Deema Kaneff is reader in Social Anthropology at the Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies at the University of Birmighnam.
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Glossary
Chapter 1. Introduction: Politics and the past
Chapter 2. A 'Model Village'
HISTORY: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTERS 3 AND 4
Chapter 3. Socialist History, Politics and Morality
Chapter 4. Contesting History
TRADITION: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTERS 5 AND 6
Chapter 5. The Character of Traditions
Chapter 6. Tradition and History: Contrasting Constructions of the Past
FOLKLORE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTERS 7 AND 8
Chapter 7. Defining Folklore
Chapter 8. Folklore in a New Bulgarian Village
Chapter 9. A New Model for the Village
Appendix I: 9 September 1987
Appendix II: Eulogy
References
Index
In the decades since the collapse of socialism in eastern Europe, time has been a central resource under negotiation. Focusing on a local community that was considered a "model" in the socialist period, the author explores a variety of state-sponsored and unofficial pasts - history, folklore, and tradition - and shows how they "fit" together in everyday life. During the socialist period, the past was a central dimension of local politics and village identity. Post-socialist development has demanded a revaluation of temporality - as well as public and private space. This has led to fundamental changes in social life and political relations, reduced local resources, threatened village identity and transformed political activity through the emergence of new political elites.
While the full implications of this process are still being played out, this study underlines some of the fundamental processes prevalent across eastern Europe that help explain widespread ambiguity vis-B-vis post-socialist reform.