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The Image of the Religious Other Through the Eyes of Bulgarian Cartoonists (1960s—1970s)
‘The image of Muslims had not had iconographic analogues in the previous peri¬
od, but Bulgarian cartoonists used existing negative stereotypes, permanently estab¬
lished in the national literary canon. In the 1950s and 1960s these stereotypes were
reinforced by numerous propaganda books and movies (cf. Vrina-Nikolov n.d.).
Cartoons rarely depicted Muslims, but when they did the image of a Muslim
generally fell into one of three main categories. The first is clergy. Imams were
shown as extremely conservative—spreading superstitions, healing with exorcism
instead of with drugs and pills. Muslim clergy were criticized for promoting prayer
and celebrations of religious holidays that diverted workers from the execution of
the production plans. Muslim clergy were described as key supporters of the so¬
called baba hakki (‘father’s gift’)—a ransom, given by a groom to his father-in-law
before a wedding—and as instigators of the killing of Christians (Fig. 14). The sec¬
ond category was Muslim women, who were ridiculed because of their attachment
to veiling and traditional costumes. The cartoonists derided the Muslim women’s
subordination to the elderly people in the family and to spouses and for their incli¬
nation to solve problems through magic (Fig. 13).'* The third category of Muslim
image that appeared in the cartoons was religious believers. They were most often
presented as men, poor peasants with traditional livelihoods, subordinated to their
exploiters. Their opposites were the nonbelievers—socialist men, members of co¬
operative farms, living in new houses and reading the press.
Conclusions
In the works of Bulgarian cartoonists the image of the religious Other was an image
of “different”, marginalized people, but it was not an image of an enemy. So the
cartoonists preferred banal and template stories as a plot and usually drew familiar
characters (Orthodox priests, nuns, imams, etc.). The targets of ridicule were the
Orthodox, Muslim, and Catholic clergies, accused of collaboration with the former
“old regime” and of being superstitious. The Orthodox clergy was associated with
debauchery, drunkenness, gluttony, and ignorance. The Orthodox Christians were
associated with the “still alive” bourgeoisie, old people, women, and peasants.
Religious minorities were scarcely presented in the works of cartoonists. Some
communities like Protestants, Jews, and Armenians were completely ignored.
More attention was given to Catholics and Muslims, probably because of their
compactness and determination not to change their religious identity, despite
strong pressure from authorities, but also because of the realities of the Cold War
and the resulting state policy against them. They were portrayed as religious fanatics
and conservative people who stood against change.
12 Obviously, these accents have a connection with the campaign for the removal of the veils of Muslim
women that began in the late 1950s and culminated in an unsuccessful attempt to rename Bulgarian
Muslims in the village of Ribnovo (1964). It is connected as well with the sociological survey in 1962,
which indicates Muslims as one of the most religious groups (see Gruev & Kalionski 2008; Pashova
& Vodenicharov 2010).
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