Робовладелците в османска София: социално-религиозен състав и господарски стратегии (средата на XVI – средата на XVIII век)

Author(s): Olga Todorova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2020

This study tries to delineate the socio-religious profile of Sofia slaveholders in mid-16th – mid-18th centuries mainly on the basis of relevant documents found in the local Sharia court’s registers dating from the same period. The analysis of a sample of 211 slave-owners reveals, first of all, that slaveholding in Ottoman Sofia was relatively widespread, comprising not only the provincial askeri elites but also the representatives of the lower strata of the askeri group, as well as ordinary citizens – traders and craftsmen, including (although, on a very modest scale) non-Muslims. Secondly, the examination of the documents in the sample showed a slight preponderance of cases, in which slave owners and ex-owners proved themselves supportive and helpful in one way or another to their slaves and ex-slaves. In this context the symbolic value of the slaveholding as an emblem of status and piety has been discussed, especially in connection with the phenomenon of some relatively poor and/or newly-Islamized people joining the ranks of slaveholders.

Полша през погледа на видния публицист, политик и дипломат д-р Борис Вазов

Author(s): Veska Nikolova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2020

The article is dedicated to an episode of the cultural relations between Bulgaria and Poland immediately after the First World War. This was the time when their political and ruling elites realized that the two Slavic states would not receive the diplomatic support of the great powers and their neighbors to realize their national ideals. That was why they united around the concept of informal - scientific, personal and collective – contacts as a way to get to know each other and draw closer. This idea was carried out through the exchange of two delegations. On September 5, 1923, a Bulgarian cultural and educational group left Sofia for Poland. Among its members was Dr. Boris Vazov – chairman of „Slavyanska Beseda“, a prestigious journalist and public figure who was committed to sending daily articles covering the trip. In them he dwells on important events in Polish history, life, culture, economy and psychology of the Polish people, shares impressions of the patriotic feelings of Poles and their respect for the heroes who played an important role in national preservation.

Прескачане на препятствия

Author(s): Maria Neikova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2018

The text deals with the mutual influences – the infestations – between different parts of the world in the newer stages of its development. Answers are sought to questions from different levels of analysis: from the point of view of Bulgaria, as а former socialist state, whether for 28 years could be outdated the past nearly 45 years; from a global perspective, how the self-awareness of young states, former colonies, reflects on the general development of the world; from third part – can the historical justice be restored, and if the answer is positive – to what extent. "Where" in the subtitle refers to ideological, historical, value, self-consciousness and self-determination connotations.How does the colonial history of Western European countries relate to the present? How the filling of the white spots of the past is superimposed on the claims of (Western) Europe, which advocates the myth of itself as more civilized, more liberal, more tolerant. With a number of examples is argued the power of ideological influence, which is difficult to overcome by historical science and even more difficult by the media. The thesis is also about the "restoration of the historical justice".A little more than 25 years after 1989, we are trapped in a trap set by ourselves as humanity: against the backdrop of a suppressed and unknown history that has developed mainly Eurocentric to almost the present day, decades of strong ideological influences, controversial morality, wick allows a lot of money from western companies and individual PR consultants to work to polish the images of modern dictators – we cannot find out which news about / from the world are true and which do not.

Иван Асен II (1218–1241). Сборник по случай 800-годишнината от неговото възшествие на българския престол

Author(s): Denitsa Petrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 40/2020

Bugari i Zagreb. Povijest, kultura i politika / Българи и Загреб. История, култура и политика

Author(s): Ekaterina Dikova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 40/2020

Providing Studying Rooms and Hostels for Students of Pedagogical Educational Institutions of National Minorities (20 – 30s of the XX Century)

Author(s): Alexander Komarnitsky,Liudmyla Komarnitska / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2020

The article deals with the situation of providing studying rooms and hostels for students. Difficult economic situation in the country caused slow growth of the studying space. It has been proved that rooms unfit for the teaching learning process were given to institutions. The author having used rich database proves that it was too difficult to provide lodging for students, especially in the 1920s. Most institutions of higher education did not have their own hostels. Part of student dwellings was in the buildings unfit for living. It has been shown that living conditions were improving gradually during the 30s of the 20th century. The greater part of hostels was poorly furnished and there was not enough linen. Students hip living in boarding-schools had to follow the rules of residence. At the same time, it often happened that student rooms were unsanitary. Most hostels had no bathhouses, laundries, and barber shops.

