A cry and an outcry: Oplakvane (complaining) as a term for communication practice

ABSTRACT

This study examined the term oplakvane in Bulgarian discourse. It refers to a communication practice – similar to complaining – and a range of associated cultural meanings for ways to construct a socio-economic and political reality. Data for this study included naturally occurring talk recorded during social events, interview responses from 50 participants, and a range of media postings from newspapers and online sources. These were examined through the lens of ethnography of communication and studies of terms for talk. By examining the term's context, potency, use, messages, meanings, and enactments, a larger cultural landscape is made available, illustrating how oplakvane not only describes negative talk, but references a communication ritual that serves to: (1) release the frustrations of everyday life, (2) celebrate and reinforce feelings of fate and despair, and (3) identify and locate a national Bulgarian character.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethnography of communication
• terms for talk
• oplakvane
• complaining
• cultural communication

Notes on contributor

Nadezhda Sotirova is an Assistant Professor at University of Minnesota Morris. Her research focuses on oplakvane as a communication term and practice, ethnographic studies of national identity within a post-socialist context, and cultural discourse of mobility in Bulgaria.

Additional information

Funding

This research was conducted at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Nadezhda is a junior faculty in the Communication, Media, and Rhetoric discipline at University of Minnesota Morris, and her primary interests include ethnography of communication, language and social interaction, cultural communication, and identity studies.