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29 III MARRIAGE AND NUPTIALITY A Bulgarian proverb states: “A man who has not been born shall not die; he who does not marry is not a man” (Marinov 1892b, 5). Like most concise and categorical statements, this one, too, summarizes simply but eloquently the folk outlook on the three main stages of transition in human life: birth, marriage and death. The second element of this triad, the only one that people choose or avoid, was given the same inevitable and obligatory character as the other two biologically determined elements. What demographers had called the “traditional marriage pattern,” characterized by early and universal marriage, finds here its psychological motivation and expression. In Bulgaria, studies on the history of marriage concentrated mostly on its legal aspects and ethnological significance, especially the marriage ceremony (Knyazheski 1847; Marinov 1891–1894; Bobchev 1896; Arnaudov 1931; Andreev 1979; Vakarelski 1977; Georgieva 1971; Georgieva 1980; Genchev, S. 1974; Etnografiya , 1980; Ivanova 1984; Ivanova and Markova 1988). As to demographic research, analysis of marriage starts only with the so-called statistical period promulgated in Bulgaria by the first census of 1881.1 This chapter is intended to provide an analysis of some demographic aspects of marriage in Bulgaria during the pre-statistical nineteenth century. Studies dealing with the demographic transition treat the problem of the marriage pattern as an important factor in this process. Unlike Western Europe, however, where late marriages and celibacy limited the natural increase in population, the reaction in the Balkans towards the new social, economic and demographic conditions was different; the marked decrease in fertility did not occur at the expense of a change in the marriage pattern. On the contrary, the trend towards early and almost universal marriage has continued into the present. The search for causes leading to the peculiarities of the marriage pattern in Southeastern Europe has centered on at least two factors. The first to be stressed was the particular family structure, in which economic conditions had no direct influence over nuptiality: “Marriage was not delayed, even under unfavorable economic circumstances, because it entailed little economic responsibility for the individual living in a zadruga.” Moreover, worsened economic conditions made a man even more dependent on the extended family, hence the “incent- Balkan Family Structure ives towards early and universal marriage that were fostered by such dependence ’ (Sklar 1974, 244). Two objections may be raised against this argument: First, the presumption of the universality of the zadruga in the Balkans and particularly in Bulgaria, is highly disputable. One could even speak of the myth of the zadruga, as is presented later in the present volume (see also Todorova 1990). Second, marriages were not delayed and the region continued to be characterized by early and universal marriages even when the conditions for dependence on kin disappeared, beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing into the twentieth century. Some scholars emphasize the effect of religion on the marriage pattern. According to these scholars, Catholicism and Protestantism cultivate individualism and foster the nuclear family at the expense of the extended family. On the other hand, Islam sanctions early marriage and high fertility, which strengthen extended kinship ties. Orthodoxy shared the same Christian principles with Catholicism and Protestantism, but because of historical (political and social) reasons, proved more adaptable and tolerant towards the local customary traditions with their extended family ties and high fertility. Keeping in mind that Orthodoxy in Southeastern Europe developed alongside and in immediate contact with Islam, some authors even look for Muslim influence on marriage behavior (Sklar 1974; Fagley 1967). While one should not dispense of the religious factor, it seems that the danger of overstating it is far greater. In fact, different ethnic, cultural and social features would often shape the influence of religion. Fagley (1967, 83) refers in this connection to two regions with strong Catholic influence but different cultural traditions: Ireland with its late marriages and celibacy, and Latin America with almost universal marriages and consensual unions. For anyone who has studied ethnological material and has not relied solely on legal analysis of the main religious doctrines, it would be clear that the institution of the church in the sphere of marriage constituted a superstructure built upon and in accordance with the millenary basis of traditional structures. At most it could be agreed that the specific historical conditions which determined the greater role of the Catholic church in all spheres of social life also explain its greater influence on...

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