BALKANISTIC WORLDS

Category: 2026-2-1

  • BOOK REVIEW

    Milena Angelova
    New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria)
    [mangelova74@yahoo.com]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0208-1989    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078508

    SHADOW MODERNITIES AND THE STATE’S GREY ZONES: THREE CRIMINAL REGIMES IN BULGARIAN HISTORY (1879–1944)

    Abstract: This review examines Dimitar Gyudurov’s book Traders of “White Slaves,” Forgers and Smugglers in Bulgaria (1879–1944) as part of a broader research project on illicit economies and state formation in modern Bulgaria. Drawing on the concepts of “shadow modernities” and “grey zones of governance”, the review argues that Gyudurov reconceptualizes trafficking in women, forgery, and smuggling not as marginal criminal phenomena but as structural components of state rationality. By situating the Bulgarian case within international regulatory regimes and interdisciplinary debates, the review highlights the book’s contribution to rethinking modern governance through illegality, informality, and institutional ambivalence. Together with the author’s earlier monograph on opiates, the book marks a significant shift in Bulgarian social history toward a practice-oriented and transnational perspective.

    Keywords: shadow modernities; grey zones of governance; illicit economies; social history, Bulgaria (1879‒1944); trafficking; forgery; smuggling.

    Гюдуров, Димитър (2025). Търговци на „бели робини“, фалшификатори и контрабандисти в България (1879‒1944). София: НБУ, 339 с., ISBN – 978-619-233-346-1.

  • BOOK REVIEW

    Mariyana Piskova
    South-West University “Neofit Rilski”, Bulgaria
    [piskova@gmail.com]    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078450

    THE HISTORY OF CINEMA ONCE AGAIN ENCOUNTERED ITS CAPTIVATING NARRATOR

    Abstract: The latest book by the renowned film historian Petar Kardzhilov brings together eight independent studies on the early steps of Bulgarian cinema. The chronological scope of the narrative is limited to the period between the two World Wars, while the thematic framework covers film history from the establishment of the foundational joint-stock company Luna in 1919 to the arrival of cinema in Bulgarian villages. The official history of film institutions is interwoven and enriched with personalities and human destinies of unknown, forgotten, or even overlooked pioneers – trailblazers whose contributions and rightful place belong to the biography of early Bulgarian cinema.The book presents the emergence of film schools, as well as Bulgarian feature films produced between 1921 and 1923, and examines the activities of early film institutions in Bulgaria, including associations of film distributors, cinema operators, and cinema owners. For the first time, previously unknown data about Bulgarian films and their creators from the 1920s and 1930s are made public. Attention is also given to the activities of the film departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and the General Directorate of Public Health.

    Keywords: history of early cinema in Bulgaria; institutionalization of cinema in Bulgaria; Bulgarian cinema between the two World Wars; joint-stock company Luna.

    Кърджилов, Петър „От Луна АД до кинопросветата по селата. Индустриално и институционално в българското кино между двете световни войни“. София: Институт за изследване на изкуствата, 2025, 408 стр.

  • INTERVIEW

    Dr. Margarita Shoylekova and Dr. Ignat Petrov in a conversation with Anelia Kassabova and Kristina PopovaDownload
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078363

    „I Chose to Become a Doctor without Realizing that I would be Confronted with Human Suffering. Later – and to this Day – this has Motivated me Never to Stop Learning.”

    Abstract: Margarita Shoylekova (b. 1945) and Ignat Petrov (b. 1937) are a family of psychiatrists whose professional careers unfolded during a period of significant changes in psychiatric therapies. New psychiatric techniques and treatments were employed, and later abandoned, including insulin coma therapy, sleep therapy, sulfonazine therapy and other. In Bulgaria child psychiatry became institutionalized. Of decisive importance was the increasingly strong introduction of psychiatric medications (antipsychitics/neuroleptics). Dr. Margarita Shoylekova is a child psychiatrist and one of the first specialists in anorexia in Bulgaria, while Prof. Dr. Ignat Petrov is among the founders of Bulgarian gerontology in the 1960-es. The conversation addresses their personal experiences as professionals during a crucial period in Bulgarian psychiatry under state socialism and after its end.

