Чий е този град? Завладяването на Константинопол и проблематичното османско наследство в българската култура
Whose is this city? The conquest of Constantinople and the problematic Ottoman legacy in Bulgarian culture

Summary/Abstract: Ottoman legacy is curious topic in Bulgarian cultural studies. Despite the overall quest for prestigious legacies and heritages (Antique, Thracian, even Byzantine, not to mention Slav and Proto-Bulgarian), it is still neglected and even rejected. Mass-consciousness admit some traces and influences in the field of material culture, in cuisine, rarely in traditional costumes and even more rarely in customs. Ottoman legacy is often seen as ‘legacy of shame’ from witch modern Bulgarians should deliberate themselves. The paper deals with one particular Bulgarian image of the key event in the interrelations between Balkan peoples and Ottomans – the conquest of Constantinople (1453). Starting from the problematic differentiations between the “own” and “alien” the paper presents one odd dramatic work on that topic, written in verses by Svetoslav Milarov in 1871–1873 and published in full text in 1883. The analysis puts this work in the context of other mythical plots such as the Fall of Bulgarian Kingdom and different perspectives toward it.

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