The Bulgarian Quest for Origins (St Detchev)

8/12/2019 The Bulgarian Quest for Origins (St Detchev)

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Stefan Detchev

During the nineteenth century the construction of modern national ideologies tookplace. Part of this process was the search for racial antiquity, for ancestors, origin,

and common descent (Smith, n. 1!"#, p. 1"$% 1!"1, pp. &&'&% 1!"&, p. 1)% 1!!1,

pp. *1'**.% +ellner, 1!"#% riksen, -h. 1!!#% arkan, 1!!1, p. 1/. 0oreoer, it is wellknown that ethnicity is determined 2y the people who are in question. thnicity depends

on common descent, 2lood, a shared history, or myth of origin. 3f course, self'

awareness is the key ingredient here. 4t is this self'awareness that was determined 2y thestory concerning the origin of the people. -hat was the reason why the quest for origins

grew in importance in uropean culture. -he word ancestors was used more 2roadly. 4n

the early nineteenth century it appeared the notion of an Ur-Volk, the ryans, who had

supposedly migrated from northern 4ndia to inade and populate the uropean continentin prehistoric times. y the mid'century the category was esta2lished across uropean

scholarship. uropean ethnic and cultural origins were detached from the 5udaeo'

6hristian tradition and the authority of the i2le. -ransposing linguistic affinities to

ethnic ones, irtually all uropeans were ryans 2ut 2ecause of inter2reeding some wereless than others (urrow, *$$$, pp. 1$&'1$/. t the turn of the century the ryan

0yth was central not only in +ermany 2ut also in ritain and the 7nited States. 4t wasseductie to the uropean mind 2ecause it posited a racism underwritten 2y an

increasingly reputa2le science.

-he quest for origins is closely connected with the increase of nineteenth centuryrace science. -he proponents of what was iewed as race science 2elieed that in the

concept of race they held the key to history, culture and ciili8ation (9enton, 1!!!, p.

:/. s D. lack2ourn emphasi8ed arguments a2out race in the discriminatory sense

2ecame more common in prewar urope (lack2ourn, 1!!", p. )#*./. 3ne should keep inmind that in the conte;t of growing nationalism and scientific reolution race and

racial differences had political o2


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4n the ulgarian case after 1"! among the ulgarian political elite circulated

ideas and concepts of the people (nation etc,/ originating in the 9rench

nlightenment, 9rench 5aco2inism, glo@Sa;on li2eralism and ciic humanism.Aoweer, the Aerderian idea of Volk (people/ that formed a Blutsgemeinschaft

(community of 2lood/, the Volksseele (national soul/, and the Volksgeist (national spirit/,

preailed and the -yrnoo constitution (1"!/ 2ear witness to those alignments. -hat iswhy the idea of national character remained as the essence of a nation that remained

fi;ed once and for all. 4n this regard, in the quest for origins many authors essentialised

the alleged national characteristics and the supposed national uniqueness. 4n fact, inthe period mentioned ulgarian national ideology was strongly influenced 2y the model

of +erman =omanticism as well as its =ussian Slaophile ersion (including ?.

Danileski/ and . =enanBs concept a2out the nation. ?eertheless, the +erman

=omantic insights really preailed and it marked the notions a2out the medieal times aswell. Despite =enanBs idea that nations are not something eternal and they are

something fairly new in history, haing in mind the alkan peninsula, the ulgarian

scholar and politician 0. ala2ano regarded the nations as something eternal. Ae wrote

e;plicitly how the different peoples fall silent during the )': ages under -urkishdomination keeping their tri2al affiliations when 2egan to awake during the

nineteenth century. 0oreoer, this statement was made despite the fact that according toala2ano the ulgarian nation still had to 2e forged. 3f course, this notion was part of

=enanBs concept. s 0artin -hom underlines =enan hae neer denied the particular

contri2ution of the 9rench reolution for proclaiming the e;istence of a nation of itself.Aoweer, he 2elieed that the principle of nationality was 2oth the creation of more

recent period (1"1#'1:/ and of a more distant one concerning +ermanic inasions

(-hom, 0artin, p. *!/.

