CLAIRE LEVY (Institute of Art Studies with BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria)

From Madona to Lepa Brena to Saška Vaseva: Global and Local Aspects of Folkpop in Bulgarian Region

Three female popstars - one mega star, one Balkan star, and one local, Bulgarian star - will be compared as images and sounds in order to be illustrated the question of how globality and locality go side by side together, or better, interact each other in the field of the so-called folkpop which over the last years enjoy growing popularity among some circles in Bulgarian region.

Visually, this phenomenon counts more on the glossy images of the Western pop. Musically, it is a mixture of diverse, updated folk sounds coming mostly from the Southwestern part of Bulgaria, and some regions of Greece and ex-Yugoslavia. As a whole, this particular folkpop stream reveals some "rural-urban" aspects of the Balkan mentality that has survived to the present day despite the process of urbanization. Having one foot in the patriarchal and the other in the industrial world, this mentality - even controversially perceived by different local circles - is apparently a cultural sign. And discussing on it would be a possible way to identify the place and the role of the Balkans in the context of the global cultural politics.