The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Development of Bulgarian Studies in a Historical Perspective (1869–1992)
The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Development of Bulgarian Studies in a Historical Perspective (1869–1992)

Summary/Abstract: The study aims to highlight the role of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in the development of the Bulgarian Studies scientific filed in the different periods and historical contexts from the late 19th century to the early 1990s. The emphasis is placed on Bulgarian Studies perceived as knowledge in view of the Academy’s structures (commissions, institutes, centers) and the opportunities before their scientific production and its distribution in the international academic space. In this perspective, the author seeks the relationship with the cultural and foreign policy propaganda, especially during the decades of the Communist regime when that propaganda was highly centralized. Therefore, the analysis is based on recent research on the history of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the development of Bulgarian Studies abroad, as well as on archival materials available at the Central State Archives and the Academy’s Scientific Archives, which reflect the policies of the higher party organs and institutions such as the Center for Bulgarian Studies, published laws and statutes of the Academy, and Internet resources. The author’s conclusion is that the role of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in the development of Bulgarian Studies within the country and abroad depends on the status and tasks that the Academy sets for itself in its legal documents (statute and decisions), the tasks that the political power sets for it (in programs, laws and decrees), as well as on the extent to which the state supports its activities.

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