Identities in Transition: Gender, Media and Popular Culture in Bulgaria

Compiled by Milena Kirova and Cornelia Slavova

When 1989 came, the roles of man and woman in the Bulgarian society found themselves trapped in the transition: on the one hand, modelled according to the half-century-old notions of communist “equality”, on the other hand – not having lived up to the stereotypes of the time around the Second World War. Over the next twenty years, much has been written about history, politics, ethnic identities and global issues, but very little about the everyday struggle of being male or female, and even less about the ways in which the ubiquitous media and raucous popular culture shape the gender identity of the Bulgarian person. The collection Identities in Transition seeks to fill this gap to some extent. A series of cutting-edge interdisciplinary studies analyse the influence of media, advertising, cinema, sport, pop music, fashion and mainstream literature on our contemporary notions of femininity and masculinity. They are written in an accessible and engaging manner, offering numerous examples from Bulgarian life over the last decade, but also often comparing it to pre-1989 times.

ISBN 978-954-796-032-9

Published: 2010 

Page Count: 256 pp.