National Identity and Bulgaria

 The National Identity and Bulgaria

National identity is a difficult concept to explain, which can be interpreted differently by everyone. However, the common thought that comes to mind when "national identity" is mentioned is a person's sense of attachment to a nation. According to Anthony Smith (1991, p.14), a nation is “a named human population sharing an historic territory, common myths and historical memories, a mass, public culture, a common economy, and common legal rights and duties for all members.” National identity gives people a sense of attachment to a place. In that way, it offers meaning to the people’s characteristics. If we look at it from the other side, “individuals who are nationless cannot fully realized themselves and, furthermore, in the world of nations they are social and political outcasts.” (Triandafyllidou,1998, p.595) So, national identity is not just a common area for people who share the same religion, language, or culture but it is also a foundation that allows people to stand up alongside other people.

Historical Context of Bulgaria

In order to talk about the national identity of Bulgaria, we must first mention the important events in its history. Bulgaria is in the Balkans which is a region of Southeastern Europe. The area itself is a place that has seen empires, wars, and different nations in its history. Bulgaria was ruled by three different empires until it reached its current state. Although the current majority in the country is Bulgarian (76.9%), a considerable number of people in the country are Turkish (8%) and Romani (4.4%). Naturally, it took some time to reach its own national identity, after two world wars under empires, the Balkan Wars, and trying to get rid of Soviet Russia's communist regime. According to an interview with Krasimira Aleksova, Professor of the Bulgarian Language Department and Bulgarian Language Institute at Sofia University, she said that “Our researchers identify the Bulgarian language as the most important factor of our national identity. It even precedes symbols such as the flag, coat of arms, national anthem, cultural and religious affiliation. It is what unites us, unites us and at the same time separates us from other people. Two-thirds of the respondents are defenders of the idea of cleanliness, richness, and inviolability of the Bulgarian language.” (Grigorova,2019)

Looking at the history of the oldest Bulgarian, the fact that the language spoken since the 9th century is so old has made the language unique and has become an important part of the national
identity. (Wikipedia, 2023)

Cultural Values to Support National Identity

Along with the language Bulgaria has a very rich folkloric tradition that influences many sectors of the country's art, literature, music, and celebrations. (iExplore). Even though these traditions have many effects from the neighboring countries and former sovereigns, they found their way inside of it. For example, Bulgarian Folklore Dance, horo is a very similar traditional dance from Türkiye but they differentiated this dance among themselves and made it their own culture. Bulgaria has seven regions, and every region has its own horo. Every Bulgarian can see the dance and tell from which region the other person comes from. (Wikipedia,2022) They even have a dance called Thracian fire dancing, which is recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. (iExplore). This dance culture on its own creates a national identity for Bulgarians by separating them from the minorities in the country. Religion is another one of the factors that are at the forefront of the formation of the Bulgarian national identity. Bulgaria’s main religion is Eastern Orthodox (59.4%). Bulgarian Orthodox Church, found in 1018, is the oldest Slavic Orthodox Church (Wikipedia). While Bulgaria was an Ottoman land, this church has a serious significance in preserving the religion of Christianity. The church generally ensures that people meet once a week to come together for the same purposes. In this way, it plays a leading role in the formation of the Bulgarian national identity.

The “Other”

According to Anna Triandafyllidou “the identity of a nation is defined and/or re-defined through the influence of ‘significant others.” (Triandafyllidou,1998, p.594). Over the years there have been many ‘significant other’ for Bulgaria due to its geographical location. These significant others help determine a nation’s identity in several ways. There are two types of significant other: internal and external. (Triandafyllidou,1998, p.601)

Internal Significant Others of Bulgaria

As I said before Bulgaria is a multinational country. Bulgarians have lived with Turks and Romans throughout their history. Although as of right now they don't have serious problems in the past they had some incidents. Ethnic minorities are internal significant others because they have their own distinct culture, language, traditions, myths of origin, and religion. These are perceived as threats because they may cause harm by changing the country's own national identity since they live together constantly. (Triandafyllidou,1998, p.601) The fact that they were ruled by the Turks, especially during Ottoman Empire, made the Bulgarian people question their identity, and they were relieved when they declared their independence in the 19th century. In 1989, the socialist Bulgarian government started a ‘revival process’, thinking that the Turks were doing too much damage to their own culture, they had the names of the Turks in the country translated into Bulgarian and forced more than 360,000 people to emigrate. (Wikipedia,2023) This is an example of how the nation’s taking seriously its own national identity. The other minority in the country are Romani people. Even though they are a big part of the country, I don’t think we can count them as significant others to Bulgaria. On the contrary, Bulgaria is a big threat to them. They have been discriminated against since they first immigrated to Bulgaria in the 14th century. “Bulgaria’s Roma are among the country’s most excluded urban populations. Poverty, high levels of unemployment and limited education combine with social stigmatization, leaving them very isolated from mainstream society and unable to access many of the benefits of cities.”
(minorityrights.com,2021)

External Other of Bulgaria

Türkiye is an external other for Bulgaria too. The countries are so close geographically, and as I mentioned before their culture and history are nested. Although they don’t have an ongoing dispute right now, they had problems in the past.
The European Union is another external other for Bulgaria. They partially joined the EU in 2007. The reason I’m saying partially is because they still use levi (their national currency) and try to be a Schengen zone since joining the EU. The process of acceptance to the EU was very hard on the country. They were struggling economically, and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church thought that by entering the EU, they would move away from the traditions of the country. In this difficult process, they also had to deal with internal problems.

Conclusion

As in all countries of different nationalities, Bulgaria has faced some obstacles throughout its history in finding its national identity. While trying to find their own identity, they have had a mixed-cultural structure, considering the minorities of the country. Having modernized since 681, Bulgaria, which has taken its current form, has carried its national identity to today by remaining faithful to its culture and traditions.

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