Bulgaria’s National Identity
National Identity
National identity is what makes a nation its own unit. All aspects
of a community such as religion, language, traditions, and culture make up
national identity (Triandafyllidou,
1988). Bulgaria is a majority Bulgarian ethnicity, Orthodox Christian nation of
Bulgarian speakers. Bulgarians’ identities are mostly associated with
moderation and lack of affinity with extremist ideologies despite its difficult
history with ethnic harmony. There are stereotypes of “unruly Balkans,” which
mostly applies to the men, while the women were associated with “Bulgarian
ethnic model(s),” which was only created as a term to combat the negative
connotations (openDemocracy, 2012). Bulgaria is known to be very traditional
with a rich culture, but still open to modern ideas. Folklore is, as always, a
very important aspect of Bulgarian culture, though it has changed so much since
the Soviet Union. The government, starting in 1944, began to sponsor folk
events like dances to promote nationalism and ethnic unity (Silverman, 1983). The
facilitated folk events did unify the nation, despite not being organic. The
Encyclopedia Britannica (2022) states there is a mix of ethnicities and
religions in Bulgaria, though most are ethnically Bulgarian and
Orthodox. [MC1]
People seem split on whether to stick to traditional eastern ideas or to be
more welcoming to western cultures. There is controversy with being “overly
accommodating” with western countries or to pursue a stronger bond (openDemocracy,
2012).
The Other
The “other” when it comes to national identity is any
community who either does not fit the national identity or threatens the nation
in one way or another. They can be internal, like members of an ethnic minority
or those of another religion, or external, like a neighboring nation with a
similar culture or the dominant nation in a multinational state (Triandafyllidou, 1988).
External Others
For Bulgaria, one of
the major significant others[MC2]
is an external one[MC3] ,
being the European Union as a whole. [MC4] There
was much debate about assimilating into western culture after the Soviet Union
fell, but many saw assimilation as the way to progress. The biggest source of
anti-European sentiment was the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which displayed
pro-Russian sentiment (openDemocracy, 2012). Bulgaria wished to move away from
this and progress away from the soviet ways, which made the Bulgarian Orthodox
Church an internal “other.” When the Soviet Union fell, Bulgaria’s government
granted religious freedom to its people, though 76% were still Bulgarian
Orthodox (Britannica). This was evidence that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was
always going to eventually fall victim to modernization, as it shared similar
ideas with the Russian and Soviet sentiments. (openDemocracy, 2012)
Macedonia is a complicated significant other for Bulgaria. Though
Bulgaria was the first to recognize them, and even politically urged the region
to identify as Macedonian, Bulgaria refuses to acknowledge them as Macedonian
and considers all aspects of their culture to be Bulgarian. Macedonian as a
language is considered Bulgarian, and folk stories are considered to be Bulgarian
(Silverman, 1983). This is an external other because they are culturally
similar. The lines of whose culture is whose is blurred, which can impact the
legitimacy of one or both nations’ national identity.
Internal Others
Despite the general opinion of Bulgarians being that the Orthodox
church was too conservative and the way to move forward is to join the EU and adopt
progressive ideas, the religious minorities in Bulgaria were significant others.
Muslims in Bulgaria were often ignored
and were forced to assimilate into Bulgarian culture and were not permitted to
represent their cultures in festivals (Silverman, 1983). The Government sponsorship
of folklore, especially the State Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances, was a way
to promote the idea of a monoculture. It began in villages, with sponsored
festivals, radio and television, and ensembles. The ensemble groups would perform
only rituals from the recent past but were only allowed to use traditional folk
instruments. The government wanted to preserve the aspects of Bulgaria’s
culture just enough to keep the traditions alive, but only just enough so they don’t
get too independent. These village performances would exclude culture and
experiences from the Turks and the Roma. The Turks and Roma were permitted to perform,
but only Bulgarian music. Later, when the State Ensemble was established, the
music was westernized. Songs were performed differently, with harmonies made
for large choruses or instrumental arrangement, and the lyrics were often
changed to reduce religious imagery, even Orthodox imagery. This also led to villagers
being seen as inferior, despite them being the original source for the folk
stories and culture as a whole. Names were also changed to better fit the
Bulgarian culture. The politicized preservation of certain aspects of Bulgarian
culture contributed to the othering and erasure of the Turkish and Roma ethnic
minorities in Bulgaria (Silverman, 1983).
Conclusion
Bulgarian national identity is difficult to place. Bulgarians
mostly speak Bulgarian and practice Orthodox Christianity, but neither of these
aspects solidify their identity by themselves. The largest point of identity
for Bulgarians are, they are not Macedonians, they are not Turks, and they are
not Roma. The Bulgarian Government has attempted to blend the cultures of the
Bulgarian Turks, Bulgarian Roma, and the Macedonians with the Bulgarian culture
in order to create a more solid identity, unifying all of the ethnicities.
Despite this muddling the differences and diluting the cultures, it did create
one mass culture of Bulgaria.
Word count: [890]
References
Bulgaria
- people.
(2022). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Bulgaria
Dandalov,
A. (2012). Bulgarian national identity in an era of European integration.
openDemocracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/bulgarian-national-identity-in-era-of-european-integration/
Ethnic
identities in the making: The case of Bulgaria. (1995). Cultural Survival. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/ethnic-identities-making-case-bulgaria
Silverman, C. (1983). The Politics of Folklore in
Bulgaria. Anthropological Quarterly, 56(2), 55-61.
[MC1]Go
into detail about religion, christian? Catholic? Whats up here
[MC2]Talk
about macedonians, they seem pressed
[MC3]The
EU as an "other" parallels the turks/ottoman empire invading,
parallels wiwth using the folklore and language as a weapon/keeping bulgarian
identity alive?
[MC4]Maybe
go into how it went from the soviet union to the EU?
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