СИМВОЛНИТЕ ВОЙНИ НА ЦАР СИМЕОН
TSAR SIMEON’S SYMBOLIC WARS

Summary/Abstract: This article suggests a starting theory that is based on some concepts developed by Pierre Bourdieu which have been transferred to the field of literature. That perspective is used to analyze Tsar Simeon’s symbolic wars fought against the Byzantine Empire. Unlike actual wars, they were fought by unconventional strategic means, and by means of diplomacy, intellectual competition, and political and purely human demagogy. This aspect of the analysis focuses on several symbolic duels of the Bulgarian ruler, they run parallel to the actual wars fought at that period of history, but rather have their own character and do not overlap with the former: 1. Simeon’s correspondence with the Byzantine diplomat Leo Magister (Choirosphaktes), the patriarch of Constantinople Nicholas I Mystikos, and Emperor Romanus Lacapenus. 2. Tsar Simeon’s coronation in 913 A.D. in the vicinities of Constantinople performed by Nicholas I Mystikos in the context of other similar events in the Byzantine history. 3. The triumphant performance of Tsar Simeon (in 923-924 A.D.) at the walls of Constantinople and the play of “choosing a war emperor”. 4. The beheading of Tsar Simeon’s statue in Constantinople in 927 A.D. and his subsequent death. The phenomenon has been analyzed in parallel to the so-called pygmalionism. The paper also stresses the connection between the symbolic and actual wars fought in Bulgaria during IX-X century and the rhythm of Bulgaria’s cultural zenith, and the best years of Simeon’s Golden Age.

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