Masquerade and Postsocialism: Ritual and Cultural Dispossession in Bulgaria

Notes

N otes Introduction 1. For a more extended comparison of postcolonialism and postsocialism , see Chari and Verdery 2009. 1. A Mumming Season 1. The word is not the literal Bul­ garian translation of New Year, which is nova godina, but it is always associated with the event. Surva, surva godina, is a more traditional form of happy New Year compared to chestita nova godina , and the verb survachkam is to wish someone a happy, healthy New Year by hitting him or her with a decorated branch from a cornel tree, called a survachka . 2. The word for other dances is tants and the verb form is tantsuvam, which is more equivalent to English usage and is probably borrowed from the French. There is no verb form for horo, and, importantly, Bul­ gari­ ans do not use tantsuvam horo but rather igraya horo, which means “to play,” and mumming rituals are also sometimes referred to as igri (games). I believe this usage rather than an assumption of simple play is what is implied in this term, although horo were the games for young people at one time, and mumming is certainly fun. The term igraya is also used for “prance” as with horses, which, of course, is not unlike the actions of some ­ mummers. 3. Orthodox Easter is calculated in the manner it was calculated under the Julian calendar, so it falls on a different date than the Easter of Western Christendom whose method of calculation was shifted with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar. 220 notes to pages 43– 67 4. The term “Arap” is Turkish for Arab, but Bul­ gari­ ans use “Arab” for Arab and Bulgarian-­ English dictionaries translate “Arap” as “darkie.” I do not do so because of the implications of darkie in English and because the Bul­ garian term is not related to other color terms, suggesting greater historical significance. “Arap” is also sometimes used in colloquial Turkish to refer to blacks. Perhaps an Ottoman usage combining these referents, such as for dark-skinned Arab conscripts from other parts of the empire, was adopted by Bul­ gari­ ans. According to Donna Buchanan (personal communication), Bul­ garian ballads are full of references to Arapi, who are distinct from Turks and Roma, and always dark or black but often connected with the Ottoman military in some way. 5. This element also appears in early-­ winter events (see figure 4), and in some villages this camel-­ like figure and its entourage constitute a separate and distinct ritual known as dzhamala. The term, however, is also used in some villages (e.g., Kalugerovo) for mumming rites without a camel figure. 6. “Chalga” is a genre of Bul­ garian music drawing on local folk traditions blended with Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and Romani influences. Although popular in dance clubs and pubs, it is considered tawdry by many and criticized for its foreign elements and trivial lyrics (Buchanan 1996, 2006; Silverman 1996). 7. See also Deema Kaneff (2004) and Carol Silverman (1983) for important analyses of folklore’s central political role in socialist Bulgaria. 8. Of course, the Party’s subsequent reversal and embrace of the rituals rendered the link between contemporary practice and past resistance suspect, and indeed several informants admitted that the rituals were not performed in their village during the years they were officially prohibited but rather were revived once the prohibition was lifted. 9. Such expressions replicate those recorded from Bul­ garian musicians who repeatedly point to the soul and heart as the real sources of musical expression (Buchanan 2006; Rice 1994). 10. The different timing may also reflect the historical shift in the marking of the New Year, which was likely linked to the spring equinox in the distant past. When the beginning of the year was shifted to January, some mumming groups may have shifted their events to the new date while others kept the timing and eventually changed the justification to Lent. Even so, the relative attractiveness of these different options could still be explained by the different ecologies noted here. notes to pages 71–102 221 2. Gender and Sexuality 1. In the Strandzha region the central mumming figure is traditionally expected to be married (Raichevski and Fol 1993), but in most villages I visited , villagers reported a defunct tradition of preferential bachelor participation . 2. Eleshnitsa is unique in performing their mumming activities on Easter. 3. The Brezhani mines were still operating when...