Книги 2014–2015 г.
Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in 2014-2015
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Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in 2014-2015
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Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in 2015-2016
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Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in the current year.
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Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in the current year
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The pioneer of abstraction, Wassily Kandinsky (Васи́лий Васи́льевичКанди́нский, 1866–1944), used musical terms as titles for his paintingswith intention to release them from the themes, considering that musicis “the art which has devoted itself not to the reproduction of naturalphenomena, but rather to the expression of the artist’s soul, in musicalsound”. Through his paintings Kandinsky rethought the principles ofmusic. Not a painting, but an another artistic creation, through whichwe are given a chance to cognize Kandinsky’s comprehension of music,is The Yellow Sound (Der gelbe Klang, 1912), a “composition” for stage.It is the paradigm of Kandinsky’s “true stage-composition”, his totallynew view of theatre that consists of three elements – musical movement,pictorial movement, and physical movement, but interwoventogether in harmony that will trigger inner harmony in a spectator.Music for his scenario was provided by the composer Thomas vonHartmann (Фома́ Алекса́ндрович Га́ртман, 1886–1956), and anothermusical version was written by Alfred Schnittke (Альфре́д Га́рриевичШни́тке, 1934–1998 / Der gelbe Klang, 1974). In Concerning the Spiritualin Art Kandinsky presented his theory of colour through which he explainedhis own (synesthetic) view of yellow colour / sound, particularlyin comparison with blue colour, that was “musicalized” through TheYellow Sound. What kind of yellow and blue tone Kandinsky had inmind, and what nuances of these colours did von Hartmann / Schnittkesee / hear? What musical instrument(s) can produce yellow, i.e. bluecolour? Which music scale / tone / interval has yellow / blue tone(s)?Are we able to perceive all the shades of yellow / blue sound?
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The link between silence and death has been a recurring theme of human thought and can often be found in reflections on music. Among many attempts to approach this problem, the author of this paper focuses on those done by Gisèle Brelet and Tōru Takemitsu. The “faithful companion” of music which “perpetually is born, dies and is born again” – this is one of the ways in which French musicologist describes silence. “For a human being, there is always the duality of life and death. Music as an art form always has to connect vehemently with both” – notices Japanese composer, who in another statement combines silence with “the dark world of death”. Interestingly, both Brelet and Takemitsu arrive at the conclusion that such connotations may well be the source of the fear of silence that affects some composers or performers. Despite different contexts, some analogies to their thought – like connecting silence with nothingness and loneliness – may be also found in the Canadian composer Raymond Murray Schafer’s writings, presented fragmentarily in the last subsection. The differences in the notion of the problem between the authors are, moreover, discussed in this paper.
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The aim of the article is to reconstruct the image of the town of Košice produced by members of Slovak historiography, and by Czech historians working in Slovakia in the period of existence of the First Czechoslovak Republic 1918 – 1938. The article focuses on answering the questions: how was the „magyarized“ image of the town „slovakized“ by Czechoslovak historians, how they refl ected on the pre-Trianon Magyarization of the town, how they referred to importance of Košice in the Hungarian nation narrative; which processes and events in the history of Košice were emphasised, and which were obeyed. The article deals with variety of strategies in picturing the town and in reinterpretation of the respective historical events in its history. It also attempts to evaluate what role Košice played in the constructed Czechoslovak national discourse. Finally, the article aims to explain reasons, why Košice in the inter-war period, despite becoming a strategic metropolitan hub of East Slovakia, was left in the peripheral position in the context of the Slovak national narrative.
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Ludwik Maader (also quoted in sources as Lodovico or Ludovico Maader) was a composer working on Polish territory in the second half of the 18th century. He came to Jasna Góra in September 1784. He was a bandmaster until the end of 1798. Information about his life and activities is rudimentary. We know that he came to Poland from Moravia, specifically from Dub on Moravou – a small town near Olo - mouc, but unfortunately we do not know exactly his earlier activity. Requiem in Es by Ludwik Maader is preserved not only in the Ar - chives of Jasna Góra in the manuscript signed III-446. Currently we found out about four other Requiem. The source from Jasna Góra is autograph of the bandmaster and contains probably the oldest and original version of the composition. The first source is kept in the Jagiellonian Library, comes from Gidle, and was written in 1809. The second manuscript is located in the Provincial Archives of Dominican Order in Cracow and belonged to Dominican’s band in Gidle (1845). The third and fourth sources are inaccessible because of poor state of preservation. They are stored in two places: 1) Archives of the Arch - diocese of Gniezno signature II/7, belonged to the band from Grodzisk Wielkopolski, 2) Archives of the Archdiocese of Poznań – from the band in Gostyń. This article is focused on a comparison of the three manuscripts: one from Jasna Góra and two from Gidle. The author compared the content of manuscripts, the way of signing the text, vocal and instrumental parts and basso continuo.
