Stefan Detchev holds an MA in History from the University of Sofia and Ph.D in History from Higher Certifying Commission, Sofia. He specialized at the University of Amsterdam and Central European University in Budapest. He has been a visiting fellow at Universidad Complutence of Madrid (2001-2003), New Europe College Bucharest (2006-2007), Collegium Budapest (2008-2009) and University of Graz (2017). He is interested in political ideologies and the public sphere, nationalism, historiography, racial thought, history of masculinity and sexuality, history of food. His major publications include: Who are Our Ancestors? “Race”, Science and Politics in Bulgaria 1879-1912. Saarbrücken: LAP, 2010.
Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literat... more Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literature in Bulgaria with a particular emphasis on the quest for origins, and a remote fatherland. Especially important was the revival and even the enforcement of an openly racial thought and a racial approach not that typical in the Bulgarian past. This study relies on a wide scope of primary sources such as references from newspapers and journals, various memoirs, parliamentary debates, political speeches, historical studies, popular historical notions and descriptions, studies in the field of physical anthropology, historical accounts, etc. All these are used to investigate the political instrumentalization of the quest for origins (Slavic, Old Bulgar, Turkic, Tartar, Aryan etc.) in "fin-de-siecle" Bulgaria. The book will be of interest for different specialists in humanities and social sciences working on modern and contemporary problems as well as those working on issues related to earlier periods.
Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literat... more Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literature in Bulgaria with a particular emphasis on the quest for origins, and a remote fatherland. Especially important was the revival and even the enforcement of an openly racial thought and a racial approach not that typical in the Bulgarian past. This study relies on a wide scope of primary sources such as references from newspapers and journals, various memoirs, parliamentary debates, political speeches, historical studies, popular historical notions and descriptions, studies in the field of physical anthropology, historical accounts, etc. All these are used to investigate the political instrumentalization of the quest for origins (Slavic, Old Bulgar, Turkic, Tartar, Aryan etc.) in "fin-de-siecle" Bulgaria. The book will be of interest for different specialists in humanities and social sciences working on modern and contemporary problems as well as those working on issues relat...
In the last twenty years scholars in different branches found out that “masculinity” took differe... more In the last twenty years scholars in different branches found out that “masculinity” took different forms and representations in different historical periods and regions. Many ideals were constructed according to different social, cultural and political contexts. Internationally, masculinity has fast become a scholarly endeavor in academic circles. However, Bulgarian media and university environment are still full of politically incorrect language. In the last decade some traditional notions of masculinity were strongly publicized and they are part even of the university environment. Moreover, gender history or history of masculinity was not present in the curriculum of my department. This paper is based on the record of teaching and learning in my course “Masculinity in Bulgarian Politics 1879-1944” created and taught during the academic years 2004-2005. It is going to make an attempt at some contextual analyses how and to what extent this course change students’ vision of society,...
Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literat... more Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literature in Bulgaria with a particular emphasis on the quest for origins, and a remote fatherland. Especially important was the revival and even the enforcement of an openly racial thought and a racial approach not that typical in the Bulgarian past. This study relies on a wide scope of primary sources such as references from newspapers and journals, various memoirs, parliamentary debates, political speeches, historical studies, popular historical notions and descriptions, studies in the field of physical anthropology, historical accounts, etc. All these are used to investigate the political instrumentalization of the quest for origins (Slavic, Old Bulgar, Turkic, Tartar, Aryan etc.) in "fin-de-siecle" Bulgaria. The book will be of interest for different specialists in humanities and social sciences working on modern and contemporary problems as well as those working on issues related to earlier periods.
Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literat... more Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literature in Bulgaria with a particular emphasis on the quest for origins, and a remote fatherland. Especially important was the revival and even the enforcement of an openly racial thought and a racial approach not that typical in the Bulgarian past. This study relies on a wide scope of primary sources such as references from newspapers and journals, various memoirs, parliamentary debates, political speeches, historical studies, popular historical notions and descriptions, studies in the field of physical anthropology, historical accounts, etc. All these are used to investigate the political instrumentalization of the quest for origins (Slavic, Old Bulgar, Turkic, Tartar, Aryan etc.) in "fin-de-siecle" Bulgaria. The book will be of interest for different specialists in humanities and social sciences working on modern and contemporary problems as well as those working on issues relat...
