Антизападна пропаганда и антиколониален сантимент в Народна република България през 60-те години на XХ в. (по материали от периодичния печат за Западна Африка)
Anti-western propaganda and anticolonial sentiment in the Bulgarian press regarding West Africa of 1960s

Summary/Abstract: The paper tracks the main points in the propaganda ‘travel’ (using all the meaningful workload of the word) between the People's Republic of Bulgaria and the countries decolonized in the 1960s. Two indicative cases from Africa – Guinea and Ghana are considered. Building a stereotypical image of the imperialist West was a real pledge to attract new post-colonial Pro-Soviet elites. The diplomatic visits of delegations from and to the decolonized African countries at the level of senior party-state functionaries were regularly reported in the Bulgarian press. The article also focuses on the public reaction of the party-approved anticolonial sentiment (its presence in the Bulgarian ‘national spirit’), and raises questions about the sustainability of the political occidentalist stereotypes and prejudices in the Bulgarian society. These aspects make it possible to show a more nuanced perspective of the way anti-Western propaganda is presented through words and images. Anticolonialism became part of the communist propaganda repertoire and the portrayal of the West, perceived as a threat and a primary enemy.

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