-he =usso'-urkish war of 1"'" and the esta2lishment of the 0odernulgarian State (1"!/


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Slas neer e;isted in any meaningful sense, although it is perfectly reasona2le for us

to discuss and analy8e the e;tent to which languages which we classify as Slaic were

spoken at any gien time. -here is neer likely to hae 2een a Slaic nation if that termimplies an association of populations speaking different languages and possessing some

coherently unified social organi8ations. -he notion springs from the erroneous iew that

there is a familial linguistic relationship 2etween populations and polities. 0oreoer,there is no contradiction in denying the e;istence of Slaic ethnicity, yet in recogni8ing

the importance of ethnicity among those whom we call the Slas. 3f course, Slas is

an ethnonym often recorded to us. Aoweer, whether there was any awareness of unityand solidarity 2eyond the local leel. -he term Slas was e;ternally imposed 2y the

+reek and =oman geographers. -here is no reason to suppose that those groups thought

of themseles as related in any way, or called themseles Slas. -he population

designated as Slas was not a single people or an ethnic unit. -he notion of Slasis releant only for designation of a language family.

etho!ologically my study will 2e informed 2y the insight that ethnic categories

could thus 2e considered as concepts in the process of construction, much more plural,

comple;, and su2tle than the traditional concepts in social sciences and humanities. 3neshould underline that een if Slaic languages were spoken in some places they may

not hae 2een called, or recogni8ed as, Slaic 2y their speakers. Perhaps Slas was


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0oreoer, often language could 2e equated with ethnicity 2ut this o2seration

does not hold for language families. -he notion of 4ndo'uropean language family is


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' 4 will reeal how some traces of racial thinking widespread in urope at that

time entered on the pages of the ulgarian academic


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people was coming from a pure Slavic tribe. 4t is eident that there were no

goernmental efforts to make changes in those interpretations as well. 4 could

demonstrate how at turn of the century one can come across the renewed importance ofthe ryan myth in a world'wide conte;t that was isi2le in some ulgarian te;t2ooks for

the first time. -hat is why one can see descriptions of the Slavs represented already

e;plicitly as #ryans.' Studding the ulgarian newspapers, hat a2out

Proto'ulgariansF >hat is the relation 2etween those images and the image of the alkanmanF ery special emphasis 4 will put here on gender and masculinity studies perspectie

that could enriched my approach. 4 am going to demonstrate how the quest for origins

and the racial e;planations and speculations, like in many other cases at that time in

urope, were charged with a gender perspectie. (some salient influences 2y authors like5ules 0ichelet and +ustae e on, Aippolyte -aine, 6h. Darwin/. ' the intellectual

fashion in urope at that time ' heredity and racial generali8ations that were full of

pre


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' 4 am going to represent latarskiBs scientific eolution as a representatie

e;ample for the deelopments of the ulgarian medieal historiography at the time. Ae

was not a2le to aoid a cluster of contemporary Aerderian and +erman =omanticterminology that concerned the national deelopment and the process of nation'2uilding.

-alking a2out the medieal phenomena, in his te;t he spoke a2out raising of national

spirit and the establishment of the popular ideal.' 4 will pay special attention to 4. Shishmano who marked the fundamental shift

in treating the pro2lem of ulgarian ethnogenesis. ?ot discussed in the history te;t2ooks

the pro2lem of the origin of Ptoto'ulgarians was already represented in academicwritings in the end of nineteenth and the 2eginning of the twentieth century. 0entioning

the long de2ated hypothesis of Turco-Tartarian origin of Proto2ulgarians @ and the

development of linguistics he did not miss ogdanoBs insight that the contemporary

Bulgarian craniological type was the one of the very mi$ed population%' -his direction in the academic field 2rought to de2ates a2out ethnic duality and

een plurality in ulgarian history. 4 will reeal how academic scholars were still caution

in applying racial methods for resoling social and cultural issues. s the mentioned

a2oe oeriew of the historical discourse shows, the notion of possi2le racial mi;turein ulgarian origin was not totally unclear for the ulgarian pu2lic. -he most prestigious

anthropological studies at the time saw contemporary ulgarians as very mi$edpopulation. 4t was also considered o2ious from the first glance. (S. ate/

' 4 will present oerwhelming num2er of e;amples how in


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insight a2out personal character carried in the 2lood were part of ulgarian pu2lic

discourse concerning the quest for origins.

' 4 am going to represent a huge ariety of e;amples themati8ing on ulgarianorigin, -hey will come from uniersity theacher in history of ulgarian law P. 3d8hako

who represented women as sym2olic 2earers of the nation and speculate a2out young

females irginity% a2out Slaic female that was endowed with irtues% a2out femalechastity that was not presered among the ncient -hracians% how it was e;plained as a

supposed estige of an ancient -hracian custom.

