MIRROR OR MIRAGE? SHIFTING IMAGES OF THE BULGARIANS IN GREECE’S NATIONAL NARRATIVE (1876-1885)
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2025, N 3, pp. 788 – 820, DOI: https://doi.org/10.62761/645.EB.LXI3.14
Stamatia FOTIADOU 
Institute of Balkan Studies with Centre of Tracology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
Abstract: This study investigates the evolving image of Bulgarians in Greek national discourse during the period from 1876 to 1885. It examines how Greek perceptions were not fixed reflections of a national adversary, but instead dynamic constructs shaped by shifting political priorities, ideological frameworks, and the strategic demands of the Megali Idea. Through a close analysis of Greek newspapers, the research reveals how representations of the “Bulgarian other” oscillated between notions of Orthodox solidarity, fears of Pan-Slavic expansionism, and anxieties over Greece’s diminishing influence in Europe. These portrayals served less to describe Bulgarians per se than to negotiate changing notions of Greek identity in a volatile Balkan and international context. The study highlights how national narratives are inherently adaptable, with external figures often functioning as mirrors—or distortions—of internal concerns. By tracing the rhetorical and symbolic uses of the Bulgarian figure, it offers insights into the broader processes through which national identity is constructed, contested, and recalibrated in times of crisis.
Keywords: national rivalries, symbolic boundaries, Greek Bulgarian relations, identity politics, historical imagination