Храна и публичност: срещи в празника
Food and Public Space: Encounters in Celebration

Summary/Abstract: The proposed paper is an attempt to examine and discuss the relation between social interactions, festivity, and food in the beginning of twenty-first-century Bulgaria. Topics of interest are the specific forms of public space and the participation during two types of events: the festivals of individual towns and the political kurbans. The article examines the extent to which the communal celebrations have “enter[ed] the service of economic and political propaganda” (Habermas). Both types of events are organized “from the top” – they are planned, financed and practically performed by people who possess political power. Furthermore, they both include certain forms of distribution of free food; thus, the author comes to the conclusion that the consumption of offered food and drinks binds the participating individuals in a somatic and emotional mutual experiencing the celebration. Commensality is a form of participation, which by definition is voluntary and unarticulated inclusion. The citizens are a quiet audience (public, n. in Bulgarian) of the activities presented on stage but enthusiastic participants in the shared meals.

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