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The article is a contribution to the exploration of history of Polish musical culture of the Renaissance and the Baroque period. Recognition of elementary forms of social organisation leads to understanding of the prevailing social and economical relations in those times. This article is one of the first in this topic, therefore it starts with very basic issues. A musicians guild existed in Cracow from 16th to 18th century. The article presents its history and organisation on the basis of statutes and municipal documents analysis. Simultaneously, it raises questions about circumstances of its creation and termination, welded duties and repertoire. The author questions the character of discussed association, considering to what extent it was a guild and a confraternity. The aim of the publication is to present to the reader a coherent picture of the guild, which could provide a starting point for further research.
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The aim of this study is to present and synthesize the image of Eugeniusz Morawski’s output as presented by the Polish press and Polish composers. Morawski is an unknown composer, absent from the concert programs. His works were performed during composer’s lifetime and caused mixed and extreme reactions from the critics. His first successful concert – performance of now lost symphony-poem „Vae victis” in Salle Gaveau, Paris, was barely noted in Polish press. The first performance of symphonic poem „Don Quichotte” in 1912 caused vivid, yet mixed reactions. An important review was written by Aleksander Poliński, who criticized Morawski for being stylistically dependent on Richard Strauss’s style. Other reviews, some of them anonymous, were positive. The composer was praised for his talent and he was predicted to become a huge success in the future. Later on, his works were infrequently performed. In 1925, the symphonic poem „Nevermore” was performed in Warsaw under direction of Grzegorz Fitelberg. The work was very well received by the critic Karol Stromenger. Yet Morawski’s greatest success was his ballet „The maid of Świteź”, presented in Warsaw’s Great Theatre in May 1931. In 1933 Morawski received for this work the musical prize from the Ministry of Religious Beliefs and Publick Enlightment, winning the competition with Karol Szymanowski’s „Symphony no.4”. The event was discussed in great detail by the press. Some of the reviewers praised this work as Morawski’s masterpiece, others criticized it as worthless and clumsily written. The ballet was presented again in 1962 under the direction of Bohdan Wodiczko. A critic and a composer Stefan Kisielewski praised the word for its great orchestral effects and eerie climate. The article also uses extracts of letters of a composer Szymon Laks, essays of Stefan Kisielewski, and unpublished material from Polish Composers Union archive – letters of Grażyna Bacewicz and Włodzimierz Sokorski.
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The theme of this study is a historical reconnaissance of soul music, taking into account the global context, with all the social and historical conditions that accompanied the development of the style. The main aim that the author set himself is to find sources of Polish musicians’ inspirations that can be found in American music from the 60s of the twentieth century. The main section of this paper is an attempt to define soul music and the characteristic of the style in a variety of shots – strictly musical, social, political, historical, racial and the general-culture one. The final chapter undertakes the task of showing the results of analysis of native music in terms of its membership to the style. In this section, a very broad meaning of the term ’soul’ has been assumed, which in this context is merely a reflection of the original phenomenon. The author hopes that this study will contribute to the dissemination of knowledge that soul music – both worldwide and in Poland – is an original and valuable style.
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Discontinuum-continuum: the theory of composition by Julio Estrada. The Julio Estrada’s output is still the unexplored area, what creates the opportunity to study the phenomenon called discontinuum-continuum. During the last 36 years of the creative activity, Estrada has developed several aspects of the macro timbre that integrate several compounds of a composition. In his research, Estrada confronts two different situations in the compositional process: continuous transformation of the sound and chronographical method, using strictly defined recording process in order to receive three-dimensional movements of the sound in the topological order. As a result of existing these two situations, a musical work is impossible to be defined by one technique or musical style. Examination of the theory of composition called discontinuum-continuum allows one to understand a new methodology of musical creation that involves scientific research of the physical phenomenon of sound and introspection of the imagination of the sound.
