TERRITORY AND REAL ESTATE IN KARDZHALI AND ITS DISTRICT IN THE 1920S AND 1930S
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2023, N 3
Maria MARKOVA
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum
(Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) Bulgaria
Abstract: This publication traces the markers and the dynamics of the anthropological borders of the territory and the real estate during the 1920s in a specific region of Bulgaria. It encompasses Kardzhali (in Tukish Kırcaali) and its district, which have been annexed to the state in 1912 and were mainly populated by Turks up until the end of World War One. The subjective dimensions of the historical processes are enlightened through the memories and the stories of a part of the participants in the events – the Bulgarian refugees, who settled in the region. During the 1920s Kardzhali and its district radically changed. The Bulgarians and the Turks were the ones that were most often separated. The space, inhabited by the old Turkish population, shrank and Bulgarian-populated neighborhoods appeared, as well as mixed zones. Furthermore, places, which have been previously empty, became populated. In practice, the Bulgarians managed to wedge themselves in between the Turks of Kardzhali and its district and to change their traditional look. In the Bulgarian zones appeared buildings, connected to the Bulgarian national institutions – ecclesiastical and scholastic, as well as ones that marked the beginning of the modernization.
Keywords: Bulgarians, Turks, anthropological border, real estate, territory
THE BULGARIANS IN THE WESTERN THRACIAN CITIES DURING 1913-1919
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2020, N 2
Maria MARKOVA
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum
(Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) Bulgaria
Abstract: The object of commentary in the text is the Bulgarians who come from Western Thrace and who live in these cities throughout the period 1913-1919. I will try to shed light upon a scarcely developed matter, or at the very least, upon some parts of it. I have headed towards a modern rendition of well-known Bulgarian authors and I have put together their pieces with archived and scientifically non-interpreted until this moment materials.
I will describe a part of the image of the Bulgarians from the cities of the said community. In these cities they consist of old and new migrants. They are placed in certain spaces of life and commerce. The official institutions influence their lives to a certain degree but these people remain heavily connected to their familial-kin structures, as a whole. Elitist fractions have been formed in their communities. Furthermore, specific elements could be found in their identities.
Keywords: Bulgarians, Western Thrace, Cities, Every-Day Life, Market, Residences, Families, Kin, Identity