БОЛГАРСЬКА СПІЛЬНОТА ПРИАЗОВ’Я: ПИТАННЯ ІСТОРИЧНОЇ ПАМ’ЯТІ ТА ЕТНОКУЛЬТУРНОЇ ІДЕНТИЧНОСТІ

Abstract

The article deals with the complexities of the polyethnics history of the Northern Azov Sea Region on the example of the Bulgarian community. The beginning of the formation of a permanent national composition of the po-pulation of the Northern Azov Sea Region falls to the second half of the 18th century, where the policy of the Royal government created conditions for the settlement and economic development of the region by representatives of both the peoples of the Russian Empire and the neighboring states. Integrative interethnic processes have resulted in the numerous mutual borrowings and contributed to the emergence of common features of the region’s culture. The emergence of Bulgarian colonies on the site of the former Nogai settlements was the last mass migration to these lands in the 19th century. An important part of the history of resettlement is the narrative about the obstacles and woes experienced by settlers on their way. There were two flows of resettlement – from the Russian part of Bessarabia (Bulgarians, Albanians, Gagauzes, Russians and Ukrainians) and directly from Bulgaria – from the south-eastern regions. The latter faced the aftermath of the resettlement of Muslims to the Ottoman Empire, which led to a deterioration of the Bulgarian population, since the placement of emigrants was entirely borne by the Bulgarians. The emergence of the Tatars has also aggravated the resettlement of the local peasants. The cultural trauma of the Bulgarian community is considered through four important representations. The nature of pain is persecution in the homeland and the search for a better destiny in a foreign country with self-identification of refugees. The nature of the victim – the group has learned pain through human losses during the resettlement and the first difficult years of life on new lands. The distribution of responsibility – the Turks, as a factor that forced some Bulgarians to leave their land. The connection of the victim with the broader audience – the trauma of resettlement was mostly carried out within the community, and since the 2000s, the Bulgarian community convenes “Bulgarian Cathedral” annually in autumn to mark the anniversary of the resettlement to Azov Sea Region.
The analysis of narrative and field sources has shown that the cultural trauma caused during the resettlement has become an important element in the formation of the identity of the Azov Bulgarians. The theme of scattering, the anguish of the Motherland, the forcedness of this step to protect their families from the dangers of another’s unfriendly land, are the most commonly used images that have been consolidated in collective memory in the context of resettlement.