Икономика, общество и национална идеология: нов поглед към възрожденския Пловдив

Author(s): Svetla Yaneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

Принос към историята на висшето икономическо образование в България

Author(s): Pencho D. Penchev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

Уебинар „Стопански предпоставки за формирането на българския политически елит (по примера на братята Евлоги и Христо Георгиеви)“

Author(s): Kirila Atanasova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

Златното сечение на златната маска

Author(s): Nikolay Sirakov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

Regional Historical Museum “Dr Simeon Tabakov” – Sliven preserves and exhibits a precious golden mask, which was found in 2007 during regular archaeological excavations, led by Dr Georgi Kitov in Dalakova mound, located in the village of Topolchane (Sliven region). As early as 2500 years ago, the ancient Thracian master applied the principles of ideal proportion corresponding to the “golden ratio” in geometry, art and architecture. Also known as the “golden section”, it symbolizes harmony, beauty and perfection, and was kept in strict secrecy by those who had inside knowledge of it.

Superhuman River. Stories of the Ganga

Author(s): Mihaela Gligor / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

review

Address Unknown: Reshaping the Jewish Living Space and Social Mobility in the Slovak State (1939–1945)

Author(s): Michala Lônčíková / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

Social mobility is a relatively common phenomenon in society; however, in the period of the Slovak State (1939–1945) it was predominantly caused by the economic and social engineering of the single ruling Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party. Anti-Semitism was made one of the main pillars of the internal state policy. Systematic pauperisation of the Jewish community gradually affected each perspective of everyday life of Jews in Slovakia, including the limitation of Jewish people’s living space. This practice led to involuntary moving out from houses and flats in designated urban zones. Subsequently, this process culminated in the Aryanization of the housing formerly owned by Jews. The main aim of this contribution is to analyse spatial and social consequences of the reshaping of the Jewish housing opportunities with special interest in the entangled social mobilities of both Jews and Gentiles, which will be mainly exemplified through selected cases from the Banská Bystrica district.

Заслугата на учителя от края на ХІХ век за описването и изучаването на българските диалекти

Author(s): Maria Mitskova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2020

The following article offers a different perspective on the Bulgarian dialectological researches from the late 19th century. Its main aria of interest focuses not just on the importance they have for exploring and learning the diversity of the vernacular from the above-mentioned time period, but also deals with their practical application in the educational process from the late 19th century. The article addresses the first attempts on implying dialectological methods as a component of mother tongue education and Bulgarian language teaching, as well on the first known initiatives to organize extracurricular language practices together with senior-class students by collecting dialect material in accordance with the educational content. It highly praises the merit of mother tongue teachers from the late 19th century regarding the description and collection of the then Bulgarian dialects.

„Цаката била в кацата…“ или как градският шлагер преживя социализма

Author(s): Anton Angelov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2020

Between the mid-1940s and the late 1950s the centralization and ideologization of culture marginalized the schlager-song practice from pre-socialist times. Performing and listening to this musical genre was recognized by the authorities as a relic of the bourgeois past and was at the same time regarded as non-aesthetic by the professional composers. In the 1960s the generational change and the penetration of the new modern Western popular culture in Bulgaria altered the focus of the institutions of the regime. The old-fashioned pre-war schlager lost its political incorrectness to a significant extent and gradually became a convenient instrument in the hands of the institutions thus allowing to cover the attention of the elderly generations.

Българският XIX век: нови архиви и прочити

Author(s): Vera Boneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2020

THE SOUNDS OF MODERNITY: EXPLORING THE BALKAN CAPITALS’ SOUNDSCAPE (LATE 19th – EARLY 20th C.)

