Ethnic Discourse and Group Presentation in Modern Bulgarian Society

Abstract

In this article I am focusing the attention on the last ten years of the development of the Bulgarian society —a period featured as transition, deep change in all social spheres. Ethnicity is regarded as one of the major culture images of this period. Distinction is drawn between the official and everyday concepts of ethnicity. Traditional patterns of tolerant co-existence between ethnically and religiously others are outlined and commented, as well as the impact of political and economic policies upon everyday culture. Ethnicity is viewed here as interactive, i.e. constructed in the processes of culture interaction between the various ethnic groups in society. Hence, ethnic discourse is the core concept in the analysis, which tackles with such questions as to what types and forms of ethnic discourse can be observed in the Bulgarian society today, what is the role of ethnic stereotypes in them, what are the major strategies of group presentation in ethnic discourse. It is argued that these strategies depend on the demographic characteristics of a particular region and the country as a whole, on specific historical events and the changing policy towards ethnic minorities, on the inside and outside culture images of the ethnic groups, on the nature of their self-identification.