The Innate Conservatism of Bulgarian Culture

One of the perks of being a Fulbright alumnus is the fact that I serve as a mentor to other Fulbrighters who are going to Bulgaria. Not so long ago, I received an e-mail from one asking me for advice. She sent me a link to her blog wherein she wrote about her experiences. Unfortunately, her experience in the country was not positive and this post is simply an example of how frustrating her time as an ETA was for her.

You see, my friends, Bulgaria is a conservative country with a conservative culture. The things mentioned in the post are considered taboo. To a certain extent, the following rule applies to taboos in Bulgarian society - "If you don't talk about it, it doesn't exist." However, there is another rule that equally applies - "It's indecent and shouldn't be talked about at all." 

There are many topics that are not talked about in Bulgaria or swept under the rug. For example, very few people talk about domestic violence. It's something that happens all the time, but it's not something that is openly discussed outside the home. In Bulgaria, people believe that what they do is their business and nobody else's. To talk about something that happens inside the home to other people is the same as inviting those people into those house and showing them your dirty laundry. That is a massive faux pas in Bulgarian culture and society. 

To an extent that no longer exists in America, Bulgarians have the ability to draw a distinct line between their private and public selves. This division between the public and private self came into existence during the years of Ottoman occupation and was reinforced during the nearly fifty years of Communist oppression. During the Communist period, informers were used to infiltrate families and businesses. Saying one thing that could be construed as anti-Communist could land a person in jail for a considerable period of time. Children were taught from a young age that what they said to their friends and what was discussed at home were two different things which should not be mixed together. 

There is an old Bulgarian saying, "What was nobody's business became everybody's business." In a small country with a population of six million and in small cities and villages, gossip is a part of every day life. Stories spread faster than wildfire whether a person wants them to or not. When I was teaching in Plovdiv, I used to visit with my aunt (a cousin of my mother's). In our conversations, she would mention something about how I was doing at the school. When I asked her where she got the information, she would tell me that she received it from a friend. 

Now imagine if malicious backbiting gossip were to be spread about your family or your relatives in a small community The social consequences can be deadly. A person can be ostracized from the community or worse. Therefore, it is better for Bulgarians to close their eyes and ignore a problem rather than discuss it out in the open where other people can know about it. 

This clear division between what is public and what is private is one part of the conservatism I mentioned earlier. Another element is the fact that Bulgarians still have a very firm sense of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. To a certain extent, this comes from the influence of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. While many are not churchgoers, the Church's teachings on morals have been ingrained into the very fabric and psyche of modern Bulgarians. Whether liberal or conservative, they still know what is right and what is wrong. It is a very black and white world. A world which doesn't allow for shades of grey.

It is important for us to lay aside our ethnocentric views when living in other countries. It is necessary that we view the country and its people on its own terms rather than through whatever blinders we may have acquired as a result of being Americans. More importantly, we should learn to be tactful and diplomatic in our dealings with others. Whether we agree with them or not, we must learn not to impose our views on them and keep them to ourselves to avoid conflict. Only in this kind of environment can there be anything that remotely resembles an open exchange of ideas.