Crossroad, or the difference among us....

[Wolf]

What do I need the horsetail for in Europe?


By Peter Volgin

Since the time of Ludmila Jivcova we know that peering into roots means lack of conceptions for future.

If there is a competition for stupid ideas, this one (debating about our national identity ) is convincingly going to snatch up the winner’s prize.
It is the same as to reopen the ancient cleric’s dispute: how many devils can be gathered on the needle’s point? I don’t believe anyone is about to be worried for his/her national identity under conditions of misery (physical and mental) having grabbed them by the neck. Why the governing political party have assessed that the return to the horsetail, to the grand father’s full-bottomed breeches, to White-ox and Gray-heifer and other “eternal” Bulgarian virtues will help our incorporation into the European Union?
The motives of the inventors of debate sound seriously at first sight, Lenin-like as: “ To get united, first we have to get distinguished ”. We are being told: “We want to enter Europe not like a break-loose herd but in an organized, national-responsible manner”. Europe manifests an interest in divergence. So, let us strain all our efforts in order to see, as it is, what our divergence is hidden in, what makes us unique. Following that logic we must enact some aboriginal role, because that will be the only way to make the Europeans impressed.
We don’t know how much Europeans are entranced by unique aborigines. The only thing we know is, there are rules in there. You might be the dullest person but if you keep to these rules, you are in. Then why are we looking for some imaginary national identity?
The benefit is for the pseudo-national leaders only. They will capture the newspaper’s pages, the air of the radio ant TV stations.
For umpteenth time they will try to inculcate: “ The Bulgarian is this sort of person or that sort of person and so on and so forth…When such things are repeated ceaselessly there is no big surprise if, at some moment, they become believed. And then, when you fail with something you won’t accuse your laziness. We, Bulgarians, are people like that: you are going to shake your head, overfilled by native-psychological ignorance.
And the more you go deeper in the “Bulgarian’s like”, the more arguments for pessimism you reveal. VII centuries of foreign domination, perpetual treacheries, hopeless rebellions, continuous hope in The Super Powers and so on...
What about the Golden age and the Bulgarian Easter, someone might object. Well, they somewhat pale before the picture of our whole, more or less, gloomy history.
But maybe seeking identity we should fix our eyes on the psychological portrait of the contemporary Bulgarian? That’s what precisely is going to be even more foolish than the consecutive rumination on the eminent 13 centuries. Who, for God’s sake, is this Bulgarian, emblematic for most of us? Today’s society is divided in groups, which have nothing to do with each other. The inhabitant of a one-room flat in a block of flats and the owner of three-storey house, the people buying $40000 FWD off-road jeeps and passengers paying for city transport tickets. They speak the same language but never understand each other.
Even if we succeed in inventing such an identity, will that increase production, decrease bureaucracy and speed up privatization? Besides, flashbacks to something “everlasting, typically Bulgarian“ have always implied an incapability for generation of fresh ideas. On the “Horizon” radio station, Professor Nicola Georgiev brought to mind the example with Ludmila Jivcova whose idea about 1300 years Bulgaria had come into existence punctually at the time when the communist regime had depleted their ideas for the state’s future progress. And the talk about history was designed to put divert people’s attention from those-days’ hold-ups and problems. So, if someone governing starts talking about national identity, it means they just cannot generate any ideas for the future.
The return to the national is an obstacle in the present-day world. It’s moved not because of the nations but because of the individuals and multifarious groups.
What does the European care that, for fear of being molested by the Turkish oppressors, Kocho Chestemenski slaughtered his whole family or that Vasil Petleshcov was burned alive on the stake, but did not betray his comrades. Patriotic examples of the sort of “ Balkan-lander Jovo and Beauty Jana” could warm the hearts of only the so-called Balkan characters.
Today’s world is interested in entirely different things. What the quality of our production is? Could we assimilate on line new information?
Any tying up with national identity will push us towards unavoidable taking into account all of the compatriots’ manias and complexes.
The less we are occupied with our heroic past or our fundamental Bulgarian roots, the more time we’re going to have for learning languages or for new-occupation qualification.
It’s not fatal if we don’t know that Bulgaria’s independence had been declared in 1908. But it will be really worse if we fail to interact swiftly with a foreign business-partner, who by the way, had been learning English while we had been loading up our heads with nonsense like national identity.

[Citrus Paradisi]

Wolf, I assume that you do agree with the written above. I'm gonna be quite happy if you share your position with us all. Personally, I can agree and not agree at the same time. I agree that the national identity stuff does not really help us that much. But! What shall we replace it with? The possibilities I see are: 1. with nothing; 2. with some bloody dreaming about being a part of a big family with no identity because the members of this family themselves have no identity (which is apparently the same, i.e. nothing). What does the average EU citizen think about my roots, heroic past or whatsoever is his ******* problem. I'm only currious how Mr. Volgin concluded that the EU people do not care about this and that while heart-breaking number of EU's (according to EU and UN stats) visit BG with the very clear intention to experience what Mr. Volgin wants to renounce. This truly looks like a joke to me and it is indeed.

