123
DOI: 10.4312/mz.58.1.123-144
UDK 783(497.2):284.35
Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements: 
Presentations of Alevi-Bektashi Nefeses and 
Semahs from Bulgaria
Rumiana Margaritova
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
ABSTRACT
The article examines how public and audio-visual media presentations of Alevi-Bektashi 
ritual music and semahs in Bulgaria act as a bridge between the community and outsider 
audience. Special attention is paid to the advantages of using the innovative format of the 
virtual tour for revealing a little known and still somewhat closed ethno-religious minority 
that is apprehensive about outside scrutiny.
Keywords: Alevi-Bektashi ritual, nefes, semah, Bulgaria, virtual tour
IZVLEČEK
Članek proučuje, kako javne in avdio-vizualne medijske predstavitve obrednih pesmi (nefes) in 
gibov (semah) skupnosti alevi-bektašev v Bolgariji vzpostavljajo mostove med to skupnostjo in 
zunanjimi deležniki. Posebna pozornost je namenjena prednostim uporabe inovativnih oblik 
virtualnih ogledov pri razkrivanju malo poznane in še vedno zaprte etno-religijske manjšine, 
ki je občutljiva na pogled od zunaj.
Ključne besede: alevi-bektaški obred, nefes, semah, Bolgarija, virtualni ogled
* I would like to thank Dr. Irene Markoff for improving the quality of the manuscript.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   123 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   123 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
124
Introduction
The topic of the present article, implied in title’s keywords “secret,” “reveal,” 
and “presentation,” concerns the complex process affording marginalized com-
munities to achieve public visibility through mediatized display as viewed 
through the lens of applied ethnomusicology. This process is encapsulated in a 
triadic construct of relationships – community-mediator-audience – that will 
be utilized in a case example of the still thriving sacred ritual culture of Alevi-
Bektashis in Bulgaria.
1
 The clandestine nature of the religious ceremonies has 
allowed for their preservation, and by extension, the continuity of the esoteric 
meanings embedded in the religious minority’s expressive culture which has no 
analogue in the pluralistic context in which it currently exists.
The topic at hand is of special and personal significance for me, as my re -
search with Alevi-Bektashis in Bulgaria left an indelible mark on my first ex-
periences as an ethnomusicologist. A life-long memory is my fieldwork “initia-
tion” at an Alevi gathering in 1999, when my novice excitement was increased 
in response to the officiating religious leader’s final metaphoric dictate: “Our 
path is a very secret path. You must not tell anyone what we have done here! 
[…] All we have talked about; all we have done here – everything must remain 
here on that table. Let us now walk back on our steps in the snow – nobody 
should know where we were.” Not straying from this research project in the 
following twenty-two years, I had the opportunity to notice how the cloud of 
secrecy gradually lifted and the Alevi-Bektashis began to share their religious 
knowledge and ritual expressions with outsiders. The liturgical songs (nefeses) 
accompanied by the plucked folk lute (saz) and the kinetic forms (semahs) oc-
casionally left the limited circle of insider audiences and stepped into public 
and media contexts, which added another dimension to their functionality in 
that they became tools for social and cultural visibility and identity markers for 
the Alevi-Bektashi community.
The focus of the present study is therefore to investigate how the afore-
mentioned tools are constructed and how they operate. In other words, the 
analysis will examine how public, scholarly, and audio-visual media presenta-
tions of Alevi-Bektashi ritual music and semahs in Bulgaria act as a bridge be-
tween the community and outsider audiences. I will do this by discussing sev-
eral interconnected subjects including motives for crossing the centuries-valid 
1 Alevi-Bektashi is a cover term for non-orthodox, Sufi and Shi’i-related communities in Turkey 
and Bulgaria that are identified with the Alevis of Turkey, formerly known as Kızılbaş, and the 
Bektashi order of dervishes. The communities in Bulgaria are Turkish-speaking and live mostly 
in compact villages in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains and in North-Eastern Bulgaria. There are 
two main subgroups in both regions – the Baba’is and Bektashis (and Musahips – in the Eastern 
Rhodope Mountains), which share common religious doctrines and ritual structure, but differ in 
some ritual elements and expressive forms. Today they use the self-designations “Alevi” or “Aliani” 
and sometimes Kızılbaş (in North-Eastern Bulgaria) that encompass all their subgroups, includ-
ing the Bektashis, Baba’is and Musahips.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   124 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   124 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
125
taboos concerning nefeses and semahs, approaches to, and manner of presenta-
tion, and finally, the effects of the resulting visibility.
A Brief Discussion of Alevi-Bektashis and Their Expressive Culture
The collective term Alevi-Bektashi has been used in the scientific literature in 
the last twenty to twenty-five years to designate certain Muslim groups mostly 
from Asia Minor and the Balkans, together with the diaspora in Western Eu-
rope and North America, which differ from mainstream Islamic communities 
in terms of religious doctrine, ritual practices, and way of life
 
(Margaritova and 
Gramatikova 2020, 132). Alevi-Bektashi doctrines are too complex to be suffi-
ciently expanded on here, but two of the most important factors to be reminded 
of are: the cult of Ali ibn Abu Talib, the nephew and son-in-law of the prophet 
Muhammed (related to Shi’a Islam), and the search for, and maintenance of 
a deep, inner sense of faith that is allied to a bāt . ini (esoteric) interpretation of 
Islam. The nature of the doctrine – comprising elements of moderate and mar-
ginal Shi’a beliefs, Islamic mysticism, and pre-Islamic Turkic religious views 
(Dressler 2008; Gramatikova 2011, 20), is secret and esoteric such that the set 
of beliefs is revealed only to initiated members of the community, who are guid-
ed by religious leaders (dede/baba) on their religious path (yol).
