Course Content
Browse classes:
- Introduction to the course. Heritage and Nostalgia. Theoretical and Methodological Undertakings
- Studying Socialism from a Historical and Anthropological Perspective: Thirty Years after the Political Changes of 1989
- History and Memory of the Communist Period: Traumatic Pasts and Nostalgic Returns
- The Town and the Village – Internal Mobility and Residence Practices. Socialist Transformations and Their Lasting Effects
- Nostalgia of Socialist Everyday Life (1): Work Practices and Labor Organization under Socialism
- Nostalgia of Socialist Everyday Life (2): Free Time, Entertainment, Recreation and Vacations under Socialism
- Consumption under Socialism. Everyday Practices, Memory and Nostalgic Potential
- Living Spaces under Socialism – between Nostalgia and Rejection. The Transformations of Private and Public Spaces after 1989
- Public Rituals and Memorial Spaces of the Communist Period: Continuities, Disruptions, Heritage Construction
- Post-socialism and Post-colonialism: Post-Soviet Nostalgia, Yugonostalgia, Ostnostalgia
- Socialist Heritage and Museum Practices after 1989: between Nostalgia, Denunciation, and Disneyification
- Popular Culture under Socialism: Continuities and Nostalgic Revisiting
- Social Worlds and Transmission of Cultural Experience: Nostalgia and the Issue of Generations
- The Memory of Socialism – between Allergy and Nostalgia, Remembering and Amnesia
- Studying Socialism from the Perspective of Nostalgia and Heritage. Final Presentations and Conclusions
Complete Bibliography:
The Town and the Village – Internal Mobility and Residence Practices. Socialist Transformations and Their Lasting Effects
The is dedicated to the organization of residence and internal mobility during socialism, with two major tracks of attention – the urban centers and the village. Among the topics that are addressed are industrialization and urbanization processes during the communist period, the notion of “citizenship” and the restrictions on residence mobility before 1989, the collectivization of land in 1940s and 1950s and its impact on the socialist economy. All these are regarded in the light of the post-socialist transition and the way they influenced the everyday lives of individual and groups after 1989.
Texts for discussion:
- Lampland, M., The advantages of being collectivized: cooperative farm managers in the postsocialist economy. In: Chris M. Hann, ed., Postsocialism: Ideals, Ideologies and Practices in Eurasia. London and New York, 2002, 31-56.
- Roth, K., Managing Everyday Life in a Village in Socialist Bulgaria: Practices and Strategies. In: Giordano, Ch., D. Kostova, E. Lohmann-Minka, eds., Bulgaria. Social and Cultural Landscapes. Fribourg: University Press Fribourg. 2000, 179-194.
- Джордано, К., Д. Костова, Реприватизация без селяни. За устойчивостта на една пагубна българска традиция. – Български фолклор, кн. 3-4, 1997, 130-143 [Giordano, Ch., D. Kostova, Reprivatization without Peasants. About the Persistence of a Perilous Bulgarian Tradition. – Bulgarian Folklore Journal, 3-4, 1997, 130-143].
- Дичев, И., Усядането на номадския комунизъм. Социалистическа урбанизация и кръговете на гражданство. – Социологически проблеми, 3-4, 2003, 33-63 [Dichev, I., Sedentation of Nomadic Communism. Socialist Urbanization and the Circles of citizenship. –Sociological Problems, 3-4, 2003, 33-63].
Additional readings:
- Генчева, Р., Как да мислим постсоциалистическата вътрешна миграция в България (1989 – 2006). – Антропологични изследвания, т. VII, 2009, София, 47-74. [Guentcheva, R., How Can We Think Post-Socialist Internal Migration in Bulgaria (1989-2006). – Anthropological Studies, vol. 7, 2009, Sofia, 47-74].
- Груев, Михаил, Преорани слогове. Колективизация и социална промяна в Българския северозапад 40-те – 50-те години на XX век. София, 2009. [Gruev, M., Tilled boundary strips. Collectivization and Social Change in North-Western Bulgaria – 1940s-1950s. Sofia, 2009].
- Добрева, Д., Разкази за социалистическото село. Към словесното овладяване на миналото в настоящето. – Български фолклор, кн. 5-6, 1997, 4-27. [Dobreva, D., Stories about the Socialist Village. Towards the Narrative Emplotment of the Past into the Present. – Bulgarian Folklore Journal, 5-6, 1997, 4-27].
- Крийд, Дж., Опитомяване на революцията: от социалистическите реформи към противоречивия преход в едно българско село. София, 2006. [Creed, G. W., Domesticating Revolution. From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.]