' 4 will present ery many concrete e;amples written 2y authors like Ciril Aristo,nton Strashimiro, Petar ?eyko and others 2ased on the way contemporary ulgarians

normatiely imagined their ancestors and the real knowledge a2out ethnic comple;ity

of the ulgarian past. 4 will inestigate with many concrete e;amples how sym2olically

the Slaic was supposed to mark what was closer to the uropean norms of politenessand morality. >hat was ill-looking, dark, yello&, 'ongolian, "rotobulgarian,

(riental-Tartarian was supposed to designate what was considered sian,

2ar2aric, primitie, ple2eian and unciili8ed. 4 am going to represent how some

representaties of the ulgarian political, social and cultural elite, liing in the newlyesta2lished capital of Sofia, e;perienced increasing contact with people geographically,

culturally, and linguistically, if not phisically, different from people familiar to them.-hey felt eident sense of cultural superiority towards the population of the surrounding

region. 4n this regard 4 am planning to present many e;amples of depictions in terms of

shops. 4n the ery 2eginning of the twentieth century many authors were quite oerttalking a2out tribe or race, outward appearance, temper, connections with certain

culture) and civilization. s far as 2ackwardness connected with origin was

concerned, national writer 4an a8o referred to historical populations like "echenegs

and *umans ' su2scri2ing to purely racial e;planations concerning origins of theulgarian population at certain regions.

' 4 am going to present oerwhelming num2er of e;amples for similar racial

e;planations of social phenomena @ e.g. how certain tensions, diisions, and weaknesseswithin the ulgarian nation were e;plained enoking the themati8ation of origin or

origins of the ulgarian nation% how in popular histories ulgarian origins were

themati8ed to e;plain in terms of origin een the contemporary political 2ehaior ofregions and large parts of ulgarian population inoking medieal ethnic migrations and

fusion of ethnic groups (S. =ade/% how there were cases when the political stand of the

population ?orth and South of the alkan mountain was e;plain in terms of ethnic

origin.-hose e;planations in terms of ethnic origin were influenced 2y the 9rench andritish schools and the whole intellectual fashion from the long nineteenth century.

' 4 will represent and analy8e many concrete e;amples of political speculations

concerning the insistence on our ancestors the Slas and raciali8ation of politicaladersaries, personal enemies or part of the ulgarian su2


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a2out the lowest leel of the esta2lished racial hierarchy among the >hites or the

uropeans. 0oreoer, their liminal position, een within the ulgarian conte;t,

endowed them with an sian, 2ar2aric, 0ongolian, and yellow status.' s it is eident from the title 4 am planning to include war period as well @

alkan wars and 9irst >orld war as well. -hat period is ery interesting 2ecause =ussia

was ally in the first war and enemy in the second. 0oreoer, during the wars in ulgariahistorians and other scholars had consensus on national matters. 4n 1!1* and 1!1:

intellectuals rallied to the national flag. 9in'de' sicle legacy on the racial thought after

the 2eginning of the wars was additionally deeloped, ela2orated and appropriated. -hefocus was again upon national community, national self, and national character. 4n

this regard, it was impossi2le the trends towards more racial phraseology and

e;planation, een in its moderate ersions, not to enter historical discourses. -he

oerwhelming num2er of political pamphlets and 2ooks, as well as ulgarian press at thetime, supported this statement concerning the past. -he a2oe'mentioned intellectual

atmosphere su2stantially influenced ulgarian science as well (sociology, collectie

psychology, history etc./ -hey were marked 2y a trend towards more racial e;planations

and the appropriation of racial language concerning ethnic past. -he war atmospherestrengthened the idea of ancestors and some different focuses as far as this topic was

concerned, strongly influenced 2y war alliances and conar atmosphere as one could e;pect. 4t spoke

a2out the period of Aunno'ulgarian domination that was followed 2y an epoch of

slaani8ation. ?eertheless, 4 will reeal how latarski spoke a2out formation of theulgarian nationality (narodnost/ and the final ethnic physiognomy of the alkan

peninsula @ Slaic Ae e;plicitly mentioned two ethnic elements Slaic and ulgarian

and he spoke a2out Slaic'ulgarian state and nationality as well as etnhnic dualism.

