Soccer, Popular Music and National Consciousness in Post-State-Socalist Bulgaria, 1994-96

A study is presented that investigates how sports and popular music contributed to the formation of national consciousness during the immediate post-state-socialist period in Bulgaria. Throughout the difficult summers of 1994 and 1996, Bulgaria's success in international soccer championships briefly restored hope, confidence, and national pride to many. Significantly, during the championships, musicians produced new songs that celebrated the home team's victories in language and musical styles that referred overtly to the nation's shifting position vis à vis the Balkans, the European Union, and the western world. The Turkish and Rom flavor of some soccer songs points to important issues of ethnic identity and minority group relations that are crucially related to the formulation of a democratic Bulgarian national identity, as well as the shifting sands of regional Balkan politics. References, lyrics, photographs, and a brief discography are included.