CURIOSITY, LOVE AND STRUGGLE: TAKING A STEAMSHIP BETWEEN THE BULGARIAN AND THE ROMANIAN COASTS OF THE DANUBE RIVER (in Bulgarian) (original) (raw)

CURIOSITY, LOVE AND STRUGGLE: TAKING A STEAMSHIP BETWEEN THE BULGARIAN AND THE ROMANIAN COASTS OF THE DANUBE RIVER (in Bulgarian) During the 19th century, the connections and interactions of the Bulgarians in the territory on the north of Danube intensified immensely due to the general wave of modernization that started transforming the political and cultural climate in the Ottoman territories. Steamships can be regarded as one of those vehicles that not only transported people and goods along the river but also became an arena of social interactions, quite indicative for the willingness of Bulgarians to embrace Western ideas of travel, progress and freedom. This article will lean on the work of the Romanian scholar Elena Siupiur in order to distinguish the connections that certain Bulgarians established in Romania, thus allowing for a mobility of intellectual ideas between representatives of the two nations. Further, it will discuss the space on steamships as a meeting point between diverse and adventurous people who later became role models for Bulgarian national culture and literature. The article will highlight episodes from several case studies, which present Bulgarian travelers as driven by curiosity, social engagement, romance and desire to struggle for freedom. The trips of Bacho Kiro Petrov, Todor Ikonomov, Ekaterina Vassileva and Hristo Botev correspond to the above-mentioned attitudes on board the steamships.