Batak – ein Erinnerungsort im bulgarischen kollektiven Bewusstsein
Batak – a Commemoration of Collective Consciousness in Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: The article reflects one viewpoint in a discussion recently prevalent in Bulgaria which concerns places of remembrance in the national culture. As exemplified by the Batak scandal it analyses meanders of pre-modern and modern discourse devoted to the commemoration of a trauma. Based on two cultural sources, a well-known and officially approved painting by the Polish 19th century painter Antoni Piotrowski entitled “Slaughter in Batak” and his “Autobiography” currently published only in fragments, the author shows tensions between the intention of the painter and the social function of his artwork in the era when “little narratives” were legalised and changed their status into “great narratives”. A special place in the analysis is taken by the issue of victimhood nationalism as a specific tool used by small nations in their political strategies.

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