The individual religious sentiments are powered by and intensified through 
collective ritual contexts, in which initiated men and women participate to-
gether. All the meetings, traditionally held in secret, have a common structure 
of several highly symbolic activities. These activities are performed during eve-
ry sacred gathering and include prayers, recitations from the Qur’an, discus-
sions concerning religious and community life, the lighting of candles, limited 
consumption of alcohol, shared meals, and songs with and without movement, 
according to regional practices. These confessional practices are quite differ-
ent from those of the politically dominant Sunnis; their obvious and hidden 
doctrinal and ritual peculiarities are still veiled in mystery and met with sus-
picion; when coupled with historic confrontations between the Shi’a and the 
Sunnis, the result has been continued prejudice. These factors cemented the 
Alevi-Bektashi immanent principle of takiye (Turkish; taqiyah, Arabic), or “a 
masking of true identity in hostile environments” (Markoff 2009), resulted in 
feelings of unjustified rejection and misunderstanding, and prolonged the pre-
dominantly rural-based community’s self-imposed isolation. The preservation 
of this closed religious minority’s religious views and ritual expressions was a 
necessary survival strategy.
In the 1980s, Alevi-Bektashi activists in Turkey and Western Europe initi-
ated the so-called “Alevi movement” (or “Alevi revival”), insisting on the rec-
ognition of Alevism (Sökefeld 2008). Steps in this direction were open dis-
cussions on doctrinal topics and the public performances of rituals, including 
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   125 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   125 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
126
music and semahs – acts, which are commonly interpretated by the researchers 
as putting an end to takiye.
These processes impacted the related communities in Bulgaria, though 
nearly twenty years later. Heirs of settlers predominantly from the Ottoman 
times,
2
 their complex social position there was of a double minority in terms of 
their position vis-à-vis the ethnic Bulgarian majority and the large minority 
of Sunni Turks who the local Alevi-Bektashis refer to as “the others.” In the 
aftermath of Bulgarian independence in 1878, the Alevi-Bektashi community 
have had to adapt to the inconsistent politics of changing governments. Ex-
tensive scholarship is devoted to the socialist period in Bulgaria (1944–1989), 
when the initial cultural and political tolerance towards ethnic minorities was 
replaced by intensified pressure on their identity in the 70s (Buechsenschutz 
2000). The peak was reached in 1984–1989 during the so called “revival pro-
cess,” when the authorities ruthlessly implemented measures to erase all the 
ethnic and religious markers of Turks in the state.
3
 The ensuing voluntary or 
forced mass migration of Bulgarian Turks to Turkey in 1989 greatly impacted 
the political, economic, and social life in Bulgaria. Of those Alevi-Bektashis 
who chose to stay in their places of birth, particularly those in the Eastern 
Rhodope Mountains, their reduced number and the changed structure of their 
religious communities opened the door to the decline of their religious life and 
the transformation of their ritual culture.
After Bulgaria’s transition to democracy in 1989, ethnic and religious rights 
were restored and the “revival process” was officially recognized as a “historic 
mistake.” This smoothed the way for the opening of the closed Alevi-Bektashi 
community and at the end of twentieth century the echo of the Alevi re-
vival resonated in Bulgaria through contacts with relatives and friends abroad. 
The process was institutionally shaped by two local Alevi-Bektashi organiza -
tions: the Cem foundation – Razgrad (Cem Vakfı – Razgrad, founded in 2003 
and chaired by Veysel Bayram) and the Cem foundation – Southern Bulgaria 
(Cem Vakfı – Southern Bulgaria, founded in 2006 and chaired by Mustafa 
Mustafa). Later, in 2013, a second organization in North-Eastern Bulgaria was 
established – the Cem foundation in the village of Bradvari (Cem Vakfı – Y eni 
2 Bulgarian historians consider that the majority of “non-orthodox” Muslims, who settled in the 
Balkans and on Bulgarian territory, were Kızılbaş Turkmen exiled during the Ottoman-Persian 
wars and the anti-feudal fights in Asia Minor in the sixteenth century. Other ways of spread-
ing “non-orthodox” Islam involved the settlement of nomadic and semi-nomadic Turkic (mostly 
Yörük) tribes from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, the activity of Abdalan-ı Rum dervishes 
from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, and the Janissary corps connected with the Bektashi 
order of dervishes, for example (Gramatikova 2011, 141–230).
3 Using the argumentation that the Turks in Bulgaria were of Bulgarian origin, the state prohibited 
(or secularized) Turkish religious rituals and festivals, forbade the usage of the Turkish language 
in public (including the performance of Turkish songs and music), and enforced the changing of 
Turkish and Islamic names to Bulgarian and Slavic ones, etc.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   126 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   126 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
127
Baltacı Köy). With the help of these institutions, cult sites were renovated, 
local religious festivals organized, and pilgrimages in Bulgaria and abroad ar-
ranged. These activities had a double effect on the community – on the one 
hand, they strengthened its internal structure and essence, and on the other 
hand, they made it more visible to outsiders.
The overcoming of the centuries-old restrictions is evident also on an eve -
ryday level in the sense that local Alevi-Bektashis are more willing to share 
elements of their faith and ritual culture. They occasionally discuss their beliefs 
with outsiders such as Bulgarians and non-Alevi Turks and allow visitors to 
observe their rituals and festivals honoring and venerating local saints.
4
 At a 
maye fifteen years ago, for example, an Alevi asked me emotionally, “Do you 
see what good people we are, and how beautiful our traditions are?”
5
 These 
sentiments illustrate how eager members of this minority within a minority are 
to be viewed in a positive way.
