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Visualization of Policies of Cultural Memory Construction
press, texts and images that additionally contributed to the dissemination and con¬
firmation among the local population of legends and etymological interpretations
of local toponyms. As a result of the archaeological researches, gradually the locality
of Kufalnitsa became known as Samuilova krepost. In this period were composed
“folklore” songs praising King Samuel and events related to the Battle of Kleidion.
‘The songs contributed even more to the construction of cultural memory among
the population of the region of Petrich. According to many of our respondents,
these are authentic folk songs that the people in the region always used to sing.
Meanwhile, artistic interest in King Samuel was greatly stimulated by the
trilogy Samuel (1957-1960) written by one of the most popular Bulgarian writers,
Dimitar Talev. The painter Boris Angelushev created a series of illustrations for
the books (Fig. 1). A number of Bulgarian painters began once again to exploit
the theme: in 1963 Grigor Spiridonov painted 1014 (Samuel and the Blind)
(Fig. 4); in 1973 Dimitar Kirov painted Requiem for Samuels Warriors (Fig. 5); in
1975 Svetlin Rusev painted King Samuels Warriors (Fig. 6); in 1977 the sculptor
Lyubomir Dalchev created the statuary King Samuel’ Soldiers (Fig. 7), now residing
in Sofia, in a small garden near the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, (Moutafov 2014:
18-20). Obviously, during that period the emphasis of the artists was laid on the
dramatic Battle of Kleidion and the blinding of the Bulgarian soldiers at the order
of Emperor Basil H, “the Bulgar-Slayer”. The theme of “Bulgar-slaying” and the
self-victimization reflected the idea of Greece, successor of former Byzantium,
as a symbol of the national and ideological enemy of socialist Bulgaria and the
socialist world as a whole. The example of King Samuel represents the development
of a strategy for evoking a sense of patriotism and national pride by creating
a martyrs image of the Bulgarian people. On the one hand, martyrdom as a form
of suffering and death on account of adherence to a certain cause suggests heroism,
bravery, and strong mind in the face of life’s hardships and on the other hand, puts
a halo of sanctity around the subject of martyrdom as well as around its cause.
Thus, although the Bulgarian people have been through a lot of suffering, they
have managed to survive in time and history and to protect their “sacred” cause,
the Bulgarian state and identity.
Reflecting the idea of the enemy Greece is the case of the monument of King
Samuel in Kresna (Fig. 8). It was created in 1983 by Georgi Tanev, a man from
Petrich, who was assigned there to serve his time as a soldier. The monument was
placed in front of the military base. It was ordered by a major and two generals who
had the idea to name the regiment after King Samuel and to turn the monument
into its visual symbol. Having in mind that this was a military base, moreover one
* Undoubtedly, the most popular story of the martyrdom of the Bulgarian people is the one of the time
of the Ottoman period. The constructed cultural memory about it sees it as a period of yoke and tyranny,
of self-sacrifice in defence of the Orthodox Christian faith, of heroic and dramatic attempts at gaining
freedom.
° Kresna is a small town in southwest Bulgaria, situated some 60 kilometres from the town of Petrich.
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