Balkan Family Structure and the European Pattern: Demographic Developments in Ottoman Bulgaria

Cover

DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENTS IN OTTOMAN BULGARIA MARIA N. TODOROVA BALKAN FAMILY S T R U C T U R E AND THE EUROPEAN PATTERN BALKAN FAMILY STRUCTURE AND THE EUROPEAN PATTERN Previous ideas on the European familial past rested primarily on speculative theories based on nineteenth century evolutionary thinking.This included the idea of stages of family history, of a progressive and irreversible evolution from complex/large forms to simple/small ones. It also included a certain deterministic trait, an assumption that mankind as a whole would necessarily pass through all the phases of the supposed evolution. It is by no means irrelevant that the existing ideas on the European family were formed primarily by sociologists . Historians had accomplished little if any research in the field. With the advent of new evidence , this comfortable picture exploded. What came instead was a complexity and richness very difficult to frame into a new grand theory. The historians who had had the greatest luck with a long tradition of systematically kept records, pertinent to a historical-demographic analysis, were the English and the French. Naturally, they were the first ones to refute a lot of the commonly held beliefs and, significantly enough, also the first ones to embark on a new theorizing effort. From the Introduction Based on original research conducted under the auspices of CEU’s Pasts, Inc. Center for Historical Studies , the books in this series—ranging from essays and monographs to collective volumes—are contributed by scholars from many countries, and several generations. Thus, a transnational, intercultural, comparative, multidisciplinary body of new knowledge in the humanities (sensu lato: all fields dealing with the human experience in an historical perspective) is being created by the Center’s network, in order to foster a global conversation rooted in local and regional expertise. TODOROVA MARIAN. Central European University Press Budapest – NewYork Sales and information: ceupress@ceu.hu Website: www.ceupress.com ISSN 1786-1438 BALKAN FAMILY S T R U C T U R E AND THE EUROPEAN PATTERN DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENTS IN OTTOMAN BULGARIA ABOUT THE AUTHOR Maria N. Todorova specializes in the history of the Balkans in the modern period .Hercurrentresearchrevolvesaround the symbology of nationalism, national memory and national heroes. CONTENTS Preface to the Second Edition Acknowledgements I. Introduction: Rethinking the Unknown II. Population Structure III. Marriage and Nuptiality IV. Birth and Fertility V. Death and Mortality VI. Family and Household Size and Structure VII.The Problem of the South Slav Zadruga VIII. Conclusion: A Hypothesis of ConvergingTheories Appendices Bibliography Index This study, which is an updated, extended and revised version of the outof -print 1993 edition, reassesses the traditional stereotype of the place of the Balkans in the model of the European family in the nineteenth century based on new source material and by synthesizing existing research. Structured in two parts, the work first analyzes family structure and demographic variables as they appear in population registers and other sources , and the impact of these findings on theoretical syntheses of the European family pattern. On most features, such as population structure, marriage and nuptiality, birth and fertility, death and mortality rates, family and household size and structure, as well as inheritance patterns, the Balkans show an enormous deal of internal variety . This variability is put in a comparative European context by matching the quantifiable results with comparable figures and patterns in other parts of Europe. The second section of the book is a contribution to the long-standing debate over the zadruga, the complex, collective, joint or extended family in the Balkans. Finally, the book considers ideology and mythology and the ways it has adversely affected scholarship on the family, and more broadly on population history. ISBN 963 7326 45 6 9 7 8 9 6 3 7 3 2 6 4 5 5 i BALKAN FAMILY STRUCTURE AND THE EUROPEAN PATTERN Demographic Developments in Ottoman Bulgaria Pasts Incorporated CEU Studies in the Humanities VOLUME III Series Editors Sorin Antohi and László Kontler Pasts Incorporated CEU STUDIES IN THE HUMANITIES ii ...