    Keywords: child psychiatry in Bulgaria; psychiatry during the Cold War;  Margarita Shoylekova; Ignat Petrov.

    • Declaration by Authors
    • Ethical Approval: Approved
    • Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • Egvenia Ivanova
    New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria)
    [j_lubivanova@abv.bg]    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078336

    TO PLAY THE GAME OF STATE

    Abstract: The text examines the question of why, during the Ottoman period, certain distinctly Bulgarian villages evoked in their contemporaries a sense of “unrestricted freedom.” According to the author, the explanation lies in the privileges granted through special sultanic firmans and – above all – in the economic prosperity achieved by many of the villagers. Owing to their extensive commercial activities, they were able to travel across Europe and Asia, cultivating the self-perception of free individuals. Yet the confidence inherited from their forefathers ultimately proved insufficient for the younger generation, who aspired to possess a state of their own.The illusion of statehood briefly emerged during the April Uprising – during “the drunkenness of a nation,” a moment in which freedom was realized as a form of play.

    Keywords: Ottoman Rule; Bulgarian Villages; Privileges and Firmans; Economic Prosperity; National Awakening; April Uprising.

    • Declaration by Authors
    • Ethical Approval: Approved
    • Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • Dali Doborjginidze
    Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University (Georgia)
    [dali.doborjginidze@bsu.edu.ge]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4122-4858
    Lela Tavdgiridze 
    Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University (Georgia)
    [lela.tavdgiridze@bsu.edu.ge]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8108-8718
    Anastasia Makharadze
    Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Sheridan College (Canada)
    [anastasia.mkhr43@gmail.com]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6452-4044    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078283

    INNOVATIONS IN LANGUAGE: PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING AND TRANSLATION

    Abstract: The progress of Georgia as a sovereign state is closely linked to the European education system. The intercultural exchange of knowledge and educational ideas, facilitated by translation, is an important pillar of Georgia’s integration with the European education system. The accession of the Georgian educational system to the Bologna process, the irreversible aspiration of the Georgian nation towards Europe, should be accompanied by the creation of an advanced European education system in the country, and be based on the analysis and consideration of past experiences, where the formation of a national school, which represents one of the core foundations of the state’s national ideology, should naturally contribute to it.

    Translation is vital in fostering a connection between diverse educational traditions and methodologies by translating and adapting educational materials and practices from European systems to align with Georgia’s cultural and linguistic context. Teaching methodology is constantly evolving and enhancing teaching effectiveness and student engagement. With modern technologies now an integral part of the younger generation’s daily lives, many students expect these tools to be incorporated into their learning experience. As a result, traditional lessons can sometimes seem boring leading to a significant decline in their motivation to learn.

    In this study, we employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Our approach included analyzing the syllabi of educational programs and reviewing relevant literature. Additionally, we designed a comprehensive questionnaire and conducted interviews with students from diverse specialties, as well as lecturers and teachers from various training centers.The article discusses resources, strategies, approaches, practical activities, advice, experiences, and research findings on how we can best prepare our future generation for the new world that systems are moving towards. The article will also present modern methods and principles used to translate linguistic innovations, focusing on neologisms, technical terms, slang, and linguo-culturology.

    Keywords: European Integration; Intercultural Translation; Teaching Methodology; Educational Innovation; Research Methods; Linguistic Adaptation.

