The beginnings of cultural studies in Bulgaria: Academics in Veliko Turnovo

Abstract

The article traces the initial steps of the discipline Cultural Studies in Bulgaria. The first conference convened in Veliko Turnovo by the British Council in 1993 is taken as a conceptual metaphor for the influences on the discipline and the basic principles that inform the theoretical framework of this cross-disciplinary field. Cultural Studies is a relatively new phenomenon in Academia. The first conference in Bulgaria was also the first conference on British Studies to be held outside the United Kingdom, so the inchoative factor operates at various levels. The status of English as a “target” language has long been approved all around the world and the need for knowledge about countries where it is spoken as the official language has long sought and found some degree of satisfaction in Civilisation courses. However, the field of Cultural Studies had never been introduced into the picture of language learning as a rich multidisciplinary project up until that conference. The presentations reveal what Bulgarian academics had developed to contribute and what the invited guests sought to showcase. Thus, the presentations are analyzed for the topics and key concepts they apply. The conclusions relate to the scope of Cultural Studies courses, their interdisciplinary nature, and the constitutive principles. Additionally, relevance for courses of philology is proposed, with a view of the fields of graduate employment: teaching and translation.