The Historical Bulgarian Studies Abroad: a Glimpse into Their Past and Present
The Historical Bulgarian Studies Abroad: a Glimpse into Their Past and Present

Summary/Abstract: The article aims to present in broad outlines and to make some remarks on the main aspects of the past and above all the present of the historical Bulgarian studies abroad or the study, teaching and popularizing of Bulgarian history abroad. Besides publications on the topic, the author has used the archival fund of the Center for Bulgarian Studies, which is stored in the Scientific Archive of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, information from websites and his personal observations. The stimulated and controlled upsurge of Bulgarian studies abroad during the period of socialism and its decline in the conditions of democratization is explained primarily by the direct connection between the Bulgarian state policy, on the one hand, and the Bulgarian studies, on the other. The topic of the historical Bulgarian studies abroad poses the question of the boundaries in the research on Bulgarian history. The boundaries imposed between the states by big politics, but also those established by the various professional and personal backgrounds and realizations of the historians, has resulted in a multitude of historical interpretations of the past. Therefore, the question of whether a history “without borders” is possible cannot get a positive answer. The common subjects and topics of research connect historians abroad and those in Bulgaria, and entail the need for their better mutual information and communication. The “external” viewpoints of the past sometimes confirm the “inner” ones, but in other cases they offer important correctives, such as: rethinking of the “closed” national visions of Bulgarian history; its more successful inclusion into the regional and world historical processes; enhancing the links of history with other sciences and the interdisciplinarity of research.

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