Russian real estate owners on Bulgarian Black Sea Coast: culture and ethnic relations (the case of Tsarevo)

Evgenia Krasteva-Blagoeva

doi:10.32798/zl.729

Published: 2020-12-30

Vol. 54 (2020)

Russian real estate owners on Bulgarian Black Sea Coast: culture and ethnic relations (the case of Tsarevo)

Evgenia Krasteva-Blagoeva

Zeszyty Łużyckie

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.729

Abstract

Russian real estate owners in Bulgaria are about 300–500,000 people. This figure exceeds the number of Russian immigrants in Bulgaria in the period 1917–1922 by over 10 times. They are concentrated predominantly in the Black Sea Coast region forming a specific ethnic group gradually strengthening their presence in the local cultural context. The present research is based on fieldwork conducted in the town of Tsarevo, SE Bulgaria (2013–2018), interviews, participant observation, and media data. Ethnic relations between the two communities are analyzed in the context of cultural proximity, shared Orthodox faith, linguistic similarity, and the long and complicated history of Russian–Bulgarian relations. Against the background of these positive factors, strict maintenance of ethnic boundaries, practices of disrespecting local rules, politicizing everyday communication, and strategies of deliberate isolation of Russians from local Bulgarians are registered.

Keywords:

Russians, second homes, ethnic identity, ethnic stereotypes, ethnic relations, Bulgarian-Russian relations, interviews

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Krasteva-Blagoeva, E. (2020). Russian real estate owners on Bulgarian Black Sea Coast: culture and ethnic relations (the case of Tsarevo). Zeszyty Łużyckie, 54, 97–114. https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.729

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Transliteration
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Evgenia Krasteva-Blagoeva

eblagoeva@nbu.bg
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1622-8398

Affiliation:

New Bulgarian University, Department of Anthropology Bulgaria

Bio Statement:

Evgenia Krasteva-Blagoeva, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, New Bulgarian University, Sofia. Her research interests are consumer culture, ethnography of socialism and post-socialism, urban anthropology, communities and identities in the Balkans, names and name giving. Member of the Executive Commitee of International Association of Southeast European Anthropology InASEA (2007–2014, 2016–2018) and elected President of InASEA (2014–2016). She was twice guest lecturer at the Institute of Ethnology, Ludvig Maximilian University, Munich, and at Konitsa Summer School of Balkan Anthropology (2006, 2008). Leading scholar in research projects such as “Fast Food and Slow Food Culture in the Beginning of 21st Century” and “New Consumer Practices: Anthropological Perspectives”. Author of The Personal Name in Bulgarian Tradition (1999, in Bulgarian), editor in chief of Approaching Consumer Culture. Global Flows and Local Contexts. Springer, 2018; author of over 30 articles in refereed journals and edited volumes in English and German.