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The articles gathered in this issue of MemoScapes, titled Frames of Reference in Central Europe, and the Black Sea Region, in the Last Two Centuries, assess the importance of nationhood in constructing the social imaginary in the above mentioned regions. Furthermore, they emphasize the national myths, the building processes of national, local, and regional identities in the post-communist/post-soviet world as well as the role played by scholars and politicians, by mass-media and social media in forging new narratives on the past, present, and future. The role of minorities and diasporic communities in the national building processes in the region are also highlighted by a number of papers.
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Under the premise that language and script may constitute central elements in today’s nation building processes, this article argues that the Georgian alphabet holds a particularly important role in the articulation of a post-socialist identity for society as also for government foreign policy objectives in Georgia. By examining Batumi’s “Alphabetic Tower”, a 135m tall iron construction with the letters of the Georgian alphabet represented along a twisting double helix pattern, as well as the brand “Georgia. Made by Characters”, developed for Georgia’s status as guest of honour at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair, the paper demonstrates how internal nation building and external nation branding are intrinsically interlinked. Drawing on studies examining a linguistic turn in Georgian nationalism, I suggest that the script’s visual-iconographic rather than its phonographic dimension is used for intertwined identity politics and nation branding. The envisaged definition of Georgia as a nation of high and unique culture transcends the need for stabilizing new post-socialist national narratives from within. By defining itself as a nation based on cultural values, Georgia additionally attempts to position itself as culturally associated to Europe, thereby seeking to underscore the ambition of Euro-Atlantic integration.
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The article discusses a few controversial ideas about the ‘essence’ of the Bulgarian nation. The foundation of the autonomous Bulgarian principality (1878) arouse the controversy between the ‘ethnic’ and the ‘civic’ perspective on the Bulgarian nation. This controversy is still actual in the Bulgarian public debates and influences the Bulgarian policy toward ethnic minorities and specific groups, such as Pomaks (Bulgarian-speaking Muslims) and Gagauz (Turkish-speaking Orthodox Christians) who did not ‘meet the standard’ for the ‘real’ Bulgarians.
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The Greeks of Tsalka is a sub-ethnic group, whose ancestors originated from the Pontus and Erzurum regions and lived for several centuries under the rule of the Ottomans. Therefore they absorbed cultural elements of many peoples of Asia Minor – Turks, Armenians, Persians, Assyrians, etc. That can be traced in their language, folklore, and rites. As a result of the Russian-Turkish wars, they were resettled to the territory of Georgia – to the Tsalka region. The migration to the territory of the Russian Empire was accomplished in several waves – after the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829 until the end of the 19th century. At the time of the resettlement, most of them forget their native language and switched to Turkish.After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in Georgia, the inter-ethnic issue became very acute. In conjunction with the economic crisis, the situation forced many Greeks to leave Tsalka. Currently, the Greeks of Tsalka have a little more than 50 thousand representatives, living mainly in Greece and in southern Russia. Those who moved to Greece almost immediately faced an identity crisis, as the Greek society did not welcome them well. As a result, many Greeks of Tsalka ceased to identify themselves as Greek and tried to forge new hypotheses about their origin.
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The influence of Polonization, Rusification and sovietization on the Belarusian people made Belarusians one of the least historical-conscious nations in Europe. However, an important reference frame could play a role in shaping a future Belarusian national identity: the Belarusian People's Republic, a political entity that existed for several months in 1918. In the recent years, a certain trend of "returning to the roots" can be observed, in which the symbolism related to the Belarusian People's Republic seems to enjoy a special place.
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The paper presents the extant copies of the four books, prepared by Petar Bogdan for publishing: 1. The book in so-called Illyrian under the titel [in translation: Meditationes S. Bonaventurae, id est theophilic meditations on the mystery of the redemption of mankind, by St. Bonaventura, translated to Illyrian by Petăr Bogdan Bakšič, custos of Bulgaria and belonging to the Order of Friars Minor Observants of St. Francis]. Rome, 1638. 2. The appendix to the book is a poem on the two deaths of man, meant to be published separately. 3. The book in so-called Illyrian under the titel [in translation: “The celestial treasure of Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, translated by Petăr Bogdan Bakšič, a monk belonging to the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, archbishop of Sardica or Sofia]. The book was published in 1643 in Rome. The fourth book prepared by the author for publication is known only in manuscript. It is a treatise written in Latin and entitled De antiquitate Paterni soli, et de rebus Bulgaricis [On the antiquity of the fatherland and on the deeds of the Bulgarians]. The manuscript is kept in Estense Library in Modena (Italy).
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The report examines poorly known testimonies of Dobrudzha and its ethnic characteristics, collected by the Hungarian ethnographer Györfi István (1916). They correspond to the trend in the then Hungarian science of exploring „related Turan peoples“. Today they can be considered as a beginning of a more targeted and systematic knowledge of Hungarian society about the Bulgarian province. These publications are a good basis for forming certain ideas about the Bulgarian territories and for enhancing their research interest.
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Abstract: The purpose of this text is to present several exemples of the Bulgarian history that reveal the role of the Greek language in the transfer of knowledge concerning economic life and its importance for the modernization processes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I comment on the use of Greek as a vehicle for knowledge in the field of commerce and I retrace the penetration of double-entry bookkeeping and the knowledge in commercial epistolography and geography, closely linked to commercial activities. The analysis of the correspondence of Bulgarian merchants of the 19th century reveals the current use of this language in trade, even after the cooling of relations between Bulgarians and Greeks during the second half of the 19th century due to the incompatibility of their national programs.
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Dang Huy Tru (At Dau 1825 – Giap Tuat 1874) is not only a writer, poet, economist, and politician but also one of the first thinkers of “germination of civilization in Vietnam”. His ideas in many fields are quite rich and distinctive, and self-reliance and autonomy are among the core thoughts. Due to some subjective and objective conditions, such ideas have not become a reality in Viet Nam. However, if the limitations of historical conditions are filtered out, his ideas may be useful historical lessons for the current reform of the country.
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Bogdan Filov (1883–1945) was a Bulgarian archeologist and politician, who studied in Freiburg, Germany. In 1914 he became professor in Sofia, in 1929 – member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In the years 1938–1940 he was Minister of Education, from 1940 till 1943 he was Prime Minister of Bulgaria. After the unexpected death of king Boris III Filov became one of the three members of the Bulgarian regency instead of Boris´ minor son Simeon. Because of the coalition with Germany during World War II Filov was overthrown in September 1944 after the invasion of Soviet troops and executed by a Popular Court of justice. The scientific researches of Bogdan Filiov in the fields of Bulgarian archeology and history of art were acknowledged not only in Bulgaria, but also in Germany by his election as a foreign member of the academies in Berlin, Göttingen and Munich.
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