Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T09:22:26.664Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Negotiating meaning through costume and social media in Bulgarian Muslims’ communities of practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Laura J. Olson Open the ORCID record for Laura J. Olson [Opens in a new window]
Laura J. Olson*
Affiliation:
Department of Germanic and Russian Languages, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
*
*Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper shows how contemporary believers are negotiating a new identity of Islamic piety in Bulgarian Muslim communities. Driven by communal memory of repression and contemporary Islamophobia, Bulgarian Muslims have created communities of practice (Wenger 1998), participatory groups that share a common interest in learning more about their faith. Communities function on multiple levels: there are small pockets of Islamic activity at the local level, and at a broader level, an imagined community of Bulgarian-speaking Muslims connected to an imagined global Islamic community, the ummah. The practices examined here include face-to-face activities, such as learning to read the Qur'an and prayers in Arabic, learning Islamic principles and practice, and talking about faith in mosques and homes in Bulgaria. This paper also examines virtual practices, such as discussing faith on social media. The article focuses on women's and girls’ Qur'an reading groups and discussions about wearing hijab, and it examines an online mixed-gender discussion of daily prayers. Such grassroots practice of Islam fosters a newly articulate and participatory version of religion, embracing and encouraging believers’ literacy and knowledge, activism, and agency. The mutual goals, repertoires, and activities of this community of practice create a sense of commonality and cohesiveness, while leaving room for some diversity of focus.

Keywords

BulgariaBulgarian MuslimsPomaksIslamcommunity of practicehijabprayer
Type
Special Section: Localizing Islam: National paradigms, new actors, and contingent choices
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 45 , Issue 4 , July 2017 , pp. 560 - 580
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Barlas, Asma. 2002. Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Benovska-Sabkova, Milena. 2006. “In Search of One's Own Self: Identity of the Bulgarian Muslims (Pomaks). A Case Study from the Western Rhodopes.” In Interculturalism and Discrimination in Romania: Policies, Practices, Identities and Representations, edited by Francois Ruegg, Rudolf Poledna, and Calin, Rus, 187–202. Berlin: Lit.Google Scholar
Blitz.bg. 2013. “Oskvernikha sus svastika na Azizie dzhamiia vuv Varna” [Azizie Mosque in Varna Desecrated with Swastika]. Blitz. Accessed September 7. http://www.blitz.bg/news/article/221022.Google Scholar
Borowik, Irena. 2007. “Religious Landscape of Central and Eastern Europe after Communism.” In The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, edited by Beckford, James A., and Demerath, N. J., 654–699. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Brown, Jonathan A. C. 2014. “Is Islam Easy to Understand or Not?: Salafis, the Democratization of Interpretation, and the Need for the Ulema.” Journal of Islamic Studies 26 (2): 1–28.Google Scholar
Brunnbauer, Ulf. 1999. “Diverging (Hi-)Stories: The Contested Identity of the Bulgarian Pomaks.” Ethnologia Balkanica 3: 35–51.Google Scholar
Bulgaria News Agency. 2009. “Bulgaria MP Yanev: Numerous Southern Villages Are Converted to Islam by Force.” March 3. Accessed December 15, 2011. http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=101658.Google Scholar
Cooke, Miriam, and Lawrence, Bruce B., eds. 2005. Muslim Networks from Hajj to Hip Hop. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
dnevnik.bg. 2014. “Sudut reshi, che zabranata osmoklasichka da nosi zabradka, ne e diskriminatsiia” [Court Decides Prohibiting 8th Grader from Wearing Headscarf Is Not Discrimination]. Accessed September 18. http://www.dnevnik.bg/bulgaria/2014/09/18/2383571_sudut_reshi_che_zabranata_osmoklasnichka_da_nosi/.Google Scholar
Elbasani, Arolda. 2015. “Introduction: Nation, State, and Faith in the Post-Communist Era.” In The Revival of Islam in the Balkans: From Identity to Religiosity, edited by Elbasani, Arolda, and Olivier, Roy, 1–23. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Elbasani, Arolda, and Tosic, Jelena. 2017. “Localized Islam(s): Interpreting Agents, Competing Narratives, and Experiences of Faith.” Nationalities Papers. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1300792 Google Scholar