    • Declaration by Authors
    • Ethical Approval: Approved
    • Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • Selcuk Kursad Koca
    Sakarya University (Türkiye)
    [skursadkoca@sakarya.edu.tr]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5974-7553
    Yavuz Koktana
    Sakarya University (Türkiye)
    [ykoktan@sakarya.edu.tr]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0834-2377    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078246

    AN ANALYSIS OF THE SHAPE-SHIFTING MOTIF IN TURKISH TALE NARRATIVES FROM MACEDONIA

    Abstract: Turkish folk literature in Macedonia has taken shape since the Ottoman era, emerging as a rich oral cultural heritage through the blending of narrative traditions brought from Anatolia with local elements. Tales, legends, folk stories, and anecdotes form the core components of this narrative tradition and stand out as significant elements reflecting the region’s cultural identity. These narratives exhibit parallels with the shared Turkish narrative heritage while also incorporating motifs specific to the region.

    This study focuses on the shape-shifting motif as it appears in Turkish folk narratives collected in Macedonia. The motif involves the transformation of a being or object into another form – such as a human turning into a stone, animal, tree, or bird; or the reverse, where animals and objects take on human form. These transformations may be permanent or temporary and are often symbolic.

    The study is based on Makedonya Türk Halk Edebiyatı Metinleri by Nimetullah Hafız. In this work, the shape-shifting motif was identified in twelve tale narratives. The findings indicate that shape-shifting typically serves a functional role within a reward-and-punishment framework, although it occasionally appears as a magical or supernatural phenomenon.Overall, the motif deepens the symbolic dimension of the narratives and facilitates the transmission of cultural values and collective beliefs. It also marks critical turning points in the stories, reflecting characters’ inner transformation or destiny. The study concludes that shape-shifting is a meaningful narrative element in Turkish folk literature in Macedonia, with both individual and cultural significance.

    Keywords: Macedonia Turks; Folk tale narratives; Shape-shifting; Metamorphosis; Motif analysis; Turkish Folk Literature.

    • Declaration by Authors
    • Ethical Approval: Approved
    • Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • Miftar Kurti
    Institute of History “Ali Hadri”, Prishtina (Kosovo)
    [miftarkurti@hotmail.com]
    ORCID: 0009-0005-0599-1944
    Nuri Bexheti
    University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina” (Kosovo)
    [nuri.bexheti@uni-pr.edu]
    ORCID: 0009-0004-1235-3521
    Ardita Hajdari
    Institute of History “Ali Hadri”, Prishtina (Kosovo)
    [ardita.hajdari@hotmail.com]
    ORCID: 0009-0002-1910-040X    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078166

    PRIMARY EDUCATION IN THE PARALLEL SYSTEM OF KOSOVO (1990–1999)

    Abstract: Kosovo became part of the Socialist Republic of Serbia within the Yugoslav federation at the end of the Second World War in 1945. A unified curriculum was introduced across Yugoslavia by the Federal Law on Elementary and Secondary Education in 1958. The 1963 Constitution further devolved educational powers to the republics, and the 1974 Constitution elevated Kosovo to an autonomous province with its own education-making bodies. From the mid-1970s, Kosovo’s provincial assembly regulated elementary and secondary schools under an eight-grade compulsory system, and the University of Pristina operated with growing autonomy.In March 1989, Republic of Serbia, within Yougoslavia revoked Kosovo’s autonomy and imposed Serbo-Croatian as the sole language of instruction, leading to the dismissal of Albanian-language teachers and the collapse of Albanian-medium classes. From 1990 to 1999, Kosovo Albanians established a parallel education network to preserve continuity and prevent the illiteracy intended by Serbian policies. This paper examines how primary education functioned under those extraordinary conditions: the parallel curricula and teaching materials used, the financing mechanisms, and the challenges encountered by students, teachers, parents, and school leaders during this period.

    Keywords: Kosovo; Albanian education; albanian language; parallel system; Yugoslavia.

