutions with nearly 200
years of history.
241
presumption of the civil society. Their goal as traditional self-managing cultural and educational associations is to satisfy citizens’ needs; a separate stress among them falls on cultural
needs.
It is hardly occasional too that the very Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage already in its Preamble directly connects the three subjects with the notion of
community-society:
Recognizing that communities, in particular indigenous communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals, play an important role in the production, safeguarding, maintenance and re-creation of the intangible cultural heritage, thus helping to enrich cultural diversity and human
creativity.
All this, accompanied by availability of respective conditions, can provide grounds to the
state to identify itself as holding the intellectual right in the sphere of intangible cultural heritage.
The Law of authorship rights and its related rights that currently functions in Bulgaria indisputably states in article 4.3 that: Folklore works … are not objects of authorship right (Law of
authorship rights).
What this formulation can show, however, is at least a serious lag behind the practice
worldwide. In case the state decides to recognize itself as a holder of intellectual right in the
sphere of intangible cultural heritage, it can create a National fund of intangible cultural heritage, which would accumulate financial means addressed directly to support people who
are objects of safeguarding in this sphere of cultural heritage, thus ensuring their rights.
Concentrating their interest upon the person-holder of traditional knowledge and skills, the
National fund of intangible cultural heritage could facilitate the viability and transmission
of elements of intangible cultural heritage, grounding its work on a special Regulation. In
such a way, the Fund will practically protect the rights of people on the existence and viability of their own intangible cultural heritage. The main activities of the Fund should be directed to the maintenance of the living traditional forms of intangible cultural heritage, by
supporting the holders of the elements of the intangible heritage. Special emphasis should
fall on those elements that are threatened and need urgent protection. In accordance with
the regulations of Convention 2003, the Fund can support the research on intangible cultural heritage. It may finance target-oriented projects related to this heritage.
It is indeed natural that, once created, such a Fund would receive subsidies from the
state and from donations. However, it can also regularly receive financial means from author’s remuneration for presenting works in the sphere of intangible cultural heritage, as
well as for works and performances based on elements and artifacts of this heritage.
Bibliography
Convention (2003), Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Paris,
17 October 2003, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00006/ last
accessed 5 May 2013.
Expert Meeting (2006), Expert Meeting on Community Involvement in Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage: Towards the Implementation of the 2003 Convention, 13–15
March 2006, Tokyo, Japan, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/doc/src/00034-EN.pdf/
last accessed 9 May 2013.
Krastev Todor (2009), Pravata na choveka i kulturnoto nasledstvo [Human Rights and Cultural
Heritage], “Kultura” 42 (2569), 01 December 2009 (in Bulgarian).
Santova Mila (2001), Problems of the Protection of Folklore as Intellectual Property at the Dawn
of the 21st century, Document prepared by Mrs. Mila Santova, Director, Institute of
Folklore, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), Sofia. International Conference on Intellectual Property, the Internet, Electronic Commerce and Traditional Knowledge
242
Mila Santova
(WIPO/ECTK/SOF/01/3.3), www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/ip-conf.../wipo.../wipo_ectk_
sof_01_3_3.doc/ last accessed 8 May 2013.
United Nations Declaration (2007), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, Resolution 61/295 adopted by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007,
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/512/07/PDF/N0651207.
pdf?OpenElement/ last accessed 9 May 2013.
Universal Declaration (1948), The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly Resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948, http://
www.un.org/events/humanrights/2007/hrphotos/declaration%20_eng.pdf/ last accessed
24 January 2013.
Law of cultural centers: Law of cultural centers in Bulgaria, http://mc.government.bg/reg/
index.php?act=content&rec=24/last accessed 23 November 2012 (in Bulgarian).
Law of authorship rights: Law of authorship rights and its related rights, http://www.
bcnl.org/doc.php?DID=75/ last accessed 25 October 2012 (in Bulgarian).
Biographical note: D. Sci Mila Santova is Professor at the Institute of Ethnology and
Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She
is National expert of Intangible Cultural Heritage, President of National Committee of
ICOM and Vice President of IOV.
Information for Authors
Contents:
Style Guide
Quotations
References
Bibliography
Pictures
Style Guide:
The text should consist of (in this order)
1) The title of the paper (bold, 16 pt);
2) Author’s name and surname;
3) Abstract (no more than 150 words, 10 pt);
4) Keywords (10 pt)
5) Body of the paper (12 pt);
6) Bibliography;
7) Biographical note of the author (no more than 50 words, it should include your
scientific title and current academic affiliation, if you wish it may include your e-mail
and/or website address).
Format of the document
The document should be sent in .RTF or .DOC (MS Word) format.
Length of the paper
The paper should have between 5000 and 8000 words (all parts of the article included).
Type
Generally, papers are to be typed in the Times New Roman font, size 12, 1.5 line spacing. (see
exclusions for quotations and footnotes).
244
Our Europe – Information for Authors
Justification
Please use full justification. This means that text should be aligned at both: the left and
the right margins. This applies to all parts of the text. Each paragraph (except for the first
paragraph of every sub-section) should start with 0.5’’ indent – like in this text (see e.g. the
“Quotations” section below).
Sub-sections and sub-headings
The division of the text into sub-sections is required. Sub-headings should be bold. Please
leave one empty line before each sub-heading.
Quotations
Longer quotations (three lines plus) should be indented (0.25”) on both sides, single line
spacing. Please leave one empty line before and after longer quotations.
Quotations in the text (less than three lines) should use “double” quotation marks;
quotations within quotations should use ‘single’ quotation marks.
