Звуците на социализма
The sounds of socialism

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the everyday experiences of citizens in socialist Bulgaria as reflected in their perceptions of sounds and noise. It traces the considerable cultural transformation of the second half of the 1960s, which led to the appearance of new sounds and reinterpretation of already existing ones. Throughout the four socialist decades, particular sounds were ascribed different meanings that were contingent on the pace of industrialisation and the phases of construction of the communist society. The roar of machines and the thundering song of marching workers were displaced by the new values of silence, tranquility and peace. The sanctioning of the soundscape proved to be part of the ideology of the Bulgarian Communist Party, grounded as it was in its notions of “production”, “reproduction”, “leisure time” and “improvement in the standard of living”.

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