Balkan features of the image of Odessa: ways of formation and modern manifestations

Abstract

The article deals with Balkan features in the image of Odessa, ways of their formation and modern manifestations.

The Balkan settlers were among the first residents of the glorious Black Sea city. The first Balkan feature of the image of the city is definitely the demographic.

The formation of the ethnic structure of the population of Odessa was reflected in the toponymics of the city – hence the next feature – toponymic.

Ethnicity in the terms of the city acquires clear features also through the prism of the activities of significant personalities who, on the one hand, have become famous for their activities in one area or another and at the same time have glorified their people and are associated with a certain ethnicity. In this regard, the following, the third feature – is personal.

Public and cultural organizations at the public level create favorable conditions for the interaction of the ethnic community with representatives of both «their» ethnic group and the government or society as a whole. Therefore, it will be appropriate to consider the next fourth feature - socio-cultural, which is revealed through the prism of the activities of public organizations and societies that unite individual ethnic communities and support their ethnic identity in the city.

The history of the settlement of the city of Odessa, the formation of its ethnic composition were also reflected in the nutrition system. Accordingly, the following fifth feature cannot be overlooked – a culinary one that can be traced in two dimensions: first, it is the Balkan component of “Odessa” cuisine, and second, ethnic restaurants with the so-called. “Balkan accent” presented in the city.

All of the above features allowed us to demonstrate on the example of the Balkan concept of “Odessa culture”, how ethnic color has accumulated into a regional one.