Култури и граници в един български град през първата половина на ХХ век: „раждането“ на Кърджали
Cultures and boundaries in a Bulgarian town in the first half of the XX c.: “the birth” of Kardzhali

Summary/Abstract: The town as a concentration point of human groups presents various cultural models. When its space is multi-lingual/ethnic/religious, the internal relations are always connected with the issue of boundaries in their ethnological meaning. Such a common zone of co-habitation and interaction between the old (Turks and a small number of Roma) and the new communities (Bulgarians, Jews, Armenians, Russians, Greeks, Albanians) in the vicinity of the territorial and political boundary is Kardzhali in the first half of the XX c. During this brief historical period it was transformed from a “Turkish” and a “male” community into a “colourful” town whose cultures and boundaries are mostly preserved to this day. The exposition attempts to retrospectively reconstruct the communities in Kardzhali and position them in residential neighbourhoods (mahali) in the public space and associated gender constructions and zones. The research is based on archival materials, participant observation, informal conversations and biographical interviews. The methodology combines reflection and auto-reflection.

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