Popular Culture in Bulgaria and Romania Since the 1960S
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11 / 2013 POPULAR CULTURE IN BulGaria anD ROMania SINCE THE 1960s Guest Editor Carmen Scheide (St.Gallen) Street protests against shale gas extraction, January 14, 2012 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (Photograph by Vihra Barova) Online Journal of the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe University of St. Gallen URL: www.gce unisg.ch, www.euxeinos.ch ISSN 2296-0708 Center for Governance and Last Update November 19, 2013 LANDis & GYR Culture in Europe STIFTung University of St.Gallen Contents Popular Culture in Romania and Bulgaria since the 1960s 3 Editorial Romanian Cinematography and Film Culture during 6 the Communist Regime by Nela Gheorghica, Italy Rock Subculture In a Small Town – Forms and Strategies of Identification 17 by Yana Yancheva, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies and Ethnographic Museum, Sofia Subcultural Identities - Styles and Ideologies (Subcultural Ways of Life of 28 the Post-Transitional Generation in Bulgaria) by Vihra Barova, Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia Publishing Information/Contact 39 Euxeinos 11 (2013) 2 Popular Culture in Romania and Bulgaria since the 1960s long with pop art, rock & roll is seen as lifestyles, fashion, literature and even sport. Aone of the main origins of the pop culture, Thus, popular culture has a much stronger which emerged in the 1950s and comprised link with the everyday experiences of ordi- phenomena such as new styles of music and nary people than is the case with what might youth cultures1. Observers at that time initially be considered culture in an elitist sense. regarded the new trends as dangerous sub- The term popular culture can have many cultures, as a youth hazard, and as immoral, different meanings, but it does imply a certain Editorial while the proponents viewed themselves as temporal context: first and foremost, it refers a counterculture to existing norms and elit- to the musical and artistic output of Ameri- ist definitions of culture. In western capitalist can and British society from the 1950s on, countries a commercialization of pop culture which rapidly spread to different regions of occurred very quickly, which often advanced the world through a process of cultural trans- to become mass culture. Ever since, the con- fer. It did not stop at the iron curtain during trast between sophisticated culture and pop- the Cold War, but rather reached the Eastern ular culture has increasingly leveled out, as Bloc in real-time. And it did not remain only previously scandal-ridden musicians from the a western phenomenon, but influenced dif- rock, beat or punk scenes are now part of a ferent subcultures in the Eastern European historical canon. In the cultural sciences, pop countries. Furthermore it was closely connect- culture – as a mirror of social and cultural de- ed to new technologies for reproducing both velopments - has been a steadily growing area sounds and images. of research in the past few years. However, What new insights can popular culture current studies often pertain to western indus- give the reader? It reflects concepts of order, trial societies, as there is little knowledge on patterns of interaction and shifts in mass cul- Eastern European societies or because many ture through the media, consumer goods or anticipate that there were no such develop- cultural transfer. From this point of view, it ments under socialism. is possible to analyze processes of negotiation But what is exactly pop culture? There are or loyalties between the state and society – as no clear definitions of the term. However, the well as cultural practices – that point to the next few sentences can be read as an attempt hegemonic concepts, distinction and integra- at a definition. Popular culture is a multifac- tion. In the context of strict ideological norms eted, global phenomenon that is associated as were prevalent for example in the Soviet with such attributes as freedom or subversion. Union, GDR, Romania or Bulgaria, pop cul- It is easily accessible to broad sections of the ture was one factor for political change2, as population, and offers lifestyles that can be some individuals lost their interest in politics adopted or adapted informally and without and others became politically emancipated commitment and which therefore – at least from state concepts. The search for an indi- to some extent – remain beyond the reach of vidual identity, personal styles and tastes was political control. Popular culture embraces dif- closely connected with free access to media ferent music styles, performing arts, cinema, 2 Pekacz, Jolanta: Did rock smash the wall? 1 Hecken, Thomas: Pop: Geschichte eines The Role of Rock in Political Transition, in: Popular Konzeptes 1955-2009, Bielefeld 2009, p. 271 Music 13, 1994, No. 1, p. 41ff. Euxeinos 11 (2013) 3 and consumer goods as well with the idea of Eastern Europe6. The editors understand pop personal freedom. However, in daily life such