The possibilities for and occasions of open manifestations of Alevi-Bektashi 
expressive culture, or as I articulate it “revival through revealing” (Margaritova 
2010, 208), still occur within limits. Needless to say, restrictions vary according 
to the individuals involved – be they insiders or outsiders – and the contexts in 
which negotiations occur. More importantly, decisions are dependent on the vi-
sion of local religious guides and more generally on discussions within the lead-
ership of community councils. In this connection, there have been several waves 
of openings and closures of the community for the last twenty years, defined by 
Alevi-Bektashi leaders in response to social (and perhaps political) factors. In es-
sence, today Alevi-Bektashis in Bulgaria decide in accordance with the views of 
their religious leaders when, how, and to whom to reveal (parts of ) their religious 
views and practices. Paraphrasing the political anthropologist Hande Sözer, takiye 
still exists – but not in the sense of the total group concealment of the past, rather 
as a viable and flexible collective tactic of controlled visibility (Sözer 2014, 2).
To summarize, the motives of Alevi-Bektashis in Bulgaria for crossing the 
century-old lines of concealing their identity, religious views, and ritual prac-
tices lie in their desire to break the stigma of the negative attitude towards 
them and to achieve social and cultural equality. This chosen pathway to rec -
ognition and equality has been conditioned by the changing political, social, 
and cultural climate in Bulgaria, and stimulated by connections with related 
communities in Turkey and the European diaspora. As has been determined, 
Bulgarian Alevi-Bektashis chose the path of visibility, or controlled access to 
the expression of their religious values, the most revered values being the sa-
cred sung poetry (nefeses) and the ritual kinetic forms (semahs).
4 These festivals are called maye (or close phonetic variants) by the Alevi-Bektashis in South-
Eastern Bulgaria.
5 The original statement of the anonymous interlocutor: “Vizhdash li kakvi dobri hora sme nie i 
kolko hubavi s ani adetite?” (Personal communication, May 26, 2001).
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   127 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   127 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51 28. 07. 2022   12:07:51

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
128
The Important Role of Nefeses and Semahs in Alevi-Bektashi Culture
Before analyzing the specifics of public presentations of nefeses and semahs, the 
question of what makes them such an important part of Alevi-Bektashi culture 
needs to be answered. One basic reason is certainly the fact that they are the 
steadfast building blocks of the ritual, as no ritual ceremony can occur without 
the singing of nefeses accompanied by the saz or the “turning” of semah (for 
Southern Bulgaria). But what underlies this structural connection is that the 
songs and the kinetic movements are one of the most powerful means for trans-
ferring clandestine religious knowledge. Both ritual music and semahs are based 
on poems in the Turkish vernacular for the most part ascribed to fifteenth cen-
tury poet Kul Himmet and sixteenth century poets Pir Sultan Abdal, Nesimi, 
and Hatayi. These poems encapsulate essential Alevi-Bektashi doctrinal, ethical 
and social issues (Markoff 2002, 796; Gramatikova 2016, 563–582). Their sa-
cred character is implicit in their common local names – nefes (meaning breath 
or hymn) or quran (meaning the holy book of Muslims). The performance of 
nefeses during the first part of the ritual gatherings
6
 is intended specifically for 
the transmission and perception of sacred scriptures and doctrines. During this 
time, the religious leader expects full attention from the worshippers in the 
cemevi (the space for the ceremonies), while the ritual music specialists clearly 
enunciate the lyrics sung to melodies performed at a slow tempo.
Figure 1: Performance of an oturak nefesi by Cafer Cafer,  
Elmalı Baba tekkesi (a kurban
7
 ceremony, March 2020).
6 These nefeses are called oturak nefesi (“nefeses performed while seated”) in the Eastern Rhodope 
Mountains (see Figure 1).
7 Kurban (Turkish, from qurban – Arabic) – a ritual animal sacrifice.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   128 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   128 28. 07. 2022   12:07:53 28. 07. 2022   12:07:53

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
129
Singing and playing nefeses also accompanies the performance of the several 
varieties of semah, with tempos that increase in speed. A central element of 
the semah is the movements of barefoot participants, positioned in the middle 
of the ritual space who pass around each other (more common in the Eastern 
Rhodope Mountains) or move in a circle or in lines in sync with the strict 
rhythm of the music, not touching each other and not turning their backs to 
the religious leader. Their individual steps and gestures, as well as the figures 
that emerge from their collective movements, are said to encode important 
symbols of the Alevi-Bektashi belief system. For example, the most sacred se-
mah type Kırklar (the Forty) was described by my interlocutors from the East-
ern Rhodope Mountains as a representation either of the suffering and death 
of Imam Ali’s son Hüseyin at the battle of Kerbala (Sadula Hairula from the 
village of Gorna Krepost (Karalar), 2000), or the motif of the ascension of Mu-
hammed to heaven (Kyazim Salif from the village of Chiflik (Çiflik), 2001).
8
The dissemination of Alevi-Bektashi knowledge in the expressive forms of 
the nefeses and the semahs (i.e., in mystical poetry and in sacred movement), oc -
curs through the mediation of music. The local tradition has established several 
melody types known as makam (sing.; makams – pl.), as well as instrumental 
techniques, which are learned through oral tradition from master musicians 
referred to as zakirs or İmam Cafers. These male music specialists are highly re-
spected in the Alevi-Bektashi community as transmitters of knowledge and for 
their crucial role within rituals to perform the meaningful nefeses so that they 
elicit affective responses and to synchronize their instrumental accompaniment 
with the movements of the semahs. Though they differ in their vocal, instru-
mental, and improvisational abilities, all of them try to follow the fixed melodic 
models as reproducing traditional musical styles and movements during the 
ritual ensures the perpetuation of the religious ideas they are connected with.
In summary, the lyrics and accompanying music of the nefeses and semahs 
continue to act as traditional channels for the transmission of Alevi-Bektashi 
sacred beliefs and world view in the context of rituals where the music, per-
formed by the zakirs/Imam Cafers serves to intensify the emotional climate 
insider worshippers are immersed in.
