Bulgaria dates back to the seventh century, and is still trying to shape its identity after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. The ethnicity of Bulgarians is a mixture of “blue-eyed, fair-skinned Slavs and darker complexioned peoples living in an Oriental-European Social atmosphere,” (Kupferberg 1). The earliest Bulgarians, called the Port-Bulgarians, are descended from the Turkic ethno-linguistic group along with the likes of the Huns, Khazars, and Avars. Along the way they mixed with Indo-Europeans, the Alans and Sarmatians, and finally interacted with the Slavs. The Port-Bulgarians came to inhabit the center of the new state Bulgaria. The Slavs are one of the indigenous peoples of Europe. Bulgarians can trace their ancestry to the Eastern Slavs, the forefathers of Russians, Ukrainians, and Byelorussians, the Southern Slavs, who now form the majority of Yugoslavia, and the Western Slavs, the forefathers of the Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks. The Southern Slavs differentiated into two distinct groups, the Serbo-Croats and the Bulgarian Slavs, the latter of which took over most of Byzantium and merged with the Thracians, almost completely wiping out the Thracian culture.
The history of the Bulgarians has helped to shape their culture. Stone sculptures and reliefs, primarily of the lion, which represents state power, were an important part of the culture of the Port-Bulgarians. The Port-Bulgarians also played a major part in the early stages of the European Middle Ages. The Slavs brought with them the free rural communes, which replaced the Bulgarian slave forms of dependence of farmers on big landowners. They also helped to bring about improvements in the tools of production. The anti-capitalist leanings of the majority in Bulgaria helped to shape the development of Bulgaria.
Since the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria has been trying to shape a new identity independant of Russian influence. Still, “they seem to be insecure about their own future and on whom to lean next,” (Kupferberg 4). The collapse of their previous social order, communism, has left them in a moral and ideological void where crime and prostitution are raging and a culture shaped by communism is now trying to be shaped by capitalism and democracy instead. There is still a feeling for need of authoritarian solutions among democratically chosen politicians. It seems contradictory then that philosophers have and immense role in public and political life. The Bulgarian culture is highly Mediterranean, in that they rely more on family paternalism, or patriarchy, than on state paternalism. This leads little government interference in unemployment insurance because the families are supposed to take care of it themselves. There is now a leaning towards city dwelling rather than agricultural, which the new non- socialist government would like to reinstate.
In conclusion, the Bulgarian culture has largely been shaped from its ancestry of the Port-Bulgarians and Slavs and more recently is being shaped by the fall of communism and the majority non-socialist ideals. There is a big emphasis in the culture on the role of paternalism and also still an emphasis on authoritarian solutions from democratic leaders. Much of the latter stems from the former communist ideals and the influences of Russia, from which Bulgaria is still trying to escape.
References:
Kupferberg, Feiwel. “In the Company of Bulgarians.” Society May-June (1994): 74-77
“The Proto-Bulgarian Ethnos.” Bulgaria- a brief history outline http://www.digsys.bg/books/history/proto-bul.html 18 Oct. 2000
“The Slavs.” Bulgaria- a brief history outline http://www.digsys.bg/books/history/slavs.html 18 Oct. 2000
“The 1908 Declaration of Bulgaria’s Independence.” Bulgaria- a brief history outline http://www.digsys.bg/books/history/declaration.html 18 Oct. 2000
By, Michelle Morris