The village project : rural revitalization in contemporary Bulgaria / Sarah Craycraft

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Craycraft, Sarah, 1990- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rural renewal--Bulgaria.

Rural renewal.

Urban-rural migration--Bulgaria.

Urban-rural migration.

Villages--Bulgaria.

Villages.

Folklore--Bulgaria.

Folklore.

Bulgaria--Rural conditions.

Bulgaria.

Rural conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations, map

black and white

illustrations

maps

Other Title:

Rural revitalization in contemporary Bulgaria

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin Press, [2026]

Summary:

"Since the collapse of socialism, Bulgaria’s population has been on the move—out of rural regions and into cities, or out of the country altogether. Yet today there is a countermovement of young, urban Bulgarians, born around 1989, seeking to repopulate rural villages and reclaim traditional Bulgarian folklife. Though many of these young Bulgarians have no direct experience with a rural lifestyle nor memories of thriving village life, their actions and movements are inspired by a nostalgic vision of the past. And so, beyond a spatial return, this rural revitalization movement speaks to visions of an alternate future, one sparked by dismay with the conditions of contemporary life. Using ethnographic and folkloristic methods, Sarah Craycraft paints a complex, detailed picture of responses to Europeanization, carried out through neoliberal folklife projects as they collide with ongoing efforts to build a revitalized rural Bulgaria in the ruins of the past. Contextualized within a particular Southeast European nation, the study speaks to broader questions of rural revival, public-facing culture work, intergenerational folklore, and the imbrication of folklore with politics and culture"-- JSTOR

Contents:

The children of postsocialism : A generation encounters the village

Something’s in the thicket : Becoming a villager

"МОСТ’ wanted" : Residencies and revitalization

From ethnography to artistry : Radical imagination for rural realities

Buying Baba : Craft work Po Proekt

Projects to the rescue? Networks of care and emergency response

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (JSTOR, viewed July 20, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Craycraft, Sarah, 1990- Village project

ISBN:

9780299357535

0299357538

OCLC:

1601051229

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license