On the (In)convertibility of National Memory into European Legitimacy
On the (In)convertibility of National Memory into European Legitimacy

The Bulgarian Case

Author(s): Daniela Koleva
Subject(s): Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Present Times (2010 - today), History of Communism, Post-Communist Transformation
Published by: Central European University Press
Keywords: National memory;Bulgaria;post-communist transition;
Summary/Abstract: The following chapter focuses on the public memory of the recent past (World War II and its aftermath) in Bulgaria. Taking the joke seriously, I start with the constructivist assumption that the messages of the past do not spontaneously emanate from it, but rather are coined in the present to respond to current needs and interests. The past therefore “keeps changing” as a consequence of the politics of history that not only seek to negotiate the narratives about the past but also to legitimize social and political actors and their causes in the present. From this perspective, I will try to track down two simultaneous but diverging tendencies in the current Bulgarian memory constructs: what might be considered (re)nationalization of memory, and its Europeanization.

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