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VONESSEN-THESIS-2015.Pdf Copyright by Ellen Terry Von Essen 2015 The Thesis Committee for Ellen Terry Von Essen Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Mediating Metamodernity in Bulgarian Cultural Production: An Exploratory Case Study of Klaxon Press Collective APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Joseph Straubhaar Laura Stein Mediating Metamodernity in Bulgarian Cultural Production: An Exploratory Case Study of Klaxon Press Collective by Ellen Terry Von Essen, B.A. Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2015 Dedication For my parents, who have always encouraged my curiosity. Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Joseph Straubhaar for his kind guidance and support during my time at UT Austin, as well as my second reader, Dr. Laura Stein for her input and the valuable learning opportunities that she has provided for me. I would also like to thank Monica Georgieff and the staff of Klaxon Press Collective for their enthusiasm, hard work and collaboration in this project. On the whole, I want to thank the rest of the RTF department for the exceptional and challenging learning experiences that I know they have worked hard to provide. I am also grateful to the Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission and Foreign Service Officer Sherri Woods for making my time in Bulgaria possible, as well as my mentor Fannie Krispin, who taught me a new appreciation for life and literature. This project would not have occurred without Fannie’s unflagging support during my time in Sofia, as well as the wonderful learning experiences provided by my former students. On a more personal note, I would like to thank my fellow cohort member Leyla Aksu, who has added immensely to the value of my graduate experience as both a friend and colleague, my family – who have always supported my interdisciplinary studies and encouraged me to explore my own path, and Jordan Keeper, a true partner who has provided constant support and encouragement throughout this entire academic experience. Finally, I would like to thank my dog Lola, for being the cutest emotional support a graduate student could ask for and the crew of Quack’s Bakery at 43rd and Duval for all of the coffee, baked goods, playlists, and great conversation on many a late study night. v Abstract Mediating Metamodernity in Bulgarian Cultural Production: An Exploratory Case Study of Klaxon Press Collective Ellen Terry Von Essen, M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2015 Supervisor: Joseph Straubhaar This exploratory case study will examine the way in which Klaxon Press Collective, a new independent media producer in Bulgaria, is reflexively re-presenting and re- imagining the identity of their local community during a period of socio-political flux. The study strives to gain a preliminary understanding of the characteristics of the Collective’s imagined “metamodern” Bulgarian identity as they are manifested both in Klaxon’s material cultural production as well as the organization’s structure, goals, collaborations, and live events. A non-profit art collective and small press, Klaxon positions itself as part of a larger cultural transformation taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria. This process of transformation is evidenced by the country’s admittance to the EU in 2007 and the extensive 2013 protests and national political instability. While explicitly placing themselves within this politicized context, Klaxon Press Collective has come together to further art as a business and the development of a creative community within the Bulgarian capital. The organization’s espoused goal, to serve as a distribution platform for young Bulgarian and International artists, and more broadly, to support the promotion of a vi progressive mode of thought that they dub “metamodernism” within Bulgarian society suggests a unique connection between the imagination of communal identity, social transformation, and artistic media production. It is this connection between context, cultural identity, and artistic production that this interdisciplinary study seeks to investigate through the study of KPC’s extant web content and premiere publication via the application of multiple methodological approaches including document, organizational, and literary analysis. vii Table of Contents Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Personal Forward ............................................................................................1 Introduction .....................................................................................................5 Literature Review.................................................................................10 Art & Society ..............................................................................10 Art & Power ................................................................................12 Art, Aesthetics & Resistance ......................................................14 Methodology ........................................................................................18 Analysis................................................................................................20 Chapter 1: Contextualizing Klaxon Press Collective ............................................22 The Bulgarian Historical Narrative ...............................................................22 The Communist Era ......................................................................................26 Wrestling with Modernity .............................................................................27 Artpolitics & the Communist Era .................................................................31 Traditions of Resistance, Aesthetics, & Bulgarian Intelligentsia .................34 Theoretical Discursive Resistance .......................................................37 Post-Communist Bulgaria & “The Transition”.............................................40 Moving Beyond “Mentality” ........................................................................42 2013: A Turning Point? ................................................................................50 The Bulgarian Mediascape ...........................................................................52 Bulgaria’s Postmodern Condition .................................................................55 A Second National Revival? .........................................................................58 Chapter 2: Metamodernity & the Klaxon Press Journal .......................................62 New Bulgarian Literature .............................................................................64 The Evolution of the KPC Journal & the Influence of Zine Culture ............71 Writing the Metamodern ...............................................................................76 Metamodernity & Glocality ..........................................................................84 Metamodernity’s Progressive Politics ..........................................................90 viii Metamodern Creativity .................................................................................95 Conclusion ....................................................................................................96 Chapter 3: Manifesting the Metamodern in Process & Practice ...........................98 Art, Alternative MEDIA & Process ..............................................................99 A General Overview of Klaxon Press Collective .......................................101 Manifesting the Metamodern ......................................................................107 Glocality & Metamodernity ........................................................................111 Manifesting Metamodernity’s Progressive Politics ....................................114 Histories of Resistance .......................................................................114 Participatory Infrastructure ................................................................119 Metamodern Creativity ...............................................................................123 Conclusion ..................................................................................................130 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................131 Bibliography ........................................................................................................138 ix Introduction PERSONAL FORWARD I arrived in Bulgaria out of a combination of intent and happenstance. With an interest in Eastern Europe and a background English Literature I pursued a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) grant upon finishing my undergraduate education. Though Bulgaria was not initially my selected nation of interest, I was recruited by the Bulgarian Fulbright commission and, by August of that year, I was searching for an apartment in Sofia. I lived there for eleven months and during that time taught English language and literature at the First English Language School. Despite initial challenges, including language barriers and culture shock, I developed a close relationship with my colleagues and students and a deep attachment to the city of Sofia and Bulgarian culture. Working with the students was definitively a collaborative
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