Author(s): Andreas Lyberatos / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

Despite the fact that urban modernity and modernization in the Balkans has been a celebrated topic among social and cultural historians and historians of architecture and urban planning, the dimension of sound has been almost entirely absent from these discussions. The present paper is based on fresh research aiming to fill this gap. It initiates a comparative inquiry about the sonic environment of three Balkan capital cities (Belgrade, Sofia and Athens) during their transition to the industrial era. It offers a panorama of testimonies on the various dimensions, factors and actors creating and transforming the fin-de-siècle Balkan capitals’ soundscape (the role of climate and built environment, the natural and biological keynote sounds, the sounds of street vendors and musicians and the mechanical sounds of trams and motorcars). It finally demonstrates, through the example of the noisiest of the three cities, i.e. Athens, the importance of the “soundscape” as a field of signification and socio-cultural conflict in a transitional period for the Balkan city.

Horror przemocy wobec dzieci wczoraj i dziś

Author(s): Ewelina Rąbkowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2020

Golus, A. (2019). Dzieciństwo w cieniu rózgi. Historia i oblicza przemocy wobec dzieci. Gliwice: Helion. The review article discusses a monograph by Anna Golus, Dzieciństwo w cieniu rózgi. Historia i oblicza przemocy wobec dzieci [Childhood in the Shadow of a Rod: The History and Faces of Violence against Children] (2019). Its purpose is to outline the history, cultural context of violence towards children and young people, as well as its current state, both in relation to applicable legal regulations in this area and social discussions related to the presented issues. In the final part of the article, those fragments of the book by Golus are analysed in which the author reveals her affective attitude towards the topic of violence against children. Despite the legal ban, some forms of seemingly innocent punishments, such as a smack or time-out, are sometimes propagated in Poland in the 21st century.

ON THE PAST, MEMORY, RECOLLECTIONS AND HISTORY OF THE BULGARIANS IN “SIMVASILEVUSA”

Author(s): Malamir Spasov / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2020

In the past one feels at home. One comes from that home, where the ones before him are, to go back one day and become one of them, a home for those that are to come. Think of it, that home is in one and one is that home. That’s why the past is cozy. Our awareness of the past is rooted in memory. Memory permeates all aspects of our life. Even our present is largely dedicated to memory, insofar as we spend a great part of it in fortifying our ties with the past. Our memory of the past is an indispensable condition for our sense of identity. We need the collective memory, i.e. the recollections of others, in order to affirm our own recollections, and in this way give them value. The opposite is also fully true, for life is fundamentally dialogical and the discovery of self is unthinkable without the others. If memory and history are processes penetrating the past, the vestiges of the past would put one on the track of processes that have produced that past. Often such traces are sparse, which makes them all the more valuable. Sometimes a few old photographs are the only remnants that have remained in place of one’s roots. In other cases only recollections replace places left long ago. Well, such places don’t have to be outstanding in order to be unforgettable. For many Bulgarians Salonica is just that kind of place. But Salonica is not some ordinary, unremarkable and insignificant city.

Благовеста Иванова. Българският архитектурен комплекс на Златния рог. София, Изд. „Парадигма“, 2018. 471 с.

Author(s): Yordan Zhelev / Language(s): German Issue: 1-2/2020

Book Review

Харпократ в Тракия през Гръко-римската епоха

Author(s): Vessela Atanassova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 25/2020

When Ptolemy I became ruler of Egypt (306 BC), he continued to have interests in Thrace and Asia Minor where Lysimachus, its ruler, married his daughter Arsinoe II. Most likely, their wedding was fixed with certain benefits, which led to the permanent presence of the Ptolemy in Southern Thrace. In fact, the whole 3rd century was marked by the presence of the Ptolemies in Thrace. This for sure, but also for some other unclear reasons facilitated the spreading of the Egyptian cults in that region. Several Egyptian deities, mainly Isis and Sarapis, but some other deities in relation with them, were found on various documents attesting their presence in Thrace from the Hellenistic period to the end of the Roman Era. Harpocrates, the presumed son of Isis and Sarapis in Greco-roman period, was one of those deities. Unlike his divine parents, he was a synnaos theos and his cult spread on a different manner. According to the monuments he was more likely worshiped because of his qualities as savior god and his magical competences. The study will examine the existing documentation and will discuss the mechanisms of spreading of the Harpocrates cult in Ancient Thrace from the Hellenistic period onward.