Eminov, Ali. 1997. Turkish and Other Muslim Minorities in Bulgaria. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ernst, Carl W. 2003. Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World. Islamic Civilization & Muslim Networks. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Georgiev, Spas. 2014. “Protest pred sudebna palata: Iskame muzei, ne dzhamii” [Protest in Front of Law Court: We Want Museums, Not Mosques.” Sofia.Utre.bg, June 13. http://www.sofia.utre.bg/2014/06/13/235402-protest_pred_sudebna_palata_iskame_muzei_ne_dzhamii.Google Scholar
Ghodsee, Kristen. 2008. “Left Wing, Right Wing, Everything: Xenophobia, Neo-totalitarianism, and Populist Politics in Bulgaria.” Problems of Post-Communism 55 (3): 26–39.Google Scholar
Ghodsee, Kristen. 2009. “The Headscarf Debate in Bulgaria.” Anthropology News (May): 31–32.Google Scholar
Ghodsee, Kristen. 2010. Muslim Lives in Eastern Europe: Gender, Ethnicity and the Transformation of Islam in Postsocialist Bulgaria. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Girginova, G. 2014. “Deistvie purvo: Na pritsel v sudebnata zala – religiiata na 13 imami” [First Act: The Target at the Courtroom – the Religion of the 13 Imams], Sudebni Reportazhi. Accessed April 24. http://judicialreports.bg/2014/04/действие-първо-на-прицел-в-съдебната-з-3/.Google Scholar
Haddad, Yvonne. 2005. “Muhammad Abduh: Pioneer of Islamic Reform.” In Pioneers of Islamic Revival, 2nd ed., edited by Rahnema, Ali, 30–63. London: Zed.Google Scholar
Ilchevski, Stefan. 2011. “Religiozniiat dialog mezhdu khristianskata i miusiulanskata obshtnost v kraia na XIX i nachaloto na XX vek v selo Khvoina, Smolensko.” Ongul III (3): 36–45.Google Scholar
Ivanov, Mikhail. 2012. “Pomatsite spored bulgarskata etnodemografska statistika” [Pomaks According to the Bulgarian Ethno-Demographic Statistics].” Naselenie 2012 (1–2): 163–197.Google Scholar
Ivanova, Evgeniia. 2002. Otkhvurlenite “priobshteni” ili protsesa narechen “vuzroditelen” (1912–1989). Sofia, Bulgaria.Google Scholar
Ivanova, Evgeniia. 2012. “Identichnost i identichnosti na pomatsite v Bulgariia” [Identity and Identities of Pomaks in Bulgaria]. Liberalen pregled. March 6.Google Scholar
Ivanova, Evgeniia. 2014. Isliamizirani Balkani: dinamika na razkazite [The Islamicized Balkans: The Dynamics of Stories]. Sofia: Bulgarski Universitet.Google Scholar
Ivanova, Evgeniia. 2017. “Islam, State and Society in Bulgaria: New Freedoms, Old Attitudes?” Special issue: Managing Islam and Religious Pluralism: Governing Islam in Plural Societies, edited by Elbasani, Arolda and Roy., Olivier Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies 19 (1): 35–52.Google Scholar
Ivanova, Evgeniia, Gulubov, Antonii, Dimitrova, Boriana, Tomova, Ilona, Ivanov, Mikhail, and Khinkova, Sonia. 2011. “Naglasi na miusiulmanite v Bulgariia” [Opinions of Muslims in Bulgaria]. Unpublished results of study conducted by New Bulgarian University and Alpha Research. http://nbu.bg/index.php?l=2146.Google Scholar
Kalkandjieva, Daniela. 2014. “The Bulgarian Orthodox Church at the Crossroads: Between Nationalism and Pluralism.” In Eastern Orthodox Encounters of Identity and Otherness: Values, Self-Reflection, Dialogue, edited by Krawchuk, Andrii and Bremer, Thomas, 47–68. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Krasteva-Blagoeva, Evgenia, and Blagoev, Goran. 2008. “Symbols of Muslim Identity in Bulgaria: Traditions and Innovations.” Unpublished manuscript. http://193.19.172.24/PUBLIC/IMAGES/File/departments/anthropology/research/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20berlinl.pdf.Google Scholar
Mandaville, Peter G. [2001] 2004. Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
mediapool.bg. 2014. “Prokuraturata iska samo edna efektivna prisuda po deloto sreshtu imamite” [The Prosecutor's Office Wants Just One Effective Sentence in the Case Against the Imams]. Accessed January 29. http://www.mediapool.bg/prokuraturata-iska-samo-edna-efektivna-prisada-po-deloto-sreshtu-imamite-news216142.html.Google Scholar
Metodieva, Dimitrina. 2014. “Sudeben proces otvud pravoto” [Trial Beyond the Law]. Liberalen pregled, March 31.Google Scholar
13. National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. Constitution. Art. 1991. http://www.parliament.bg/en/const/.Google Scholar
Natsionalen staticheskii institut. 2011. “Naselenie po mestozhiveene, vuzrast I veroizpovedanie” [Population by Place of Residence, Age and Religion]. Prebroiavane na naselenieto i zhilishtniia fond v Respublika Bulgariia 2011 [Census of the Population and Housing in Republic of Bulgaria 2011]. http://censusresults.nsi.bg/Census/Reports/2/2/R10.aspx.Google Scholar
