Vol.2, No 6, 1999 pp. 81 - 89
UDC:316.35:116.4

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THE RELATIONS OF ETHNIC AND CONFESSIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF GYPSIES IN BULGARIA
Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov
Bulgaria

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Abstract. In general, Bulgarian Gypsies are Eastern Orthodox Christians and Moslems — the two mainstream religions in Bulgaria. Today a heavy influence is exercized by the different Protestant denominations (often considered "sects" in Bulgaria), and certain evangelical churches recruiting among the Gypsies.
The proposed paper will look at the Relations of Ethnic and Confessional Consciousness of Gypsies in Bulgaria. Under the influence of the practised religion and the manifestations of preferred ethnic self-consciousness traditional hierarchy of Gypsies in Bulgaria, is changed, groups are rearranged. A change of religion or the conversion to a new religion is often seen as a possibility to seek a new place in the overall structure of the surrounding society, to adjust to new conditions, to find an outlet from the crisis in one's own ethnic body; under Balkan conditions (where ethnic and religious identity often are confused) this could be also a way to change one's own ethnic attribution.
This trend indicates moreover the existence of an attempted modification in the group mechanism of social life through substitution with new patterns and rapprochement to the dominant standards of the macro-society. In any case, religion continues till today to perform its function of integrating and segregating, i.e. it is instrumental in the integration of the Gypsy groups into the Roma meta-group communities and sets them apart from other subdivisions of the Gypsy people.

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ODNOSI ETNIČKE I KONFESIONALNE SVESTI ROMA U BUGARSKOJ Uopšte uzevši, bugarski Romi su istočni pravoslavci i muslimani, odnosno, oni pripadaju dvema glavnim verama u Bulgarskoj. Sem toga,  različite protestantske vere danas takođe vrše snažan uticaj (i često se smatraju "sektama" u Bugarskoj), a i pojedine evanđelijske crkve regrutuju sledbenike među Romima.
Predloženi rad razmatra odnose etničke i konfesionalne svesti Roma u Bugarskoj. Pod uticajem praktikovane vere i ispoljavanja etničke samosvesti, tradicionalna hijerarhiija Roma u Bugarskoj je promenjena, a grupe preraspoređene. Promena vere ili preobraćanje u novu veru često se doživljavaju kao mogućnosti traženja novog mesta u ukupnoj strukturi okruženja, prilagođavanja novim uslovima, traženja izlaza iz krize u sopstvenom etničkom telu; u balkanskim uslovima (gde se etnički i verski identitet često mešaju) ovo može takođe biti način da se promeni sopstveni etnički status.
Ova tendencija, štaviše, pokazuje pokušaj da se izvrše promene u grupnom mehanizmu društvenog života putem zamene novim obrascima i usklađivanjem sa dominantnim standardima makro društva. U svakom slučaju, vera nastavlja do dan danas da vrši svoju ulogu integracije i podvajanja, to jest, ona je instrumentalizovana u cilju integracije romskih grupa u romske meta grupne zajednice i time teži da ih odvoji od drugih grupacija romskog naroda.