Sociocultural Mechanisms of the Ethnic Boundaries of the Bulgarians of the Northern Azov Region in the Second Half of the 19th to the Early 20th Century

Abstract

The purpose of the research paper is to identify the directions and forms of the everyday social expression of ethnocultural distinctiveness within the Bulgarian communities of the Northern Azov region in the second half of the 19^th to the early 20^th century. This process is examined through the lens of the informational potential of parish registers as a source complex.

The scientific novelty resides in reconstructing everyday social communications within the Bulgarian communities of the Northern Azov region during the second half of the 19^th to the early 20^th century as a mechanism for constructing ethnic boundaries. This analysis is executed through the personified data contained within parish registers.

Conclusions. Reconstructing the pattern of everyday social ties in the Bulgarian villages of the Northern Azov region in the second half of the 19^th to the early 20^th century, based on the personified data of parish registers, reveals a highly complex process of assimilation of the region’s Bulgarian component. Simultaneously, active practices aimed at constructing ethnic boundaries and preserving identity were maintained. The implementation of an isolation strategy within Bulgarian communities was manifested in specific scenarios of everyday social interaction, such as the institution of godparenting, marital communication, and the anthroponymic naming tradition.

The traditionalism of Bulgarian colonists in selecting marital partners is distinctly traceable, alongside an effort to maintain the self-contained nature of their ethnocultural community. This was expressed in limiting contacts with neighboring Russian and Ukrainian villages while, conversely, striving to deepen ties with other Bulgarian villages despite spatial barriers and distance. One can even observe a pronounced inclination toward particular exclusivity among the Vidin settlers, although this could not be fully sustained due to assimilation processes by the early 20^th century.

The anthroponymic landscape of the Azov Bulgarian community revealed a conflict between inevitable assimilation processes reflected in the adaptive adoption of a shared regional name repertoire and highly persistent patterns of supporting traditional everyday social models that preserved a distinct self-representation. This was primarily manifested in the motivational mechanisms of naming, including the prolonged use of double names and the disregard for ecclesiastical canons during the naming process, which was determined by internal, specific religio-everyday models within the Bulgarian population of the Northern Azov region.