Non-Traditional Contexts for Alevi-Bektashi Ritual Music  
and Kinetic Forms
This section of the paper addresses questions concerning types of public dis -
play of Alevi expressive forms in contexts such as stage performances, perfor-
mances organized for scientific research, and media presentations. These ques-
tions include the following: What happens when the ritual music and kinetic 
8 John Kingsley Birge discusses the first interpretation (Birge 1937, 216), and Irène Mélikoff the 
second one (quoted in Mikov 1988, 34).
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   129 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   129 28. 07. 2022   12:07:53 28. 07. 2022   12:07:53

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
130
forms are presented in non-traditional contexts that include the attendance of 
outsiders – on stage, in the audio-visual media, or for scholarly research? What 
are the strategies of the people involved (insider performers and/or outsider 
organizers, researchers, journalists, and filmmakers)? To what extent are the 
secret Alevi-Bektashi beliefs revealed or do they remain hidden or distorted? 
And finally, how does this visibility affect the Alevi-Bektashi community?
Public presentations of Alevi-Bektashi music and semahs began at the turn 
of the twenty-first century, with the start of the Bulgarian Alevi revival and the 
community’s striving for visibility, following similar initiatives in Turkey. The 
first shifts of the nefeses and semahs from the ritual context happened because 
of transnational interactions that included participation in public displays of 
Alevi expressive forms in Turkey for insider audiences who highly appreciated 
the authenticity of the regionally-based village repertoire. To accommodate 
the new needs of “representation” for the community, Alevi-Bektashi organiza-
tions in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains and in North-Eastern Bulgaria stra-
tegically chose to establish semah groups, which gave performances in Turkey 
and Bulgaria.
According to media publications, two semah groups in North-Eastern 
Bulgaria appear to be the most operative – those in the village of Chernik 
(Karalar) and in the village of Bradvari (Y eni Baltacı Köy), formed through the 
institutional support of community cultural centres known as chitalishta. These 
groups maintain a regular presence at public festivals and celebratory events in 
the region and in Turkey. Although some of the events referred to were cer-
tainly secular, the sacred nature of the “ritual dance,” as it is designated on the 
website of the chitalishte in Chernik (Karalar), is not hidden – it is described as 
rhythmic and synchronized mystical and aesthetic body movements, grounded 
in the religious conception of unity with God (“Grupa za Semah […]” [n. d.]). 
These phrases (in Bulgarian) are in fact translations of the official text of the 
inscription of the semah genre in the Representative List of the Intangible 
Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO (UNESCO [n. d.]).
As opposed to North-Eastern Bulgaria, public performances of nefeses and 
semahs in Southern Bulgaria occur rarely, and during special occasions as pre-
sented in the following section.
Case Examples of the Staging of Alevi-Bektashi Sacred Musical 
Repertoire and Kinetic Forms
One of the most significant examples of the staging of ritual expressive culture 
on stage in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains occurred in 2011, at a religious 
festival (maye) in celebration of the newly renovated Bektashi shrine complex 
Elmalı Baba Tekkesi, near the village of Bivolyane (Mandacılar). Together 
with zakirs/Imam Cafers from the region, a semah group affiliated with the 
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   130 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   130 28. 07. 2022   12:07:53 28. 07. 2022   12:07:53

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
131
Cem Foundation (Cem Vakfı) of Southern Bulgaria performed for political 
and religious figures from Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Romania, and Macedonia 
and thousands of other visitors, demonstrating the continuity of local Alevi-
Bektashi ritual practices.
Four years earlier, in 2007, the same semah group participated in a concert 
celebrating one of the most important Muslim celebratory religious festivals or 
holidays known as Kurban Bayramı (Festival of the Sacrifice) along with local 
performers of Bulgarian and Turkish traditional music. As the concert was or-
ganized by the municipality of Ku ˘ rdzhali (Kırcali) in the province of the same 
name, whose administration consisted mostly of Sunni Turks and Bulgarians 
and whose cultural politics were directed towards promoting regional cultural 
diversity, it is not strange that the Alevi-Bektashi performers were introduced 
as “a folk dance group.” In fact, the stage performance of nefeses and semahs 
was notably close to that found in the ritual context. The religious leader was 
present throughout, chanting relevant prayers, and observing the correct ex-
ecution of prescribed ritual etiquette that included prostrations and bows.
Figure 2: Muharem Aliosman, director of the culture house  
in the village of Zvinitza, Eastern Rhodope Mountains.
A step towards popularizing the local Alevi-Bektashi community through 
its ritual expressive culture was a semah demonstration which occurred in 
the Regional Historical Museum – Ku ˘rdzhali in the spring of 2013. The 
demonstration was organized by a local village culture house, chaired by 
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   131 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   131 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
132
university educated, Bektashi Muharem Aliosman (see Figure 2), in cooper-
ation with the museum.
9
 Aliosman also prepared the nomination documents 
for inscription of the nefeses from his home village of Zvinitza in the former 
“Living Human Treasures – Bulgaria” list for 2014 (part of the UNESCO 
program of the same name). His greatest desire was to receive support for 
transmission of the ritual musical and poetic traditions to the more and more 
disinterested and decreasing younger generation. The nomination was not 
successful at the national level, but it passed the regional one, displacing a 
proposed Bulgarian tradition. Given the fact that the assessors were ethnic 
Bulgarian, non-Muslim experts, the regional success was a sign of a good 
level of (at least) local institutional recognition of the nefeses as a traditional 
cultural phenomenon of value.
