National Pride: Negotiating Heritage, Gender, and Belonging in times of Illiberal Ethnonationalism in Bulgaria

Abstract

This article explores the relations between cultural heritage, gender, and national belonging. Using heritage as a perspective to these dynamics in Bulgaria, I examine the interactions between the national-populist actors that challenge the core of liberal democracy, and the LGBT+ movement which counters xenophobic and exclusionary politics. In particular, the study focuses on the tenth edition of Sofia Pride march held in 2017 that instrumentalized elements of traditional masked mumming and fused them with international queer symbolics for its visual identity and communicational campaign. National folklore was thus reclaimed to performatively contest ethnonationalist and heteronormative discourses and assert a more inclusive understanding of heritage and belonging. This strategic reinterpretation of masquerade revealed some persistent societal divides which materialized through the hostile reactions of far-right parties and other conservative circles. Following this opposition, the paper sheds light on the local entanglements with the global illiberal wave and anti-gender mobilizations, while additionally provides a more attuned contextualization of the Bulgarian terrain. It further emphasizes the empirical and epistemological implications of gendered heritage for both the establishment of and the resistance to boundaries.

Full text

*
National pride: Negotiating heritage, gender,
and belonging in times of illiberal ethnonationalism
in Bulgaria
* 
Abstract
                -
-
-
            
            
                 
           

-

          
  
-
          


Keywords:    

1 Introduction
    


-

               
           
Intersections. EEJSP
7(4): 13–31.
https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v7i4.826
http://intersections.tk.mta.hu

national pride

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.




  -


    

                
        



              

     
 
   
-

-

         

           

              -
     

-
  
          
 

-

 
    
    

-
        
 -


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 

-
 -
-

      


-
-

                  
        -
-
      
          
     
   
      

          

              -


 
     

   
 
       


-


               
-
  
              

  
   

                


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.



-
-


Figure 1: 

                






-

     -
-


               


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 

         
 
                 
2 Ethnonationalism and anti-gender campaigns
     
                
-


-

-
      
       
-



  

-


-
-
-

       

   
   -
  -
-
            

     -
           
     
 


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.

-


-


-

       


      
  


            
            


-
   
-
-


            


                -
     -

 -

      
  
-


         
             

      
       

            
           

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 

        -
    
-

     

 
               

           

   
               
 
         

           
            

3 Heritage for all?
-
 
-
           
         

      
           

    -
     -
-
          
          
   -
-
 
    
 
     

           

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.

        

           

3.1 Reclaiming heritage for equality

    
     
-



            
         -
           

-
   
                  

          
 
     
          
           
           
                 

      
-
-
            
-
               





 -
  

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 




-


Figure 2: 

              
-
   
         
    -
-
 

     

-
-
 

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.





     
-

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    
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-
       
    -
            

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      
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
          
-
   
             
 -


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 
   -


-
       
    


3.2 Anti-gender repertoires


    -



                  
-
    
    
-

            
         
-

-



-
    -


-

               



              


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.

-
    
-
  

Goce Delčev 
  

        
-
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
 Bălgare     
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  
           
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          
           
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     
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   
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
      
            
          Bălgare 
              
           
           

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 
   
 

appropriate  
                


  
     
             

4 Discussion and conclusion
           


    
        
-
  -

   
        
 

     

-
      

    
           
   
   

          




 


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.

      
 
 -

Figure 3:




         
 -
  


     


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 

         

-

  -
-


      
-



      

-
               
         
          
   

         
             
           
         

-

    
       -
     -

-
              
         

-

 
 

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.

Acknowledgements
   
         

            


          
         
    
   
             
           

References
              
             
 

             
Social Movement
Studies 19         
           
  Gender–
Nation–Religion. Ein internationaler Vergleich von Akteursstrategien und Diskursverechtungen

    
. Anthropology of East Europe Review, 33
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity
       
        
.
    Masquerade and Postsocialism: Ritual and Cultural Dispossession in Bulgaria

            

Sexuality & Culture, 23,
          
Sextures, 2

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 
       
 Critique and Humanism
Review of European Studies, 2 


VMRO
          
Baltic Worlds, 13 
   
  Problems of Post-Communism    
Homosoc: Homosexuality during the communist regime in Bulgaria
                
       

Populism and Heritage in Europe: Lost in Diversity and Unity

     Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 43  

         Gender and Far Right Politics in Europe 

Critique and Humanism, 23
            
   Southeastern Europe, 44   

       Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing Against
Equality
De-
centring Western Sexualities: Central and Eastern European Perspectives  
   e Global Rise of Populism: Performance, Political Style, and Representation

             
       e EU Enlargement and Gay Politics

            
      
Gendering Postsocialism: Old Legacies and New Hierarchies
      QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, 3  


intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.

 Disidentications: eers of Color and the Performance of Politics. 

               
             
  Gender and Power in Eastern Europe. Societies and Political Orders in
Transit i on 

Problems of Post-Communism, 66  

       
eer Visibility in Post-socialist Cultures
  Engenderings 

Neo-populist Celebrations: Mobilizing Cultural Practices in Constructing ‘Otherness’
around Gender. e Case of the Istanbul Convention in Bulgaria
             New Social
Movements and Sexuality
     International Journal of Middle East Studies, 45 

                 
Critique internationale, 1 
Focaal, 53,    

                 Ethnos,
80 
              
 East European Politics and Societies, 35   

   Counter-Democracy: Politics in an Age of Distrust  

     
               De-centring Western
Sexualities: Central and Eastern European Perspectives
     
       American arterly, 71    

          Citizens’ Activism and Solidarity Movements:
Contending with Populism
Populist Politics and
Liberal Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

intersections. east european journal of society and politics, 7(4) : 1 3 –31.
 
  
Critical Essays on Human Rights Criticism

                e Ashgate
Research Companion to Heritage and Identity
 Bulgarian Drag History

            
Cultures of History Forum 

Statement of Support to Soa Pride 2017 from 17 diplomatic missions and representatives for Bulgaria of
UNICEF and UNHCR


 East European
Politics and Societies, 32 
            
Sexualities, 19
         
Focaal
                
      


             Masquerade and
Identities: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Marginality
      
            
eering Paradigms VIII: eer-Feminist Solidarity and the East/West Divide  

      
Discursive Approaches to Populism Across
Disciplines 
       
BIRN 


Gender and Heritage: Performance, Place and Politics 
             Politologický časopis / Czech
Journal of Political Science, 23