Coming to Terms with the Past: New Bulgarian Cinema and the Post-Communist Transition by Antonina Anisimovich A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Media Studies Edge Hill University January 2019 i Contents Contents ................................................................................................................... i List of Illustrations .................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. vi Declaration of inclusion of published work ............................................................. vii Abstract ................................................................................................................. viii Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Ontology and Epistemology ............................................................................................. 3 Theoretical Concepts ....................................................................................................... 4 National and Transnational Approaches to Cinema ...................................................... 21 Nationalism Studies and the Role of Media in National Reframing ............................... 32 The Structure of the Thesis ........................................................................................... 40 Chapter 1 Methodology ......................................................................................... 43 1.1. Methodological Limitations in Collective Memory and Media Memory Studies ...... 43 1.2. The ‘Hermeneutical Triangle’ of Collective Memory: The Approach ...................... 49 1.3. Multimethod Research ............................................................................................ 51 1.4. Methods .................................................................................................................. 53 1.5. Ethical Considerations and Reflections .................................................................. 64 Chapter 2: Background and Context: Remembering Communism and the Transition ............................................................................................................... 68 2.1. Introduction: The Collapse of Communism, 1989-1991 ......................................... 68 2.2. Bulgaria in Transition: The Political Context ........................................................... 69 2.3. Social and Economic Transition ............................................................................. 72 2.4. European Identity and Ethnic Minorities ................................................................. 74 2.5. The Failed Transition and Its Consequences ......................................................... 76 2.6. Remembering Communism and the Transition in Bulgaria .................................... 77 2.7. The ‘Silent lustration’ .............................................................................................. 78 ii 2.8. Remembering Communism: Arts and Informal Initiatives ...................................... 81 2.9. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 87 Chapter 3: Bulgarian National Cinema: Contexts and Cultural Traditions ............ 90 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 90 3.2. Bulgarian Cinema: History, Industry, and Context ............................................. 90 3.3. Bulgarian National Cinema: National Film Traditions, National and Transnational Influences .................................................................................................................... 104 3.4. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 114 Chapter 4 Mediating and Negotiating National Identity in New Bulgarian Cinema after 1989 ............................................................................................................ 116 4.1. Addressing the Negotiation Processes through the Post-socialist and Postcolonial Theoretical approaches: Applicability and Limitations ................................................. 116 4.2. Discourses of Inclusion and Exclusion: Between Balkanness and Europeanness ............................................................................................................. 120 4.3. The Other Within: Projected Othering .................................................................. 130 4.4. Challenging the Othering Discourse: Possibility of Hybridity ................................ 137 4.5. Mission London: Focus Group Discussions ......................................................... 144 4.6. Grassroots Initiatives as Counter-hegemonic Alternatives: Interzones and the Cinema of Negotiation ................................................................................................. 146 4.7. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 152 Chapter 5 Historical Representations and the Role of Cinema in Coming to Terms with the Past in Post-1989 Bulgaria .................................................................... 157 5.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 157 5.2. Exposing Disruptive Change and Continuity of Power ......................................... 159 5.3. History and Memory: The Vernacular and Official Modes of Remembering and the Gap between the Private and the Public Domains ...................................................... 176 5.4. Making sense of the past: the role of cinema in mediating memories .................. 192 5.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 198 Chapter 6 Mediated Post-Communist Nostalgia ................................................. 200 6.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 200 6.2. Post-Communist Nostalgia and its Critical Potential ............................................ 201 iii 6.3. Mediated Post-Communist Nostalgia and its Role as a Memory Practice of Coming to Terms with the Past ................................................................................................. 205 6.4. The ambivalence of nostalgia and its apoliticisation ............................................. 211 6.5. Nostalgia and the Adaptation Discourse .............................................................. 219 6.6. Post-Communist Nostalgia as a Social Critique of prehoda ................................. 225 6.7. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 236 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 241 Reference List ..................................................................................................... 245 iv List of Illustrations Figure 1 – The triangular approach to mediated collective memory studies ........ 50 Figure 2 – Demolition of the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum, 1999 ........................... 82 Figure 3 – Monument to Georgi Dimitrov removed by the authorities of Dimitrovgrad, 1992 ............................................................................................................... 82 Figure 4 – Destructive Creation repainting of the Soviet Army monument in Sofia: ‘In pace with time’, 2011 ................................................................................. 83 Figure 5 – Destructive Creation repainting of the Soviet Army monument in Sofia: Apology for Bulgarian participation in the occupation of Prague in 1968, 2013 ............................................................................................................... 83 Figure 6 – Destructive Creation repainting of the Soviet Army monument in Sofia: ‘Glory to Ukraine’, 2014 .................................................................................. 83 Figure 7 – Graffiti on the Soviet Army monument in Sofia, 2018 .......................... 84 Figure 8 – Varadin in a cab, overlooked by Carver, Mission London .................. 141 Figure 9 – Dinner at the Bulgarian Embassy, Mission London ........................... 143 Figure 10 – Sandwiches served during the dinner, Mission London ................... 143 Figure 11 – Opening of Operation Shmenti Capelli ............................................. 161 Figure 12 – Opening of Tilt .................................................................................. 161 Figure 13 – Opening of The Petrov File .............................................................. 161 Figure 14 – Display of slogans in the prison in Zift: ‘Those who don’t work don’t eat’ ..................................................................................................................... 162 Figure 15 – Visual symbolism in The Colour of the Chameleon ......................... 163 Figure 16 – Theatre and a hanging USSR flag in The Petrov File ...................... 164 Figure 17 – ‘The Kiss’ poster in The Colour