Neuburger, Mary. 2004. The Orient Within: Muslim Minorities and the Negotiation of Nationhood in Modern Bulgaria. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Olson, Laura J. 2015. “The Multiple Voices of Bulgaria's Unofficial Islamic Leaders.” In The Revival of Islam in the Balkans: From Identity to Religiosity, edited by Elbasani, Arolda and Olivier, Roy, 122–141. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Osterman, Laura Olson [Laura J. Olson]. 2014. “Movements for Islamic Revival and Ethnic Consciousness among Rural Bulgarian Muslims in the Post-Communist Period.” National Council for Eurasian and East European Research Title VIII Program, http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/2014_828-10g_Osterman.pdf.Google Scholar
Pedziwiatr, Konrad. 2016. “Church and State Relations in Poland, with Special Focus on the Radio Station Mary.” In Religion, Politics and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Countries, edited by Simons, Greg and Westerlund, David, 163–178. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Plovdiv24.bg. 2014. “Ekskluizivno video ot atakata sreshtu Dzhumaia dzhamiia v Plovdiv!” [Exclusive Video of the Attack on the Dzhumaia Mosque in Plovdiv]. Accessed February 14. http://news.plovdiv24.bg/478942.html.Google Scholar
Rechel, Bernd. 2007. “The ‘Bulgarian Ethnic Model’ – Reality or Ideology?” Europe-Asia Studies 59 (7): 1201–1215.Google Scholar
Rechel, Bernd. 2008. “What Has Limited the EU's Impact on Minority Rights in Accession Countries?” East European Politics and Societies 22 (1): 171–191.Google Scholar
Rice, Timothy. 1994. May It Fill Your Soul: Experiencing Bulgarian Music. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Roy, Olivier. 1994. The Failure of Political Islam. Translated by Carol Volk. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Roy, Olivier. 2004. Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah. The CERI Series in Comparative Politics and International Studies. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Sakellariou, Alexandras. 2017. “Fear of Islam in Greece: Migration, Terrorism, and “Ghosts” from the Past.” Nationalities Papers. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1294561 Google Scholar
Skat. 2016. “Neoosmanizmut i opasnostta za bulgarskata natsionalna sigurnost” [Neo-Ottomanism and the Danger for Bulgarian National Security]. Journalist Stoyan Ivanov and Professor Grigor Velev (President of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Art). Accessed March 2. http://www.skat.bg/products.php?type=10&genre=9060.Google Scholar
Sofos, Spyros A., and Tsagarousianou, Roza. 2013. Islam in Europe: Public Spaces and Civic Networks. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Todorova, Maria. 1997. “Identity (Trans)Formation among Pomaks in Bulgaria.” In Beyond Borders: Remaking Cultural Identities in the New East and Central Europe, edited by Kurti, Laszlo and Langman, Juliet, 63–82. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Todorova, Maria. 2004. “Conversion to Islam as a Trope in Bulgarian Historiography, Fiction and Film.” In Balkan Identities: Nation and Memory, edited by Todorova, Maria, 129–157. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Tomka, Miklos. 2010. “Religiosity in Central and Eastern Europe. Facts and Interpretations.” Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe 3 (1): 1–15.Google Scholar
Tomka, Miklós. 2011. Expanding Religion: Religious Revival in Post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Vesti.bg. 2011. “Sblusutsi pred dzhamiiata v Sofiia” [Conflicts in Front of the Mosque in Sofia]. Accessed May 20. http://www.vesti.bg/bulgaria/politika/sblysyci-pred-dzhamiiata-v-sofiia-3829911.Google Scholar
Walford, Geoffrey. 2008. “Muslim Schools in England and the Netherlands: Sustaining Cultural Continuity.” In Cultural Education – Cultural Sustainability: Minority, Diaspora, Indigenous and Ethno-Religious Groups in Multicultural Societies, edited by Bekerman, Zvi and Kopelowitz, Ezra, 13–30. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Wenger, Etienne. 1998. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zelengora, Georgi. 2013. “Demografsko razvitie na pomashkata obshtnost spored bulgarski staticheski iztochnitsi” [Demographic Development of Pomak Society According to Bulgarian Statistical Sources]. Paper given at Pomak Organization Conference, Chanakkale, Turkey, June 23.Google Scholar
Zhelyazkova, Antonina. 2014a. “Bulgaria.” In Oxford Handbook of European Islam, edited by Cesari, Jocelyne, 565–618. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zhelyazkova, Antonina. 2014b. Interview with Nikolai Tsekov. “Zashto osudikha imamite ot Pazardzhik?” [Why Did They Convict the Imams of Pazardzhik?” DW [Deutsche Welle]. Accessed April 3. http://dw.com/p/1BaVs.Google Scholar