The Bulgarians between the two Romes: The discourse of power in medieval Bulgaria.

摘要

The dissertation studies the use of Byzantine discourses of power in medieval Bulgaria, ninth through fourteenth century. It examines the dependence of South Slavic literary production, and of Bulgarian political rhetoric on Byzantine models, and the re-contextualization of genres, themes and texts for the purposes of rulers, clergy, monastic communities and centers of local authority. Among the major themes studied are: (1) the conceptualization of the differences between Bulgarians and Romans/Greeks; (2) the perception of the Bulgarian appropriation of the Roman-Christian space; (3) the understanding of the imperial authority of Bulgarian tsars. These themes are analyzed not as parts of an abstract literary discourse with stable semantic framework, but in relation to concrete historical situations.; The dissertation is divided in two parts and five chapters. The first part, consisting of two chapters, discusses two major events---the Christianization of Bulgaria in the 860s and the wars of Tsar Symeon (r. 893-927) against Byzantium. They analyse primarily Latin and Greek material and offer new interpretation of the Bulgarian rulers' priorities and of the advantages Christian discourse offered them, in light of the internal and external problems they faced---power of the nobility, pressure from nomadic neighbors. The second part studies the discourse of power as formulated in Church Slavic literature of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. The separate chapters analyse three types of literary production: universal chronicles, apocalyptic prophecies and hagiography. Their interpretation takes into account the various challenges that Bulgarian rulers and clergy faced---territorial disputes with Byzantium and Hungary, interaction with Cumans and Tatars, centrifugal forces within the Second Bulgarian Empire.; The conclusion is that the Bulgarian ruling class saw itself firmly established within a historical Roman-Christian space, did not develop a consistent anti-Byzantine ideology and saw itself as possible candidate for the Roman imperial legacy in times of crisis. The different aspects of the long-term process of Byzantinization of Bulgarian spiritual culture were perceived by medieval Bulgarians as appropriation enhancing the social prestige of their ruling class, enabling a meaningful organization of the physical space and strengthening the rulers' potential to respond to internal and external threats.