    • Declaration by Authors
    • Ethical Approval: Approved
    • Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • Marine Aroshidze
    Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, Batumi, Georgia
    [marina.aroshidze@bsu.edu.ge]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8211-8421
     Nino Aroshidze
    Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, Batumi, Georgia
    [nino.aroshidze@bsu.edu.ge]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3358-7955    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078130

    MECHANISMS OF MANIPULATION IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (LINGUISTIC ASPECT)

    Abstract: In today’s information society, mechanisms for manipulating the mental state and behavior of individuals and the broader public are being continuously refined. Among the diverse tools of manipulation, language ‒ the power of words ‒ plays a central role. This article examines the appealing and persuasive power of words through an analysis of Putin’s speeches delivered prior to the invasion of Ukraine. Linguistic markers, which we have termed “Putinisms,” are reinforced through their interaction with vivid, memorable visuals, all of which are embedded in the emotional packaging of a falsified interpretation of cultural heritage. The culmination of these manipulative actions is the construction of a new “post-Soviet” myth centered on the Siberianization of Russia.

    Keywords: linguistic markers; manipulative techniques; public consciousness; “Putinisms”; the birth of a new myth.

    • Declaration by Authors
    • Ethical Approval: Approved
    • Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • Ilina Marinova
    Department of Anthropology, New Bulgaria University, Sofia
    [ilieva.ilina@gmail.com]
    ORCID ID: 0009-0008-8397-6178    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078106

    INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE WITHOUT MEMORY: THE COTTON FACTORY OF VARNA BETWEEN PAST AND REDEVELOPMENT

    Abstract: This article examines why one of Varna’s largest pre-socialist buildings – the Cotton Factory – remains materially intact while its industrial past has largely disappeared from public memory. Drawing on site observation, archival fragments, interviews and online discussions, the study identifies a set of mechanisms through which memory erodes: fragmented sensory recollection, low occupational prestige, institutional opacity, shifting moral regimes after 1944 and 1989, urban discontinuity, spatial distancing and the emergence of neighbourhood myths. These forces converge, producing a durable silence around the factory’s social world. At the same time, certain residual attachments – belonging, aesthetic recognition and projected cultural aspirations – continue to anchor the building in collective imagination. The factory persists as a material form whose past cannot be fully narrated yet has not been culturally concluded.

    Keywords: industrial heritage; collective memory; institutional opacity; labour history; urban transformation; silence and forgetting; Varna (Bulgaria).

    • Declaration by Authors
    • Ethical Approval: Approved
    • Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • Milena Angelova
    New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria)
    [mangelova74@yahoo.com]
    ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0208-1989    		Download
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18078073

    “AN OBSTETRICIAN OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION”: THE PHYSICIAN, BIOPOWER, AND MUSLIM WOMEN IN COMMUNIST BULGARIA DURING THE 1960S

    Abstract: This article examines the case of Dr. Gani Ganev, a rural physician in the village of Bezvodno (Kardzhali region), whose activities in the 1960s were elevated into a propaganda model of the so-called “cultural revolution” directed at Bulgaria’s Muslim population. Drawing on Ganev’s unpublished “diary-novella” (1961–1965) preserved in the Kardzhali State Archive, the study analyses how biomedical authority, socialist modernisation, and national-communist biopolitics intersect in everyday practices of surveillance, disciplining, and assimilation. The diary reveals an unusually explicit articulation of what Foucault terms biopower: systematic monitoring of women’s bodies, aggressive interventions in reproductive practices, the creation of a female “sanitary intelligence” network, and the pathologisation of religious and cultural norms. The text also exposes how Soviet minority-management models ‒ especially the Soviet (Azerbaijani) “Geokchay experiment” ‒ were imported and adapted to the Bulgarian context. Dr. Ganev’s self-fashioning as a “doctor-hero” illustrates the fusion between medical, ideological, and administrative functions within the communist project of ideological homogenisation. By reading this diary both as a self-serving political performance and as a rare documentary trace of localised state power, the article offers a more nuanced account of the 1960s ‒ a period often overshadowed by later assimilation campaigns ‒ and highlights the centrality of women’s bodies in the national-communist reordering of muslim minority communities.

    Keywords: Muslim minority; Bulgaria; 1960s; Biopower; Women’s bodies and reproductive surveillance; Cultural revolution; Soviet minority-management models (Geokchay experiment); National-communism.

    • Declaration by Authors
    • Ethical Approval: Approved
    • Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.