The Turkish Language in Northeastern Bulgaria: An Intersection of the Cosmopolitan and the Provincial
The Turkish Language in Northeastern Bulgaria: An Intersection of the Cosmopolitan and the Provincial

Summary/Abstract: This article presents my research on language attitudes and maintenance in the Turkish minority communities in Northeastern Bulgaria. Though situated far from the Turkish border, this population has maintained its language, religion, and some aspects of its culture for generations, despite pressures towards assimilation. However, globalization presents opportunities for a different kind of assimilation - with Turkish-language populations outside of Bulgaria. I discuss the competing tensions of provincialism and cosmopolitanism on the language of this population, rooted by both its residency in villages and small- to mid-sized towns and by its very particularity in the provincial, while at the same time expressing cosmopolitanism through cross-border communication, travel, and family ties.

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