Paper short abstract:

The text examines the urban Carnival in Rousse, Bulgaria in socialism, as a form of ideological propaganda. The Carnival is a tool to ridicule and form of pressure on the opposition-minded. In post-socialism Carnival revived as civic engagement, because is s part of the local heritage.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses the usage of the traditional urban Carnival during socialist period in the town of Rousse, Bulgaria. The text is focused on the transformation of the Carnival during socialism from a place for a pure merriment and controversial to the official norms of thinking forms of entertainment, to an ideological space for public propaganda. Slogans, performances and roles are subjected to a scenario approved by the socialist government that controls both everyday life and festivities. Gradually the Carnival enhances with new forms and characters in order to achieve hilarity but in the same time the event is used as a tool for mockery and condemnation of social and ideological differences and as a pressure on the citizens who differ in thinking and behavior from the official norms.

In the time of post-socialism the Rousse Carnival raises as a civil initiative and in its dynamic development it has various appearances and realizations that make the Carnival integral component of the local heritage.

The study is based on interviews, memories, and visual narratives from the time of socialism - empirical material that reveals the internal nature of the urban festivity through the discourse of the cultural anthropology.