Predstave stanovništva pirotskog kraja u vezi sa terminom Torlaci

Abstract

In literature, as a name of a regional group, the term the Torlaks is often related to the region of Pirot in a broad sense (predominantly the territory of today's Pirot county). Therefore, for the purpose of my PhD thesis 'the construction of the identity of the Torlaks in Serbia and Bulgaria', systematic field anthropological researches in the identity of people in the region of Pirot were carried out in 2007. and 2010. This paper presents a part of the results of the researches that concerns the ideas of the people in Pirot region of the term the Torlaks. Collected material indicates that wider population Pirot region don't identify with the name the Torlaks. Most respondents don't know anything about this term. However, some statements also confirm that: 1. people from this region used to be named the Torlaks by the inhabitants of the neighbouring parts of North-west Bulgaria, 2. people from this region used to be named the Torlaks by the inhabitants of central Serbia, 3. in this region some people know that the term the Torlaks refers to the people in the Timok basin - called the Timočani 4. in this region, the term the Torlaks used to refer to the Vlachs, nomadic stockbreeders who are also called the Crnovlnci, 5. in this region the term Torlaks was associated with a dialect. All these facts are significant for illuminating the identities that have been designated with the term the Torlaks in the Eastern Balkans.