culture as an escape from the monotony of ev- demands were limited by the political system. eryday socialism: People refused to be indoctrinated and devel- “It is important for students of Eastern Euro- oped a sense of self-will [Eigensinn]. Another pean history to understand that people living under aspect of pop culture is its close relationship to communism constantly sought ways to challenge youth culture and the efforts of young people the system from within on an everyday basis.”7 to distinguish themselves from older genera- However, Bulgaria and Romania are still tions and to cross social borders. under-researched. Therefore, this edition of Besides theoretical approaches from so- Euxeinos aims to provide insights into the lat- ciology in the past 40 years3, initially efforts est projects. You will find three articles in this were undertaken to understand Eastern Eu- issue, one on Romania and two on Bulgaria ropean pop cultures immediately after the fall covering the period from the 1960s till today. of communism4. In recent years new interest- Nela Gheorghica deals with Romanian ing publications have again appeared with a film production and cinema culture under main focus on the GDR and the Soviet Union communism. According to the Leninist dic- and, in particular on urban centers like Berlin, tum, cinema was an important form of art Leipzig, Moscow and Leningrad. However, in which could reach the masses. Like in other cities and regions beyond the center vibrant socialist countries, the film industry and cine- subcultures, music scenes and youth cultures ma production were therefore nationalized in existed as well, as Sergej Zhuk and William Romania in 1948 in order to exploit and con- Risch demonstrated in their books about So- trol mass culture for political purposes. Even viet Ukraine5. though it turned away from the Soviet Union In 2013, an edited volume was published after 1968, the functionalization and censor- which deals with less researched countries in ship of this cultural sphere by the state re- mained unchanged. Nevertheless, there were a number of foreign and western productions 3 Horkheimer, Max/Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund: Dialektik der Aufklärung: in the 1960s and 1970s in particular, which philosophische Fragmente, Frankfurt a.M. 1969; were shown with only minor restrictions. Fiske, John: Understanding popular culture, The ethnologist Yana Yancheva explores London 2006 the phenomenon of rock culture in small Bul- 4 Troickij, Artemij: Tusovka: Who’s Who in garian cities from the 1960s to today. Almost the New Soviet Rock Culture, London 1990; Ramet, simultaneously to western societies, rock cul- Sabrina Petra (Ed.): Rocking the State: Rock Music and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia, Boulder ture also emerged there as a youth movement (Colo.) 1994; Ryback, Timothy W.: Rock around the and as an urban sub-culture which quickly Bloc: a History of Rock Music in Eastern Europe spread. The motivation to participate could be and the Soviet Union, New York 1990 seen as an attempt to escape from the govern- 5 Risch, Wiliam Jay: The Ukrainian West: Culture and the Fate of Empire in Soviet Lviv, 6 Giustino, Cathleen M: Socialist Escapes: Cambridge, Mass. 2011; Zhuk, S.I.: Rock and Roll Breaking Away from Ideology and Everyday in the Rocket City: the West, Identity and Ideology Routine in Eastern Europe, 1945-1989, New York in Soviet Dniepropetrovsk, 1960-1985, Washington, 2013 D.C 2010 7 Giustino, Cathleen, p. 2 Euxeinos 11 (2013) 4 ment’s ideas on lifestyle, leisure activities, and sub-cultural scenes than women. cultural norms and to create a counterculture, All three articles, which were written ex- while also distinguishing oneself from other clusively for this issue of Euxeinos, offer con- forms of mass culture. In return, adherents to temporary insights on marginalized regions this sub-culture were villainized as being dec- of Europe and highlight transnational pos- adent, immoral, or uncultivated – arguments sibilities of comparison and research gaps, which simultaneously were made in other while also sharing knowledge with interested societies as well. As a result, the communist readers on Eastern European societies and Bulgarian government aimed to expand its previously conducted research on them. control over the rock scene, which led to even more resistant and politicized behavior among Dr. habil. Carmen Scheide the adherents: Executive director “We wanted to show them we didn’t care Center for Governance and about those shitty ideologies and norms of be- Culture in Europe havior. That was it.”8 University of St. Gallen The period of analysis of Yancheva’s study e-mail: [email protected] is also interesting, because it does not end with the collapse of communism in 1991, rather also comprises the period of transformation. The allure of the forbidden abruptly ended when democratization began, as previously forbid- den or inaccessible music and fashion were now allowed. Vihra Bahrova focuses on sub-cultural developments since the 1990s in Bulgaria.