The Cultural Communication of Emigration in Bulgaria

In The cultural Communication of Emigration in Bulgaria, Nadezhda Sotirova weaves disparate threads of Balkanism, complaining practices, and the myth of the “Bulgarian Situation” in order to illuminate local discourses on emigration in Bulgaria. Utilizing ethnography of communication and cultural discourse analysis, the author examines and contextualizes the lived experiences of Bulgarian communities through ethnographic observations and interviews. Based on assumptions of communication as infused with voices of the past, reflective, constitutive, and active, this case study of emigration discourses highlights the local social reality as navigated through interaction. The author argues that notions of “Bulgarian pessimism” can be understood through a language and social interactional perspective, as a combination of cultural communication resources used to make sense of socio-economic and political uncertainty in the country. Bulgaria has experienced an extended transition associated with high numbers of emigration due to lack of stability, widespread corruption, erratic political situation, and economic hardships. The author examines local discourses on emigration as cultural currency available to the members of the community, where discussion of issues in Bulgaria serve to communicatively enact larger cultural notions of being (Bulgarian-ness), social relations (oplakvane), dwelling (Bulgarian Situation), and action (emigration).