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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 March 2019
In The Traditional Peasant Society which characterized rural Bulgaria until rather recently conservatism was a value of importance, which meant that the school was not prized as a means of active social change. There were few programs of immediate community betterment and the curriculum was urban-oriented, with little concern for everyday village affairs. The changes that did occur were to be from generation to generation, with sons and daughters expected to do some things differently from their parents, particularly in economic matters, but by such a gradual adoption that there would be little strain or stress in community patterns. In direct contrast to this conservatism, with its respect for older ways and its hesitation at moving quickly into untried practices, we find the Communist program of cataclysmic change. Therefore, the school becomes immediately oriented toward daily life and the current exigencies rather than preparation for a far-off tomorrow.
1 The writer is greatly indebted to Radio Free Europe for giving him access to over 500 interview reports, which consisted oftentimes of several interviews with one person. Thus, the total number of informants was somewhat less than 100. In addition to the above data, the writer himself conducted interviews with Bulgarian escapees in Istanbul during February, 1953, through arrangements made by the American Consul-General there. Short periods of study at the Library of Congress during 1952 and 1953 enabled him to go through Bulgarian language newspapers for additional background facts. Admittedly these sources, inadequate as they are, do not warrant more than tentative conclusions. This study should, however, suggest ways in which more data of interest to the sociologist may be gathered.
2 Sometimes the English initials DUPY are used instead of DSNM.
3 The term “norm” is used here in the sociological sense and not in the sense of work requirement, as commonly employed by the Communists.
4 A description of how this process works in kindergarten, the combined elementarysecondary school, and even in universities is described in the April 1952 issue of “News From Behind the Iron Curtain,” p. 35.
5 Some informants say that the Chavdarche are found in the first through third grades, the Septemvriche in the fourth through seventh grades, and the DSNM, or Communist youth organization previously discussed, in the upper gymnasium classes and the university.