Having followed these cases over many years, it seemed to me that the stage 
presentation of nefeses and semahs would legitimize them as the “public face” of 
the Alevi-Bektashi community in the region. On the contrary, they remained 
exceptions for the Eastern Rhodope Mountains. Even the semah group, once 
the official representative of the ritual music and semah traditions in Southern 
Bulgaria, ceased its activities. As my interlocuters revealed, the main reason 
was the generally distanced attitude of the local community and its leaders 
towards the public display of elements of ritual and its predesigned choreog-
raphy for the stage. In particular, the Alevi-Bektashis mistrusted the motives 
of the outsider organizers, one stating “they just use us to gain popularity” 
(Margaritova 2016, 64). They also shared that they could not accept the time 
restrictions imposed on their participation in the events. In other words, they 
refused being used as pawns for political purposes and rejected the perceived 
desecration of their ritual traditions in secular contexts. In short, they refused 
(and still refuse) to be visible in secular contexts. Their position is so firm, that 
even the maye at the Elmalı Baba Tekkesi, the organization of which is in the 
hands of insiders, now takes place with Alevi-Bektashi zakirs from Turkey 
rather than local Imam Cafers.
It can be concluded from the discussion above, that in both regions of com-
pact Alevi-Bektashi settlement in Bulgaria, the regular or rare occurrence of 
nefes and semah stage presentations has helped the community be acknowl-
edged for its unique means of cultural expression. What seems to be lacking, 
however, is a deeper understanding of the expressive culture in its ritual context 
that continues to be concealed by the Alevi-Bektashis themselves and/or is not 
fully recognized or understood by outsiders.
9 The proclaimed centuries-old ritual traditions were presented in a non-traditional way by Mu -
harrem and his sister who are not yet formally initiated into the local Bektashi community: the 
musical accompaniment consisted of recordings as the village zakir fell ill and the demonstration 
covered only a part of a typical semah performance that normally occurs within rituals.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   132 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   132 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
133
Alevi-Bektashi Demonstrations of Expressive Culture for Researchers
Another example of nefes and semah presentations is that which is connected to 
scientific research. What makes me place such presentations in a separate cat-
egory is the objectives of the researchers (mostly outsiders) not only to docu-
ment and gain insights into the poems and the ritual kinetic forms, but more 
importantly to understand the specific contexts in which they take place.
It is worth noting that as early as the 1950s, during a period of ideologically 
and politically-motivated hardline atheistic propaganda, Bulgarian folklorists 
conducted research in some North-Eastern Alevi-Bektashi villages and man-
aged to describe or record elements of the rituals observed (Marinov, Dimitrov, 
and Koev 1955, 95–216; Marinov 1956). The researchers were obviously able 
to get close enough to members of the community to receive and publish data 
about music as an integral part of the ritual, about the importance of the  nefeses 
for the transmission of religious knowledge, and about the high position of 
the zakir in the religious community, as well as to give a general description 
of semah. Several archival recordings of nefeses from the 60s and 70s are also 
available in the Sound Archives of the Institute of Art Studies at the Bulgar-
ian Academy of Sciences, but the details concerning how the recordings were 
made is scant (Vlaeva 2008, 131–138). Despite the existence of these early 
documents, the political and ethnocentric orientation of the humanities in so-
cialist Bulgaria imposed constraints on continuing research devoted to ethnic 
and religious minorities in the country, including Alevi-Bektashis until 1989. 
That was the reason for the delayed publishing of the results from an interdis -
ciplinary project concerning the Aliani (Alevis) in North-Eastern Bulgaria, 
carried out at the end of the 1980s (Georgieva 1991). Among the abundant 
ethnographic data, valuable information about the so-called Aliani religious 
system and ritual practices, including the nefeses and semah, also found a place.
The limited amount of published scientific literature about Alevi-Bekta-
shism was insufficient to prepare me for understanding this deep and com-
plex phenomenon, when I made my first visit to communities in the Eastern 
Rhodope Mountains in 1999,
10
 experiencing what I partly referred to at the 
beginning of the article. It took me years of regular visits to gain the trust of 
the local people and to be allowed access to more of their doctrinal and ritual 
practices, which I tried to systematize in my PhD thesis (Margaritova 2013; 
see also Figure 3). Some of my fieldwork research was accomplished together 
with prof. Irene Markoff – an ethnomusicologist from York University, Can-
ada, whose expertise, saz performing abilities, and delicate approach towards 
10 I took part in the multi-disciplinary project of the New Bulgarian University Perperek and its Ad-
joining Microregion – a Joint Investigation of a Millenary Multireligious Centre in the East Rhodope 
Mountains, led by Professor Valeria Fol.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   133 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   133 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
134
the local people easily ingratiated them.
11
 My experiences in the field as well as 
hers prove that when deep interest and appreciation is shown, corresponding 
loyalty is earned and the scholars (regardless of their ethnicity and religion) 
can be received and appreciated as precious guests (Markoff 2018). And, valid 
at least for Southern Bulgaria, is the established syncretic connection of ritual 
music with the other elements of the ceremonies that is still vital, even in these 
non-traditional contexts as the performances of nefeses and semahs in response 
to our research interests, always happened as part of kurban ceremonies or 
within informal conversations, but along with other elements of ritual such as 
prayers, restricted drinking of alcohol, and a shared meal. It seemed that the 
musicians turned such interviews into a reduced model of the ritual.
Figure 3: One of the oturak nefeses (makams) in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains.
12
  
Transcription from the performance of Sebahtin Ahmed (1942–2014), a zakir from  
the subgroup of the Baba’i from the village of Zvinitza (Boyacıklar).
11 Irene Markoff has shared her observations and analyses in three publications (Markoff 2007; 
Markoff 2016, 50–60; Markoff 2018, 23–31). Another valuable contribution to the topic is that of 
Alevi historian Nevena Gramatikova (see Figure 4), who wrote an important article with field da-
ta concerning the ritual music, poetic traditions, and semahs of Alevi-Bektashis from North-East-
ern Bulgaria, that also included a comprehensive historical account with many sources (Grama-
tikova 2016, 531–591).
