Eleonora Naxidou1; 1 Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
Discussion
This presentation investigates the nineteenth-century Bulgarian nationalist intelligentsia’s perceptions of Europe during the historical period commonly designated in Bulgarian historiography as the National Revival. It seeks to address several interrelated questions: How was Europe conceptualized? Was Russia regarded as a part of Europe? How was European culture assessed? To what extent did Bulgarians perceive themselves as belonging to Europe? And in what ways did these interpretations contribute to the formation of Bulgarian self-knowledge and self-awareness? The analysis is grounded in texts produced by nationalist authors, with the exception of literary works, in order to preserve a strictly historical perspective. The findings demonstrate that representations of Europe were multifaceted, encompassing both positive and negative dimensions. Such diversity of interpretation appears not only between different intellectuals but also within the works of individual authors. Furthermore, the Revival-era intellectuals generally upheld the conviction that, culturally, the Bulgarian nation formed an integral part of Europe.
