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On the Beach: The Changing Meaning of the B ulgarian Coast after 1989
Author(s) -
HOLLERAN MAX
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
city and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.308
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1548-744X
pISSN - 0893-0465
DOI - 10.1111/ciso.12066
Subject(s) - prosperity , socialism , meaning (existential) , symbol (formal) , sociology , capitalism , aesthetics , tourism , political economy , political science , law , communism , art , psychology , politics , computer science , psychotherapist , programming language
Abstract This article examines the physical changes and the shifting symbolic meaning of the B lack S ea Coast in B ulgaria after 1989. It explores three stages of development: the coast as a place of refuge and intimacy in the last years of socialism, how new touristic development embodied economic aspirations from 1997 until 2008, and recent years in which over‐building and corruption have become a mark of national embarrassment and anxiety. Beachfront development after socialism was meant to both rejuvenate the flagging national economy and to use improved spaces of tourism to make a visual representation of a “new” B ulgaria. However, for coastal residents, prosperity was not forthcoming and financial stagnation, environmental destruction, and the new aesthetics of the beachfront reoriented their view of the coast. This article explores how changes in the natural landscape became emotionally resonant ways for residents to discuss the aspirations and disenchantments of post‐socialism. It argues that the increasingly‐urbanized beachfront has quickly shifted from a symbol of the post‐socialist good life to a manifestation of the failure of contemporary B ulgarian society to protect even the most basic collective goods.