Bulgaria and Bulgarians in Russian “Popular Reading” Books at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries.

Authors

  • Nikita S. Gusev Saint Petersburg State University , Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31168/

Keywords:

Bulgaria, popular reading books, stereotypes, ethnographic descriptions, E. N. Vodovozova

Abstract

This article examines the representation of Bulgaria and Bulgarians in Russian “popular reading” publications at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, inexpensive, accessible pamphlets designed for mass consumption. The author analyzes a corpus of popular ethnographic works created between 1877 and the early 1900s, including publications by R. S. Popov, K. A. Barsov, F. F. Putsykovich, M. A. Lyalina, E. N. Vodovozova, and others. The study demonstrates that these publications fostered enduring perceptions of Bulgarians as a “brotherly people”, emphasizing religious, linguistic, and cultural affinity with Russians. The article reveals continuity in descriptive patterns: most authors relied on a limited range of sources, predominantly the works of German traveler F. Kanitz, which led to the reproduction of stereotypical images. Particular attention is given to analyzing the causes of the archaization of Bulgaria's image: authors deliberately ignored modernization and urbanization processes, preferring to describe traditional rural culture. The author concludes that “popular” literature served not so much an educational as a didactic function, contributing to the formation of Russian auto-stereotypes through the construction of an image of a “kindred” Slavic people. Consequently, in this form, it did not constitute a means of genuine acquaintance with Bulgaria and Bulgarians.

Funding

This work was supported by the RSF grant No. 23‐78‐10045 “National Movements in the Lens of Imperial Legitimacy: Revolutions, Uprisings, Rebellions, and Mutinies in Slavic Lands in the Rhetoric of Russian Authorities during the Long 19th Century”.

 

Received 15 October 2025

Revised 25 February 2026

Accepted 9 April 2026

 

For citation: Gusev, N. S., 2026. Bulgaria and Bulgarians in Russian “Popular Reading” Books at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Slavic World in the Third Millennium, 21 (1–2), pp. 51–68. https://doi.org/10.31168/2412-6446.2026.21.1-2.03

Author Biography

  • Nikita S. Gusev, Saint Petersburg State University, Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

    PhD, Senior Researcher, Saint Petersburg State University; Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

    Postal address: 32A Leninsky Prospekt, room 807, Moscow, 119334, Russia

    E-mail: kingusevns@yandex.ru

    ORCID: 0000-0002-9573-7018

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Published

31-07-2026

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 1-2 (2026)

Section

Historical and Historical-Cultural Studies

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