[Wolf]

It is pretty good questions, thank you.
Before I say, whether I agree or disagree with the author’s thoughts, let me say a few words about how I found this literary work. So, the interesting part about is that the article has been written long ago in the remote 2007. It was a difficult an quite disturbing period of my life, the period when I clearly realized that I could not live in Bulgaria any longer. For me this piece of work, possess very special, really emotional value. Why? Because after the moment I had read it, I found all my thoughts about the political, economical and social environments of Bulgaria at that time gathered together with a plenty of journalistic stile. Do we have to keep our national identity intact or do not, because of the union with the European family? This is difficult question, it is quite Shakespearian one. Since that moment I continuously thought over, and even changed my vision in some aspects, but quite not enough to say that the content of the article is not truth.
Being able to live in Western Europe, I deeply realize that as a nation we are still pretty full with different prejudices, historically determined mental restrictions and I am sorry to say it, but is not very close in the near future the moment of our mental freedom. There are serious reasons for this, let say, national character. The roots are, of course, deep ago in the dark and obscure centuries of Ottoman Oppression. Then another 50 years of communist regime, containing a countless numbers of injustices, marked incurable at least two generations of my people. These are only couple of reasons why our compatriots are still deeply scared with the confusing matters of our national identity. But there are a lot more… After all the history is a chain of real events and it is impossible their consequences not to be taken into account. So, no matter what we think or say we are in inseparable bond with our history. They are glorious parts of our national history, but they are also parts not of Great Honor, I dare to say. And our national identity has nothing to do with the recommendations of contemporary world, either. So, in order not to prolong unnecessarily my statement, clearly I think we have to remember who we are, but we are not supposed to omit the vital requirements of the time we live in. Finally, it is not our national identity that will make our bright future in Europe, isn’t it?

[Ivan]

Wolf, мисля че мярнах същата статия публикувана преди това от теб в оригинал на български. Моля те да замениш английския и превод с оригинала на Български. Моля употребител да преведе постинга си на Български, както и ти своя.
Обръщам се към вас в качеството си на потребител и ви моля да направите дискусията си достояние на всички независимо от това дали владеят английски или не. Така ще покажете че ги уважавате и ще ги накарате да забравят тази проява на лошо възпитание.
Благодаря!

[Wolf]

Първоначално написано от Ivan

Wolf, мисля че мярнах същата статия публикувана преди това от теб в оригинал на български. Моля те да замениш английския и превод с оригинала на Български. Моля употребител да преведе постинга си на Български, както и ти своя.
Обръщам се към вас в качеството си на потребител и ви моля да направите дискусията си достояние на всички независимо от това дали владеят английски или не. Така ще покажете че ги уважавате и ще ги накарате да забравят тази проява на лошо възпитание.
Благодаря!

А, аз съм искрено изненадан. Но това е английският форум и аз я постнах тук очаквайки да се дискутира или поне прочете от англоговорящи. Останах приятно изненадан от реакцията на Употребител и отговорих на главните /от всичките му/ въпроси. Освн това съм пуснал аналогична тема с оригинала на български озаглавена "Какви сме и какви ни се иска да бъдем..." за потребителите на форума в която вече има дискусия. Сега кое точно е проява на лошо възпитание в ситуацията която описах по-горе?

[Ivan]

Целта на този Forum in English е да се публикуват статии в оригинал на aнглийски, а не преведени от Български статии на aнглийски.
Ако прегледаш съдържанието му ще видиш, че е така.
Според мен е липса на възпитание да се води дискусия в български форум от българи по каквато и да е тема, а още повече по тема засягаща националната ни идентичност на друг език освем български.
Няма да си направя труда да прочета постинга ти, както и мнозинството тук.
Прочетох постинга на употребител и мисля че разбирам защо е писал на английски.
Публикуването на преведена от български статия, както и продължаването на дискусията на английски според мен е проява на лош вкус.

[Wolf]

Aми кой както сметне за добре, ако посетителите желаят ще го прочетат, ако не - няма. Колкото за оригиналите, не съм съвсем съгласен а и кой ме е уведомил, че не мога да публикувам преводи на стойностни, неща та да знам. Както и да е ... а защо коментарите на английски за националната ни идентичност са проява на лош вкус? Значи ли че ако дискутираме въпроса с англоговорящи това е проява на негативизъм под каквато и да било форма? Кое налага забраната върху преводи на добра българска журналистика? Не мислиш ли че точно този род дискусии на английски в английския форум могат само да допренесат за информирането или развлечението/дай боже/ на англоезичните партньори от смесените бракове? Това е един вид: От българи за българи но на английски. Кое всъщност е лошо и нерационално във всичко това?

[Ivan]

Няма забрана, както няма и нарушение.
Мнозинството владеем английски, но е проява на лошо възпитание да говориш пред аудитория където дори и един не би ви разбрал, ако можеш да говориш така, че всички да те разберат. Никoй не ви налага забрани, просто ви помолих да пишете на български, че да могат всички да ви разберат, още повече че и на двамма ви родния ви език е български. Нямам какво повече да добавя. Избора на всеки дали да се държи добре е личен избор. Не пречите на никого освем на себе си.

[Wolf]

...ето тук можете да се запознаете с темата на български:
http://www.bghelp.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7552

[beri]

Първоначално написано от Ivan

Няма забрана, както няма и нарушение.
Мнозинството владеем английски, но е проява на лошо възпитание да говориш пред аудитория където дори и един не би ви разбрал, ако можеш да говориш така, че всички да те разберат. Никoй не ви налага забрани, просто ви помолих да пишете на български, че да могат всички да ви разберат, още повече че и на двамма ви родния ви език е български. Нямам какво повече да добавя. Избора на всеки дали да се държи добре е личен избор. Не пречите на никого освем на себе си.

За проява на лошо възпитание в случая не може да се говори,тъй като темата е пусната първо на бълг. и всеки може да я прочете/отговори там.
А дали е идеята за превод на английски е лош вкус е въпрос на лично мнение-за едни е,за други може да не е.