In the last twenty years scholars in different branches found out that “masculinity” took differe... more In the last twenty years scholars in different branches found out that “masculinity” took different forms and representations in different historical periods and regions. Many ideals were constructed according to different social, cultural and political contexts. Internationally, masculinity has fast become a scholarly endeavor in academic circles. However, Bulgarian media and university environment are still full of politically incorrect language. In the last decade some traditional notions of masculinity were strongly publicized and they are part even of the university environment. Moreover, gender history or history of masculinity was not present in the curriculum of my department. This paper is based on the record of teaching and learning in my course “Masculinity in Bulgarian Politics 1879-1944” created and taught during the academic years 2004-2005. It is going to make an attempt at some contextual analyses how and to what extent this course change students’ vision of society,...
From Kebab to Ćevapčići. Foodways in (Post-)Ottoman Europe, 2018
The history of food or acts of cooking, eating and drinking have gained growing attention in the ... more The history of food or acts of cooking, eating and drinking have gained growing attention in the humanities and social sciences in the last decade, elaborating social, political, economic, and cultural dimensions of food and foodways in a global context of consumption. From Kebab to Ćevapčići aims at giving disciplinarily inclusive insights into the culinary histories of “Ottoman Europe” – of the European territories and people(s), including Turkey, shaped by or “coping” with an Ottoman heritage. The analysis of foodways, the changing practices related to food production, distribution and consumption, the way food and foodways were imagined and described, serve as a means to better understand the historical entanglement of this area into global flows, the local appropriation of new foodstuffs and recipes, the imagination of exclusive possession, and the negotiation or maintenance of difference. The volume assembles 16 essays, most of which were originally delivered as papers at a conference held at Justus-Liebig-University, Gießen/Germany in fall of 2015. Their authors come from various scholarly traditions touching in one way or another the histories of the people(s) who used to live within or at the borders of the Ottoman sultan’s imperial shade.
Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literat... more Ever since the changes of 1989, we have seen an outpouring of academic and quasi-academic literature in Bulgaria with a particular emphasis on the quest for origins, and a remote fatherland. Especially important was the revival and even the enforcement of an openly racial thought and a racial approach not that typical in the Bulgarian past. This study relies on a wide scope of primary sources such as references from newspapers and journals, various memoirs, parliamentary debates, political speeches, historical studies, popular historical notions and descriptions, studies in the field of physical anthropology, historical accounts, etc. All these are used to investigate the political instrumentalization of the quest for origins (Slavic, Old Bulgar, Turkic, Tartar, Aryan etc.) in “fin-de-siècle” Bulgaria. The book will be of interest for different specialists in humanities and social sciences working on the modern and contemporary problems as well as those working on issues related to earlier periods.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality rates in Eastern European countries are among t... more Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality rates in Eastern European countries are among the highest in the world. Although unhealthy diet is an important risk factor for both of these chronic diseases, traditional eating habits and their health effects in this region have not yet been explored. This analysis assessed the relationship between traditional dietary pattern and mortality from all-causes, CVD and cancer in Eastern European population-based cohorts.
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Papers by Stefan Detchev
From Kebab to Ćevapčići aims at giving disciplinarily inclusive insights into the culinary histories of “Ottoman Europe” – of the European territories and people(s), including Turkey, shaped by or “coping” with an Ottoman heritage. The analysis of foodways, the changing practices related to food production, distribution and consumption, the way food and foodways were imagined and described, serve as a means to better understand the historical entanglement of this area into global flows, the local appropriation of new foodstuffs and recipes, the imagination of exclusive possession, and the negotiation or maintenance of difference. The volume assembles 16 essays, most of which were originally delivered as papers at a conference held at Justus-Liebig-University, Gießen/Germany in fall of 2015. Their authors come from various scholarly traditions touching in one way or another the histories of the people(s) who used to live within or at the borders of the Ottoman sultan’s imperial shade.