0oreoer, Shishmano emphasi8ed the quantitatie increase of the Slas in the stateand how ulgarian ords made a sacrify of their nationality (narodnost/. latarski

su2scri2ed to the iew that Proto'ulgarians were from -urcic or Aunn origin. Ae added

that they had common -urcic origin with the Aunns and they were part of commonhistory of the Aunn peoples. ccording to him, the Aunns were -urks that came from

6hina. 7sually, latarski used the term ethnic community and he did not use the term

race. latarski was ery firm in his conclusion that the ulgarians 2y origin are Slas,crossed with Proto'ulgarians and other -urcic peoples% 2y language @ totally Slas,

howeer their state is a deed of a -urcic people.

' t the same time it was &ancho 'enov ho !efen!e! the thesis that ulgarians were

Aunns 2ut the Aunns or the ulgarians hae not come from 6hina. ccording to

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6eno, they were old Danu2ian people, who lied in -hracia from pre'historic times.

s 6eno wrote the Aunns are -hracians, 2ut not 6hineses. +enerally speaking,

according to 6eno, ulgarians are old -hracians, 2ut they are old -royans as well.' 4n the prewar period as well as during the war years, some authors referred to

Aungarian linguists udenc, 0unkachi and +om2oc. -hey emphasi8ed their insights that

there were hundreds of -urcic words with ulgarian origin in the Aungarian language.lso 9inish scholars like 0ikkola and Pasonen supported the iew that there were many

Proto'ulgarian 2orrowings in contemporary Aungarian language.

' 4 am going to reeal how the mentioned a2oe iews took different direction ofdeelopment in non'scientific discourse. uthors like the writer Ciril Aristo (1!1#'

1!1&/ referred to race and racial policy and they spoke with proud a2out -artar'

ulgarian origin. During the 9irst >orld >ar one can come across iews how,

according to science and important scholars, in urope the Aungarians hae no closerrelaties than us. uthors like n. Strashimiro also tried to find some racial

e;planations concerning ulgarian origin.

' -here are seeral other issues that could 2e addressed a2out the war period. -o what

e;tent the war period emphasi8ed the quest for originsF >hat were the links 2etweenhistorians and other scholars in humanities and literature, on the one hand, and political

moements, including nationalist moements, on the other. >hat was the influence of?eo'=ankeans or post'=isorgimento historiography on ulgarian regimes of historicity

2etween 1!1*'1!1"F >hat was the influence of race and psychoanalyses, 9reudBs ideas

and 5ungBs notion of archetypesF >ere there any applications of the concepts ofcollectie soul and race soulF >hat other kinds of influences one could traceF ' to

what e;tent race was applied as a scientific category or ulgarian authors carry on

su2scri2ing to insight that historical change has nothing to do with race 2ut with

economic and social conditions and political institutions. -o what e;tent Social Darwinisttraces e;pressed through a diffusion of organic imagery and other racial oertones could

2e distinguish in their writings. >hy een some socialist thinkers were influenced 2y

racial discourse and ideas (e.g. P. ?eyko/ ''' Aow did ulgarian scholars cope with+erman idea a2out racial inferiority, especially of the Slaic peoplesF Aow did they cope

with +erman ryan and already firmly ?ordic, not 4ndian conceptF Aow did they

domesticate theories of racial gradations (good +erman, worse Sla anddegenerate 9rench/. Aow can one trace the relations 2etween ethnically oriented

nationalism and racial ideas. 4n this regard, what were the influences of Slaophilism and

+erman Sonder&eg. (e.g. P. 0utafchie/ ''' Aow did ulgarian thinkers cope with such

interconnected themes eerywhere in urope as ancestry and raceF >hat were thetrends and differences in comparison with the preailing paradigm from the 2eginning of

the centuryF 4n this regard what was the influence of the intellectual deelopments in

uropeF Aow can one define and estimate the typical application of the category ofrace and racial thought in the ulgarian intellectual conte;tF >hat were the features of

race 2iology of the ulgarian people (0. Popo/% the concept of Bulgarian race or

Bulgarian tribe% the isions a2out mi$ture of blood and psychological chaos (C.Aristo/% >hat were the isions as far as the notions of homogeneous or heterogeneous

nation were concernedF

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The Bulgarian Quest for Origins (St Detchev)