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Selected bibliography in the field of Bulgarian Studies published in the current year
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According to the definition by ICOM, „A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.“ (https://icom. museum/en/resources/standards-guidelines/museum-definition/) At first glance, the museums in Bulgaria, and correspondingly those in Southwestern Bulgaria, adhere to the definition provided by ICOM. They are non-profit institutions and engage in research, collection, preservation, interpretation, and presentation of tangible and intangible heritage. However, upon closer examination and precise analysis of their structure and operations, we would have to classify museums as serving administrative bodies rather than serving society. According to Article 25, paragraph 3 of Regulation No. N-00-0001 of February 14, 2011, concerning field archaeological research, public access to archaeological documentation is severely limited, and comprehensive access to the full range of archaeological materials is practically impossible. In practice, visitors have access to minimal artifacts and information, which need to be improved to create a fundamental understanding of the respective archaeological culture, settlement, or structure. There are no annual, medium-term, or long-term plans for archaeological, ethnographic, historical, interdisciplinary, or exhibition development. There is no strategy for restoration and conservation. Practically no activity is conducted regarding intangible cultural heritage. The closure of museums in Southwestern Bulgaria within municipal administrations and their limited resources restricts public interest in museums and their capabilities. In order to compensate for this, as well as to be attractive to society, museums shift from presenting culture to presenting shows. Instead of authenticity, reconstruction, a product of the subjective views of specific researchers, is exhibited. The article directs the attention of museums and their activities towards the needs and resources of society. If museums have real, not fictitious, communication with society and scientific communities, they will achieve sustainability and a real presence in cultural life.
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The Bulgarian photographer and researcher, Petar Boev, was appointed as the leader of the first journalistic delegation that visited Vardarska Macedonia from June 8th to June 16th, 1942. The delegation visited dozens of towns, capturing moments of the lives of Bulgarians in Vardarska Macedonia. He took over 100 photographs, which are diligently arranged in an album from Petar Boev’s personal archive. The album was entirely designed by Petar Boev, with beautifully written texts. In addition to the texts, a detailed map of the visited places during the journey was drawn. These photographs, besides being exquisite photographic specimens, hold historical and ethnographic significance. They serve as evidence of the authentic way of life of Bulgarians from the Macedonian folklore region, which remained characteristic until the middle of the 20th century. Petar Boev was a prominent figure active in various spheres of Bulgarian cultural life in the 20th century.
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Colours are one of the most important signs and symbolic systems in Antiquity. They reflect a certain cosmic symbolism, manifested as deities in various cosmogonies. They are present, always and everywhere, at the core of the symbolic models, and can be examined from both a semantic and a semiotic perspective. The eschatological significance of the red colour in Thracian culture as well as other ancient societies, i.e. the transition from one space to another, is saturated with signs and symbols. According to ancient treatises related to the making of colours and pigments in ancient Greece during the Hellenistic period, ochre was the most commonly used red pigment. The colour reconstruction of cultural values approximates their authentic appearance and is a scholarly contribution to examine and preserving Bulgarian cultural heritage. Research conducted in 2023 on stelae from Apollonia Pontica necropolis proved the use of red ochre in their inscriptions. The findings of the study confirmed that the verification and valorisation of the cultural-historical heritage of Thracian civilization, particularly in terms of painted decoration, are a necessary consequence of in-depth and targeted comprehensive expertise.
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The article explores contemporary tendencies in the art world that incorporate elements from various spiritual practices and customs to reinterpret cultural identity and community. This analysis focuses on the methods by which filmmakers and theatrical creators embed mythological and ritualistic elements into their narrative structures to reach deeper levels of perception and stimulate the audience’s imagination for reconsidering existence in a new context.
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Mobile Journalism is often the subject of debate - is every journalistic assignment outside a studio or newsroom Mobile Journalism and whether the mobility of devices makes journalism mobile? This study presents another angle to the topic of Mobile Journalism, namely focusing on Smartphone Journalism. Why does one particular device stand out among the many technological innovations? The revolution in the field of journalism comes precisely from smartphones due to a specific reason – the liberalization of content distribution channels. These are the first devices in such a wide-scale use, where traditional media systems no longer control the channels for content to reach audiences. The article presents data, collected as part of the International Project: “Mobile Journalism Practice and Education in Central-East European Countries”
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The text explores laughter in the Horizont za vas show on the Bulgarian National Radio during two election campaigns for parliament. It analyses the dialogues with listeners and the documents that regulate what is legally acceptable to discuss during a campaign and what is not. The rare instances of on-air humor are not sought by journalists in purpose, and in most cases, are not intended by the audience either. The topics discussed, including the elections, are not approached through humor. The attempts to control communication on both sides are notable. Political satire is not present in the studio, domesticated by the contenders vying for power.
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The book “Kicked a Building Lately? Architectural Criticism after the Digital Revolution” by Aneta Vasileva also becomes a history of writing about architecture in the first decades of the digital revolution. But it is also a history of the parallel lives of paper newspapers and online blogs. The tension between digital/analog is very well sketched in her text. This allows her to describe the transition of architectural criticism from the media to social networks. The author introduces us to the history of criticism, which tries to make visible the processes in an increasingly invisible architectural history.
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