Masquerade and Postsocialism: Ritual and Cultural Dispossession in Bulgaria

Gerald W. Creed analyzes contemporary mumming rituals in rural Bulgaria for what they reveal about life after socialism--and the current state of postsocialist studies. Mumming rituals have flourished in the post-Soviet era. Elaborately costumed dancers go from house to house demanding sustenance and bestowing blessings. Through the analysis of these rites, Creed critiques key themes in postsocialist studies, including understandings of civil society and democracy, gender and sexuality, autonomy and community, and ethnicity and nationalism. He argues that these events reveal indigenous cultural resources that could have been used both practically and intellectually to ease the postsocialist reconstruction of Bulgarian society, but were not.

"Masterfully investigates the contemporary performance of distinctive... mumming rites as a means of interrogating postsocialism.... Accessible, engaging, and strong." --Donna Buchanan, author of Performing Democracy: Bulgarian Music and Musicians in Transition Indiana University Press

"Gerald Creed has produced an unusually perceptive account of the cultural dynamics of post-Communist development in Bulgaria. His efforts not only illuminate the patterns and practices of Postsocialism, but his investigation also endeavors to radically alter the dominant frameworks within which debates on East European transitions tend to be positioned." --SLAVIC AND EAST EUROPEAN JOURNAL Indiana University Press

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"Brilliant.... An outstanding demonstration of how analysis of the paradoxes of the postsocialist condition can contribute to anthropological theory and to the critique of Euro-American notions of modernity." --Chris Hann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

"Masquerade and Postsocialism is a valuable book for the general eloquence of its arguments, its solid engagement with ritual as well as its discussion of broader ideological frameworks of postsocialism, nationalism and modernity. It is a theoretically rich work, ethnographically thorough and thought provoking." --Social Anthropology Indiana University Press

"Gerald W. Creed's Masquerade and Postsocialism is a masterful analysis of key social themes as gender and sexuality, civil society and democracy, community and ethnicity. The book provides a vivid analysis of a ritual performance as a source of meaningful knowledge about people's lives." --Journal of American Folklore

"[A]n empirically rich and theoretically sophisticated analysis of the postsocialist condition in rural Bulgaria." --Anthropos

"Creed's book is both ethnographically rich and theoretically significant. Moreover, it is a deeply humane book, an homage to the resilience and resourcefulness of the Bulgarian peasants whom Creed has made it his life's work to understand. Accessible to a broad audience, it is must reading for anyone interested in the costs of the 'revolutions' of 1989." --Slavic Review

"Masquerade and Postsocialism is written with great sympathy for the people it describes and bears the marks of a work matured by decades of fieldwork." --Jrnl Royal Anthropological Inst JRAI

Gerald Creed's Masquerade and Postsocialism: Ritual and Cultural Dispossession in Bulgaria is an empirically rich and theoretically sophisticated analysis of the postsocialist condition in rural Bulgaria. Using the Bulgarian ritual of mumming as a window onto the lived experiences of ordinary men and women, Creed masterfully explores a variety

of scholarly themes.Aspasia

"Masquerade and Postsocialism was an exhilarating read that offered much inspiration on the relevance of anthropological insights into larger social problems and critique of hegemonic models for political and economic reforms. Clearly and accessibly written, I [Yuson Jung] strongly recommend this book for both introductory and advanced level courses" --American Ethnologist

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"Masquerade and Postsocialism would be of interest to anyone in globalization or development studies, as well as European studies. Creed's emphasis on the role of ritual and performance broadens the audience... Creed demonstrates that ritual, a long-standing topic of anthropology, not only serves as a useful site of analysis but can also challenge teleological ideals of Western modernity." --ANTHROPOLOGY E EUROPE REVIEW

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"Masquerade represents an important theoretical and rich ethnographic contribution to studies of postsocialist Eastern Europe with far-reaching import and application for folklorists, anthropologists, and other scholars whose work is located at the intersection of culture, postcolonialism, and postsocialism." --Journal of Folklore Research

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"[A]brilliant scholar's masterpiece." --AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST

In this compelling and evocative study, Gerald Creed analyzes contemporary mumming rituals in rural Bulgaria for what they reveal about life after socialism-and for what they can tell us about the state of postsocialist studies. Often called kukeri or survakari, these rituals are all-consuming events, as dancers in elaborate costumes go from house to house, demanding food and drink and bestowing blessings to ward off evil and ensure fertility. Mumming has flourished in the post-Soviet era. Creed uses the analysis of mumming as a platform for critiquing key themes in postsocialist studies, including understandings of civil society and democracy; gender and sexuality; autonomy and community; and ethnicity and nationalism. He argues that kukeri events reveal indigenous cultural resources that could have been used both practically and intellectually to ease the postsocialist reconstruction of Bulgarian society, but were not. This work makes an important contribution to the ethnographic literature on Eastern Europe and to theories of postsocialism.

Gerald W. Creed is Professor of Anthropology at Hunter College and the City University of New York Graduate Center, where he is Executive Officer of the Anthropology Program. He is author of Domesticating Revolution: From Socialist Reform to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Cultural Dispossession

1. A Mumming Season

2. Gender and Sexuality

3. Civil Society and Democracy

4. Autonomy and Community

5. Ethnicity and Nationalism

Conclusion: Modernity in Drag

Notes

Works Cited

Index