12 The melody ( makam) of the nefes is typical for the repertoire of the Alevis-Bektashis in the East-
ern Rhodope Mountains and is not performed in Northern Bulgaria. It is distinguished by its 
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   134 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   134 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
135
In reflecting on my personal experiences and observations, I must admit that 
despite the respectful approach of outsider researchers and their attempts to 
validate the ritual music and kinetic forms in their complex forms, meaning 
and functions, the resulting publications involving their scientific efforts are 
rarely accessible to the local people who find the accounts to be incomprehen-
sible. Thus, even if the local Alevi-Bektashis are appreciated and their ritual 
expressive culture has been properly contextualized, they may experience the 
lack of increased visibility and could question a semblance of communicative 
reciprocity with the researchers they interact with.
Alevi-Bektashi Expressive Culture and Audio-Visual Media
With regards to increased visibility of the Alevi-Bektashi community, the most 
effective mediators are unquestionably the audio-visual media. Of particular 
interest in this study is recent visual presentations of nefeses and semahs found 
in a number of Bulgarian-produced documentary films that will be introduced 
briefly as follows.
13
The first film, Hand over the Heart (Ru ˘ka na su ˘rtseto), directed by Verginia 
Kostadinova and financed by the Bulgarian National Film Center, appeared 
before the rise of the Alevi revival in Bulgaria, in 1996.
14
 It was made in the 
first years of democracy in Bulgaria, shortly after the Revival Process. In these 
times of intense ethnic tension, major political efforts were directed towards 
achieving social balance, through the arts. Thus, the main idea of the film was 
to mitigate the confrontation, by positioning the unknown Alevi-Bektashi 
community as a bridge between Bulgarians and Turks, and between Christians 
and Muslims. Not only were some of the mysteries surrounding the commu-
nity revealed, but performances of the secret ilahis
15
 (hymns of Sunni dervish 
orders) and nefeses were also presented to a general audience for the first time. 
In addition, they were properly contextualized, as the film director secured 
the services of Alevi historian Nevena Gramatikova (see Figure 4) to act as a 
translator and consultant.
16
formal and melodic structure, and especially by the asymmetric meter 11/16 (2–2–3–2–2). In his 
performance, the zakir set the poem Erenler meclisinde (In the Gathering of the Forty Saints – con-
cerning the ascension of the Prophet to heaven when he beheld the manifestation of Divine Real-
ity in Ali during the Gathering of the Forty Saints) to the melody. According to local practice, any 
nefes lyrics with the same syllable-line structure can be used with the same makam.
13 Links to some of the films are found in the References.
14 I am grateful to Nevena Gramatikova for supplying me with information about the film, which is 
not available online.
15 Ilahis are hymns of Sunni dervish orders, which were included in the repertoire of the Alevis-
Bektashis from North-Eastern Bulgaria because of the historic connections between both com-
munities on the local level.
16 Two of the nefes performers were Gramatikova’s talented grandfather – the zakir Gafil, and her 
grandmother from the village of Sevar (Caferler); see also Footnote 9.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   135 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   135 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54 28. 07. 2022   12:07:54

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
136
Figure 4: Nevena Gramatikova, an Alevi historian.
17
The next two documentaries about Alevi-Bektashis in North-Eastern Bulgaria 
– Mezhdu polumesetsa i kru ˘sta (Between the Crescent and the Cross, scripted by 
Stoyan Radulov, 2011),
18
 and Alianite ot selo Bisertsi (The Aliani from the Village 
of Bisertsi, author Teodor Stamboliev,
19
 directed by Elena Mishkova, 2018)
20
 
share a similar perspective with Hand over the Heart in their search for par-
allels between different faiths and ethnicities in Bulgaria. “Authentic music” 
also finds a place within the discussions of Alevi-Bektashi doctrines, religious 
structure, and ritual practices. Moreover, interlocutors’ interpretations of ex-
pressive culture influenced by Turkish media sources (TV, the internet, etc.) 
are presented. For example, the semah genre is equated with the “universe” and 
viewed as a means for achieving spiritual ecstasy and purification, and the par-
ticipants’ circular kinetic movements are interpreted as a symbol of the equality 
between people and the trajectory of the planets, etc. (Mishkova 2018).
17 Photo by Nikola Boshnakov, used with the permission of the author.
18 The film (Radulov 2011) was produced and broadcast by the private broadcaster Television Tour -
ism (Televiziya Turizu ˘m), but was enthusiastically received by an engaged audience at the Sec-
ond Ethnography and Anthropology Film Festival in Sofia (Bulgaria) in 2011. Again, Nevena 
Gramatikova was a consultant.
19 Teodor Stamboliev is an opera director based in the city of Rousse (one of the biggest regional 
centers in North-Eastern Bulgaria).
20 The film (Mishkova 2018) was produced by Bulgarian National Television 2 for its weekly travel 
series.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   136 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   136 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
137
The community in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains remained undiscov -
ered for the audio-visual media for a considerable amount of time. It wasn’t 
until 2015 that the first film was shot there, in the village of Gorna Krepost – 
the village of my first encounter with the Alevis. Alianite (Aliani) produced by 
Bulgarian National Television for the popular series Otblizo – s Mira Dobreva 
(Up Close with Mira Dobreva, Dobreva 2016) gained popularity among Bul-
garians, but the lack of sensitivity of the author, a famous Bulgarian journalist, 
during the shooting process, as well as the misinterpretations of the improp-
erly chosen main interviewee, offended the local Alevis and the curtains were 
drawn again.
