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The Concept of the Bulgarian “European Identity” Across the Bulgarian Language and Political Rhetoric in Bulgaria



Author(s)

Ivanka Mavrodieva

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DOI:10.17265/1539-8080/2014.01.001

University of Sofia “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria

This paper investigates the extent, to which “European identity” has emerged in Europe before and after the membership of the Republic of Bulgaria the EU (European Union). The results of this interdisciplinary analysis (including CDA (Critical Discourse Analysis), DHA (Discourse-Historical Approach), and rhetorical analysis) of “European identity” presented in the contemporary Bulgarian political rhetoric after 1990 are included in the paper. The corpus includes 50 speeches (excerpts from parliamentary debates, presidential statements, addresses made during the election campaigns, and political reports). The hypothesis is that the language and in particular Bulgarian language helps to articulate European and national identities, but simultaneously the glossary of foreign borrowings is enriched and the vocabulary is intellectualised. The results show that the changes on verbal level are a result of the need to nominate the dynamically political and integration processes and at the same time, these changes can be viewed as functional expression of the civic decision to carry out the synchronization of Bulgarian and European legislation.

“European identity”, European integration, European membership of Bulgaria, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian political rhetoric