Commas, dots, question marks etc. should be inside the final quotation mark, and the
footnote numeral should follow the quotation mark.
Places where fragments of text were cut off from the quotation should be marked with
[…]. Your words and comments added inside the quotation also should be placed inside
square brackets. If you change the capital letter to the small letter or vice versa also put it into
square brackets.
Use ‘single’ quotation marks if you want to underline that you use given word/phrase
figuratively, or that you use a specific term taken from the language/jargon of the group of
people that you study.
Numbers
Please avoid Roman numbers. Use dots, not comas in fractions, i.e. 2.5 not 2,5. Put page
numbers in the bottom right corner.
Names
In case of the Latin alphabet write the names as they are written in their original language, for
example Próżnicki, not Proznicki.
In instances when the name of the author of the publication you quote is written in
the Cyrillic or Armenian alphabet use the provided transliteration guide. In cases when
given Armenian/Russian etc. name has been already transcribed/transliterated into the Latin
alphabet in a different manner (for example, you quote an English article by an Armenian
author) please follow the existing transcription/transliteration. If the same author has his/her
name transcribed/transliterated differently in a number of texts that you quote, please provide
245
in the bibliography the additional transcription according to the provided transliteration guide
(put such transliteration in square brackets next to the original transcription/transliteration),
as well as add this additional transcription when you write the author’s name in your text
(except for references). Should you need to transliterate names, titles etc. from languages
using non-Latin script systems (and other than Armenian and Russian), please contact the
editors.
If you write the name of the institution, event, object etc., write first its name in
original language and then provide the English translation, for example: Kongres Młodych
Charyzmatyków (Congress of Young Charismatics), or write this name and provide longer
explanation in the footnote, for example: “They eat harisa1 every day” .
Listing
If you have a need to list some information in another way than by simply using comas or
semicolons, please use Arabic numbers followed by a bracket at the beginning of each point
listed, and end it with semicolon (the last point should end with dot). You can start each
point from new line (like at the beginning of this Style Guide), or list these points one after
another, for example: “In this text I will discuss: 1) Protestants; 2) Jehovah Witnesses; 3)
Roman Catholics”.
Italics
Use the italics if you wish to underline some especially important words/phrases in your text
or in the text that you quote (except for abstract and bibliography).
References
References to books, articles, texts from web pages etc. should be placed in the text in the
following manner (Surname year of publication) or (Surname year of publication: page(s)).
For example: (Cohen 2005: 23-26). If there are two authors, use “&”, for example (Cohen &
Johnson 2006). If there are more than two authors, please write the first name and “et al.” If
the date of the publication is not specified, use the abbreviation “n. d.”, for example (Smith
n. d.: 12). If the author of the publication is not specified, write the first word of the title,
for example (The Message 1999). If you quote two different works by the same author (or
without author and with the same first word) and published in the same year, add letters (a,
b, c, etc.) after the year, for example (Johnson 2000b). If you use the name of the author in
your text, you may write in references only the year of publication (and pages), for example:
“As Johnson (2001: 24) claims….”
1
^ Harisa is an Armenian traditional dish made from…
246
Make sure that the references in the text do correspond with those mentioned in the
bibliographical section.
Footnotes
Footnote numeral should be in Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3 etc.) Text in footnotes should be
typed out in Times New Roman font, size 10, 1.0 line spacing.
Bibliography
Reference pattern:
For an article:
Cieślińska Barbara (1998), Ormianie w Białymstoku [Armenians in Białystok], ”Przegląd Polonijny“
23 (3), pp. 117-126 (in Polish).
For a book:
Posern-Zieliński Aleksander (1982), Tradycja a etniczność. Przemiany kultury Polonii amerykańskiej
[Tradition and Ethnicity. Cultural changes of American Polonia], Wrocław: Ossolineum (in Polnish).
Cohen Peter, Johnson Anthony & Smith John (1967), The Invisible Religion: The Problem of Religion in
Modern Society, New York: Macmillan.
For a contribution in a book:
Wilson Bruce (1985), Secularization: The Inherited Model in: P.E. Hammond (ed.) The Sacred in
a Secular Age, Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 42-53.
For a webpage and an internet forum:
Godlewski Witold (n.d.) Uzdrowienie wewnętrzne w ruchu Odnowy w Duchu Świętym [Internal Healing
in the Renewal in the Holy Spirit Movement], http://www.uzdrowienie. opoka.net.pl/last accessed 11
December 2011 (in Polish).
Foster Thomas (1993) The Catholic Experience of Renewal, http://catholiccharismatic.us/ccc/ articles/
Foster/Foster_001.html last accessed 11 December 2011.
Translations in bibliography
Please translate into English titles of the books, articles, headings of internet sources etc.
Do not translate titles of the journals and collective volumes. Whenever possible, provide
already existing translations. In case of texts/books/journals written in Cyrillic alphabet, use
the provided guide for transliteration.
Pictures
It is the author’s responsibility to provide good quality photographs for illustrations, as well
as assure that no copyrights will be violated if photographs are printed. Pictures should be in
247
JPEG format, and of size not exceeding 1528x1012. The maximum number of photographs
is 5 per article. All photographs should be numbered and accompanied with one-sentence
description, as well as with the information about authorship. Also, it is advisable to refer to
the illustrations in some way in the main text, e.g. “(Fig. 4)”. You are kindly asked to provide
horizontal rather than vertical pictures. If you need help in choosing the most suitable pictures
or in preparing them according to this guideline, please contact the editors. The same applies
also to other kinds of illustrations – maps, drawings, charts, tables etc.
248

Our Europe. Ethnography – Ethnology

Transcription

Similar documents

Preface - Institute of Mechanics

National Holidays

Bulgaria national day

Ottawa events - Bulgarian Arts Festival

m a g a z i n e

Space Activities in Bulgaria

File - Job Coaching for people with learning disabilities

(1)

Connect Through Our Differences