In contrast with the search for exoticism of the previously discussed film, 
and despite the difficulties in finding interlocuters, the next one under dis-
cussion – Siyanieto na Dvanadesette (The Radiance of the Twelve , directed and 
written by Tzvetan Simeonov, 2020) gives perhaps the most profound and 
comprehensive view of the philosophy and religion of the Alevi-Bektashis in 
Bulgaria.
21
 Nefes and semah performances are also included as illustrations, 
and the clarifications about their meaning and significance are woven into the 
philosophical tapestry of the film, rather than like dabs of paint added to a 
canvas for a more colorful picture.
The newest documentaries on Alevi-Bektashis in Bulgaria – Aşk (Love), 
2021 and Hayır (No), 2001 directed by Vladimir Andonov, portray two za-
kirs from the Eastern Rhodope Mountains, telling their human stories with 
warmth and empathy.
To summarize, the way Bulgarian directors and authors present nefeses and 
semahs in films depends on their motivations, interests, creative abilities, and 
approaches. Included in the footage as merely excerpts, these ritual expressive 
forms appear either as an integral, socially meaningful, and deeply religious 
part of community culture, as artistic activities, or just as sonic and visual com-
ponents. These different approaches affect the community, enabling them to 
reevaluate their attitudes towards visibility.
New Directions: A Virtual Tour of Alevi Nefeses and Semahs
A new audio-visual project involving Alevi-Bektashi expressive culture 
emerged when Vladimir Andonov viewed the film Aliani mentioned above. 
Perceived as unsatisfactory by the insider community, but intriguing for un-
informed outsiders, Andonov, as an uninformed outsider was captivated by 
the film as it resonated with his own search for the lost values and hidden 
wisdom lacking in contemporary society. As a result, he looked for opportuni-
ties to meet with the community and contacted freelance film-maker Nikola 
21 Muharem Aliosman, the active Bektashi from the village of Zvinitza (Boyacıklar) introduced 
above, mediated between the director and the community.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   137 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   137 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
138
Boshnakov, the afore-mentioned Alevi historian Nevena Gramatikova, and me 
as potential collaborators. Andonov had formulated a vision for a project that 
would creatively and ethically reproduce Alevi-Bektashi devotional practices 
but realized that it might not be suitable because of the sacred ritual context in 
which the nefeses and semahs played such an important role. The focus of the 
project eventually became audio-visual presentations of Alevi-Bektashi sacred 
music and kinetic forms from the Eastern Rhodope Mountains. Our aim, as a 
collaborative team, was to document the current state of the ritual traditions, 
as well as to arouse deeper outsider interest in the little-known culture through 
virtual immersion into some of its most intriguing elements. In this way we 
hoped to assist the local community in their efforts to shift away from its mar-
ginal social status in the region.
In 2019 our team, under the institutional cover of ALOS,
22
 got support 
from the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture,
23
 so we managed to make several 
short-term visits to villages with active Alevi-Bektashi ritual music special-
ists. In general, the local people were positive about our work and intentions 
and cooperated with us because most of them knew and trusted me and 
Nevena Gramatikova. They were also driven by the desire to preserve their 
heritage that was threatened by loss, or with the hope that they would receive 
a positive response both inside and outside the community. Nevertheless, a 
few zakirs and İmam Cafers refused to share their musical knowledge with 
us or in front of the camera as they were still bound by the old rules of ta-
kiye trying to protect the tradition from outsiders who might interpret them 
incorrectly.
Fortunately, we were able to document community events, such as an 
Aşure
24
 gathering, a maye festival, and a kurban ritual. We were also able to 
negotiate the recording of a demonstration of ritual music repertoire. Our 
observations proved that the Alevi-Bektashi ritual expressive culture in the 
Eastern Rhodope Mountains was still vital and well preserved, rooted in the 
old local repertoire and enriched with several popular deyişes (mystical sung 
poetry in the vernacular) imported from Turkey.
25
 In general, the musicians, 
most of whom were self-taught in the sense of listening and observing elder 
zakirs and Imam Cafers, were not saz virtuosos, but did try to maintain a good 
level of musical expertise.
22 Center for Informal Education and Cultural Activities ALOS, https://alos.bg/en/.
23 The project was named “The Unknown Other Close to You: Alevi Ritual Music and Dance from 
the Eastern Rhodopes” and was financed by the National Culture Fund of Bulgarian Ministry of 
Culture.
24 Aşure (Ashura) is an Islamic holiday, which is celebrated by the Alevi-Bektashis (and by the Shi’a 
Muslims) in commemoration of the martyrdom of Ali’s son Hüseyin.
25 Some of the beloved deyişes of that kind are Çeke Çeke and Dostum Dostum.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   138 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   138 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
139
Figure 5: A snapshot from the virtual tour “Ritual Songs and Semahlar of  
the Alevis and Bektashis from the Eastern Rhodope Mountains.”
According to the project objectives, the recorded material had to be presented in 
live interactive multimedia exhibitions in several Bulgarian cities. This was im-
possible with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 so we decided to in-
troduce the material in two virtual tours for two
26
 of the community subgroups 
in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains (the Baba’is and the Bektashis). Seeking a 
more integrated presentation of Alevi-Bektashi ritual expressive culture in Bul-
garia, we combined text, audio and video recordings of ritual music and semahs, 
as well as interviews, with panoramic photos of cult sites such as saints’ tombs 
(türbes) and dervish lodges (tekkes), in the region (see Figure 5). In other words, 
we tried to provide in a concise, comprehensive, and graphic way, highlights of 
our knowledge of and respect towards the Alevi-Bektashis.
Initially we utilized the Kuula platform,
27
 generally used for real estate, archi-
tecture, construction sites, museums, etc., trying to adapt it to our needs. Apart 
from its advantages (easy manipulation, possibilities for attaching different types of 
multimedia, etc.), it did not allow for embedding videos and playing VR footage,
28
 
which made the virtual tour run slowly and with hitches. The required monthly 
subscription for the platform needed to support the tours was also an obstacle, 
given the financial limitations of the project. Searching for a new permanent 
decision,
29
 we released only the first virtual tour that was dedicated to the Baba’is.
