https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15619147
Yelis Erolova
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IEFSEM – BAS)
[yeliserolova@gmail.com], ORCID: 0000-0002-3578-9852
The Spontaneous and Forced Assimilation of the Turkish Women in Urban and Rural Environment during the Socialist Period in Bulgaria (Examples from the Svishtov Region)
Abstract: During the totalitarian communist regime (1944–1989) in Bulgaria, inconsistent policies of displacement, targeted integration, forced and coercive assimilation were implemented to reduce the size of the Muslim communities in the country. Their renaming in 1984/1985, called „Revival Process“ by the state authorities, was a continuation and final stage that ended in the re-settlement wave to Turkey during the summer of 1989, defined as „ethnic cleansing“. The article presents the life trajectories of two Turkish women in rural and urban environment, which are very different but also similar, because of their reactions to the forced assimilation measures including the change of their personal names. The paper discusses how the state policy influences their ethnicity and integration into the local Turkish and Bulgarian communities.
Keywords: Turks and Muslims in Bulgaria; communist regime; spontaneous and forced assimilation.
Reference
Бюксеншютц, У. (2000). Малцинствената политика в България. Политиката на БКП към евреи, роми, помаци и турци. София, IMIR [Byuksenshyutts, U. (2000). Maltsinstvenata politika v Balgariya. Politikata na BKP kam evrei, romi, pomatsi i turtsi. Sofiya, IMIR].
Груев, М., Кальонски, A. (2008). Възродителният процес. Мюсюлманските общности и комунистическият режим. София, Сиела [Gruev, M., Kalyonski, A. (2008). Vazroditelniyat protses. Myusyulmanskite obshtnosti i komunisticheskiyat rezhim. Sofiya, Siela].
Еролова, Й. (2010). Добруджа – граници и идентичности. София, „Парадигма“ [Erolova, Y. (2010). Dobrudzha – granitsi i identichnosti. Sofiya, „Paradigma“].
Маева, М. (2006). Българските турци-преселници в Република Турция (Култура и идентичност). София, IMIR [Maeva, M. (2006). Balgarskite turtsi-preselnitsi v Republika Turtsiya (Kultura i iden-tichnost). Sofiya, IMIR.]
НСИ (без дата). Структура на населението по вероизповедание [NSI. Struktura na naselenieto po veroizpovedanie]. https://www.nsi.bg/Census/StrReligion.htm
Стоянов, В. (1998). Турското население в България между полюсите на етническата политика. София, ЛИК [Stoyanov, V. (1998). Turskoto naselenie v Balgariya mezhdu polyusite na etnicheskata politika. Sofiya, LIK].
Тепавичаров, В. (2019). Носталгията по социализма в България. София, УИ „Св. Кл. Охридски“ [Tepavicharov, V. (2019). Nostalgiyata po sotsializma v Balgariya. Sofiya, UI „Sv. Kl. Ohridski“].
Agar, M. H. (1985). Speaking of Ethnography. (Qualitative Research Methods). A Sage University Papers. SAGE Publications, Inc. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412985895
Alexander, J. (2004). Toward a Theory of Cultural Trauma.In J. Alexander et al. (Eds.)Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1–30.
Ballard, R. (2015). Assimilation. In J. Stone, R. Dennis, P. Rizova, A. Smith, and X. Hou (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race Ethnicity and Nationalism. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663202.wberen380
Bochner, A. P. (1984). The functions of human communication in interpersonal bonding. In Carroll C. Arnold & John W. Bowers (Eds.), Handbook of rhetorical and communication theory. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 544–621.
Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., Bochner, A. P. (2010). Autoethnography: An Overview. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 12(1), Art. 10, http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1101108.
Eminov, A. (1997). Turkish and Other Muslim Minorities of Bulgaria. London, Hurst & Company.
Erolova, Y., Tsyarypkina, Y. (2023). Local Reflections on the Chernobyl Disaster 35 Years Later: Peripheral Narratives from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Bulgaria. Comparative Southeast European Studies, 71(1), 12–31. https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2021-0069
Fichter, J. H. (1957). Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hirschman, Ch. (1983). America’s Melting Pot Reconsidered. Annual Review of Sociology, 9, 397–423.
Gordon, M. M. (1964). Assimilation in American Life. New York, Oxford University Press.
Kamusella, T. (2019). Ethnic Cleansing During the Cold War: The Forgotten 1989 Expulsion of Turks from Communist Bulgaria. London & New York, Routledge.
Karimi, A., Wilkes, R. (2023). Classic, Segmented-, or Neo-Assimilation, Which Theory to Use? A Scientific-Method Investigation. International Migration Review, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183231205560
Lubanska, M. (2015) Muslims and Christians in the Bulgarian Rhodopes. Studies on Religious (Anti)Syncretism, Berlin, De Gruyter Open Publishing House.
Maso, Il. (2001). Phenomenology and ethnography. In P. Atkinson, A. Coffey, S. Delamont, J. Lofland & L. Lofland (Eds.), Handbook of ethnography Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 136–144.
Oushakine, S. (2000). In the State of Post-Soviet Aphasia: Symbolic Development in Contemporary Russia. Europe-Asia Studies, 52 (6), 991–1016. http://doi.org/10.1080/09668130050143806
Park R. (1914). Racial Assimilation in Secondary Groups with Particular Reference to the Negro. American Journal of Sociology, 19(5), 606–623.
Weiner, M., Teitelbaum, M.S. (2001). Demographic Engineering: Settlement and Deportation. Political Demography, Demographic Engineering, New York, Oxford, Berghahn Books, pp. 54-64. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781800734104-008
Williams, J., A., Jr, Ortega, S., T. (1990). Dimensions of Ethnic Assimilation. Social Science Quarterly, 71(4), 697–710.
Young, I. M. (2002). Inclusion and Democracy. Oxford, Oxford University Press.