in which bulgarian identity originates in "turkish subjugation"

as with prolific clouds of smoke and the difficulty involved in getting change for even 10 leva bills, chalga music ranks high up there on my list of "i won't miss these things about bulgaria."

over the winter break, i spent a couple of days at a villa of one of my colleagues. in one particularly passionate conversation during those days, i argued with her son-in-law that chalga music was not something i cared to listen to. he, on the other hand, spent a good 20 minutes convincing me it is the music of the future, the music of the young bulgarian generation.

in that same 4 hour conversation (not focused solely on chalga), he unveiled his opinion of the turkish minority in bulgaria. his belief, briefly, is that turkish bulgarians should be forbidden to speak turkish in bulgaria. they live in bulgaria, after all, do they not? it was left unstated, but my assumption was that he also supported the bulgarian government's nation-wide ban of the turkish-only radio channel. it's clear there is some animosity to boot.

it's fascinating to me, then, that much of the influence behind his beloved chalga music has turkish origins...right down to the word "chalga". according to the brilliant world of me, turkish music is uncanny in its resemblance to chalga. Yet, there is no connection made on behalf of just such bulgarians as this man between the music he loves so fiercely and its roots in a culture he vocally detests.

an article about the ottoman empire's 500 years of ruling the balkans (also a word of turkish origin) makes it clear just how entrenched bulgarian culture is with turkish words, customs, foods and attitudes. that article is here.

watching this culture deal with what it meant (and still means) to have been ruled by the turks for so many years almost always circles back on itself; it's a reality that is both despised and inescapable. quite an interesting paradox to think this young man holds something as internationally influenced as chalga music to be nationally symbolic of his identity as a bulgarian.

as for me, i will never like chalga music though it has provided an alternative way to learn the language; i feel like i actually know more bulgarian than i do when i listen to the elementary lyrics of love and lust found so commonly in the music.

i will remember such conversations and chuckle about them someday. i can safely guess, however, that i'm not going to miss them very much.


here is an interesting short video from BBC on chalga music in bulgaria.