In-between spaces and hybrid identities in the Bulgarian-Serbian-Macedonian border area

Over the last 30 years, the European Union has sought to dismantle borders, but contradictory processes have led to a number of tensions, especially at Europe’s “periphery”. This lecture focuses on the “Trimezhdie” region, where Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia meet, and examines the changing political, cultural and identity dynamics there. Through ethnographic research based on in-depth interviews and observations in five border towns, the complex interrelationships of the ethnic and civic identity divide in Macedonia are revealed. The presentation looks at the collective construction of identity in the border towns and examines the influence of history, memory and current changes and processes. It explores issues such as dual citizenship, minority adaptation and how in-between spaces challenge traditional national narratives by “producing” identities such as “half Bulgarian and half Serb” in the border region.

Mina Hristova is an assistant professor at the “Balkan Ethnology” Department of the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Science. Her research interests include nationalism, identities, urban anthropology, memory, and migrations. In 2022 she received the Azarya Polykarov Award for for young scientists by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for the second edition of her first monograph We are Bulgarians, but not Quite. In-between spaces and hybrid identities in the Balkans in XXI century (Paradigma 2012). In November 2023, her book received the Karl Kaser award for outstanding achievements in  historicalanthropological research on Southeast Europe. In 2023 – Jan 2024, she was a Scholar in Residence in The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (Göttingen).