Abstract
The article examines the processes of ethnic revitalization among the Aromanians in Bulgaria and analyzes the role of group memory in the formation and mobilization of ethnic identites. The concepts of „memory“ as well as „identity“ are based on the notion of construed continuity, which is achieved thru selectiv remembering of (putative) history of the group.
Shared memories enable emergence of group loyalties and a sense of solidarity. The paper shows how the historical town of Moscopole is beeing mythicized in the memory of Aromanians and how the resulting image of this town as an rich, briliant and purely Aromanian is used by the activists for identity mobilization and legitimization of contemporary ethnic revival efforts.
Nevertheless, it is argued that the „official“ image of Moscopole created by the elites is not the only one and that in the community of Bulgarian Aromanians does exist an alternative vision of this town and its meaning for the essence of Aromanian identity.