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The Brother-City Project and Socialist Humanism: Haskovo, Tashkent and "Sblizhenie"

Abstract:The brother-city (pobratimeni gradove) programme and the relationship between Haskovo, Bulgaria and Tashkent in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was to be central to Haskovians' understanding of their place and function within the international socialist space. It was a conflicted relationship. Tashkent was a bewildering model for Haskovians who visited her, alternately coded as a socialist city, a model for Haskovo leading the way to the socialist future, or as a sensual temptress, leading enticingly to a decadent, 'oriental' past. This paper investigates the ambiguities inherent in this relationship and the manner in which questions of socialism, modernity and civilization were mapped out by Haskovian correspondents' tours of Tashkent's streets.