Еlena Nalbantova The ideologist Rakovski and his experiment “Hindistan” Summary The current essay introduces representative points of view towards the relation between The European and The Bulgarian for the period 1762-1865. The first part of the paper is focused on the work done by Paisii, Sofronii, N. Bozveli, and V. Aprilov; the…
Read MoreDiana Mishkova Visions of Europe in the Nineteenth-century Balkans: A Case Study in Cultural Transfer of Knowledge Summary The underlying intention of the paper is to interrogate the current mainstream interpretation of the historical relations between the Balkans and the ‘West’ as it has emerged from the mirror reading of the Balkanism…
Read MoreDessislava Lilova Europe as Colonial Master: The Debate about the Railways in the Bulgarian Press from the Period of the National Revival Summary The purpose of the paper is to research the debate instigated by the building of railways across Bulgarian-populated areas of the Ottoman Empire at 1870s. This was not the…
Read MoreVitana Kostdinova Western Visions Summary The understanding of Occidentalism underlying this presentation does not fall back on the definition articulated by Ian Buruma: “Something else is going on, which my co-author, Avishai Margalit, and I call Occidentalism (the title of our new book): a war against a particular idea of the West……
Read MoreDimitar Kambourov The Double Mirror: the Orient and the Occident from the standpoint of Balkan Inbetweenness Summary The text will be dealing with the Revival strategies of double differentiation with regard to the Occident and the Orient in constructing a modern regional and national cultural identity of in-betweeenness based on the adoption…
Read MoreRadoslava Ilcheva “Handsome is, handsome does”, Or External appearance in the Cultural Antithesis East – West Summary For centuries on Russia have perceived the Europeans mainly through their external appearance. Through out all Middle Ages the foreign clothing has been a serious and even a prime obstacle (together with the language) in…
Read MoreJasmina Mojsieva-Gusheva Occident versus Orient Summary This paper discusses the opposition of West and East and the terminated dialogue of the two civilizations, in particular, following the terrorist actions. Logic of the stereotype thinking of both sides contributes to this gap broadening: Edward Said’s story about “Western colonialism”, and deliberate Western manipulation…
Read MoreLeela Gandhi (La Trobe University) A Complicated Occidentalism: Colonial Desire and Disappointment in V. S. Naipaul In recent years the question of V. S. Naipaul’s relationship to England has begun to complicate his hitherto negative reception within the postcolonial academy. While, in the 1980’s, a generation of colonial discourse analysis-inspired critics were able to…
Read MoreRaymond Detrez (Gent) ‘Hellenization’ and ‘Europeanization’ in Bulgaria during the National Revival Period Summary During the National Revival period, Bulgarians came into contact with the West and created for themselves an image of the Occident mainly through the intermediation of the Greek economic, social and intellectual elite. Although criticism was as a rule imbedded…
Read MoreYelda Demirag (Ankara) Pan-Ideologies in the Ottoman Empire against the West: From Pan-Ottomanism to Pan-Turkism Even as the lands of the Ottoman Empire contained one third of Europe, it was not accepted as a European power, because of the religious affiliation which differed it from the others in Europe.[1] In fact, the Ottomans had…
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