София на сюртуклиите, краят на XIX век
The redistribution of social prestige. Sofia, the end of the nineteenth century

Summary/Abstract: This is a paper about the birth of new social and cultural practices, of new categories of identity in the first decades of Sofia modern history. It is also a paper about the ups and downs in the search for recognition of those new practices and identities. In the 80-s and 90-s of 19th century, it was the estate of officials and clerks that tangibly introduced a genuinely new social inequality in the city space - the social inequality between the equal in origin. Officials and clerks came out of the craftsmen milieu and peasantry, and started gradually to distinguish themselves from the cultural practices of their own background. The distinction could be witnessed by various details: by clothing, by speech, by ways of consumption, by smoking cigarettes and gambling, if we like. By such new practices officialdom was claiming to be a part of the “good society”, looking at the same time in the mirror of the craftsmen estate (of its own birthplace, perceived now as commonalty), and asking from it to pay honor and recognition for the newly emerging identity of the salaried estate. That estate however was very peculiar in its emergence - it expected the offices and chancelleries to be scenes for great political deeds and since that was not the case, the routine bureaucratic work seemed something unworthy to be done. While not doing it and waiting for the great political deeds, officials and even clerks could theorize about the international affairs, create anecdotes about their supervisors, live a bohemian life, and feel themselves as missionaries of History. Did they succeed to meet recognition for their new practices? Did they succeed to shift the categories of social prestige?

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