26 The third group, known as musahips, is generally considered as the most closed subgroup in the 
Eastern Rhodope Mountains, so including them was not possible.
27 https://kuula.co/.
28 Part of our material was shot with a VR camera.
29 The links to the final versions of the virtual tours will be announced on the site of ALOS, alos.
bg. In June 2022 our team released a new virtual tour concerning Alevi-Bektashi ritual music and 
semahs from North-Eastern Bulgaria: alevineb.artstudies.bg .
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   139 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   139 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
140
Before making our project public, we searched out the opinion of the local 
people. The generally supportive feedback was encouraging, but two remarks 
stood out. The first one was made by an Alevi, who questioned the appropriate-
ness of including the ambient sound of a cow mooing, viewing it as a sign of 
profanity and lack of respect towards the sacred nefes genre as it is heard in its 
traditional context. This fear of the debasement of sacred music clearly dem-
onstrates the community’s deep sensitivity towards outsiders’ misconceptions 
of its culture’s true nature. The second comment was made by a Bektashi who 
criticized the terms used for Baba’i and Bektashi musicians (zakir vs. Imam 
Cafer) and of the number of religious duties during rituals of the two sub-
groups (seven for the Baba’is vs. twelve for the Bektashis). He insisted on the 
superior correctness of the Bektashi interpretation of both issues, neglecting 
the ethnographic (and perhaps historic) realities.
30
 This sentiment could be 
read in light of current attempts of the Alevi-Bektashis in Bulgaria to demon-
strate a solid front in order to be accepted as a united community.
The virtual tour was also presented to a Bulgarian audience in May of 2021, 
during the Dzhoben festival – Festival na kratkite formi v izkustvoto (Pocket Fes-
tival – Festival for Short Forms of Art in Sofia). The mostly young public, free of 
ethnic and religious prejudices, reacted with a strong interest towards the unfa-
miliar community and with excitement about gaining access to the profound and 
universal messages of Alevi-Bektashi faith, culture, and traditions. The virtual 
tour proved to be an effective tool for approaching “the unknown other.”
Laying the topic of the Alevi-Bektashi ritual music and semahs aside, I will try 
to give an objective assessment of this innovative audio-visual format, consider-
ing its potential use in applied ethnomusicology. The virtual tour stands between 
ethnographic film and ethnographic exhibition and falls into the category of in-
teractive and immersive documentaries known as i-docs (Vannini 2020, 8). It is 
up to the user to navigate through the tour in a non-linear manner, following his/
her own interests and perceptions. This is certainly one of its advantages. Others 
lie in the possibilities for adding or editing content, thus enriching, or improving 
a presentation over time. On the other hand, constantly changing technologies 
can make the content vulnerable because of the inability to update the materials 
in a timely fashion. A second disadvantage is that presenting data (in the virtual 
tour) instead of telling a story (as the case would be in ethnographic film) does 
not necessarily provoke an emotional response in the audience – which is prefer-
able to just provide information. But, as our experience indicates, a virtual tour 
30 As pointed out above, the Baba’is and Bektashis in Bulgaria are subgroups of a homogenizing 
community which shares common religious views and ritual structure, but still differs in some 
doctrinal and ritual elements which can be observed using an ethnographic approach. Nevena 
Gramatikova states that the differences are a result of historical, geographical, and psychological 
factors (Gramatikova 2011, 230). Given the current state of written and oral sources, such differ-
ences are probably hard to trace.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   140 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   140 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55 28. 07. 2022   12:07:55

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
141
can at least provide media content for the correct audio-visual presentations of 
cultures that are a part of closed communities.
Concluding Remarks 
Alevi-Bektashis in Bulgaria do want to be socially and culturally accepted and 
appreciated, but in their pursuit of this goal they may need to abandon or 
transform the rules of takiye. A basic tool for gaining visibility is the public 
presentation of their nefeses and kinetic forms, semahs that until recently were 
not allowed exposure to the view of outsiders. Extracted from rituals and per-
formed on stage at concerts or at festivals, analyzed in scientific journals, or 
showcased in films or in innovative formats such as virtual tours, the presen-
tations of nefeses and semahs help Alevi-Bektashis in Bulgaria become more 
understood. But as the community is still sensitive to and somewhat suspicious 
of others’ observations and interpretations, its increased visibility can be inter-
preted affirmatively or offensively by its members, depending on the degree 
of understanding and approach of outsider researchers, filmmakers, and other 
cultural agents. For a more positive effect, ethical concerns should be at the 
forefront for outsider culture brokers as they engage in the social mediation of 
representation and exchange of insider knowledge.
References
Birge, John Kingsley. 1937. The Bektashi Order of Dervishes . Hartford, CT: Hartford Semi-
nary Press.
Buechsenschutz, Ulrich. 2000. Maltzinstvenata politika v Balgariya: Politikata na BKP kam 
evrei, romi, pomatzi, turtzi (1944–1989). Sofia: IMIR. [ Minority Politics in Bulgaria: The 
Politics of Bulgarian Communist Party towards Jews, Romani, Pomacs, Turks (1944–1989).] 
[Бюксеншютц, Улрих. 2000. Малцинствената политика в България: Политиката 
на БКП към евреи, роми, помаци, турци (1944–1989). София: МЦИМКВ.]
Dressler, Markus. 2008. “Alevīs.” Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, edited by Kate Fleet et al. 
Accessed June 16, 2022. DOI: 10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_0167.
Georgieva, Ivanichka, ed. 1991. Balgarskite aliani: Sbornik etnografski materiali. Sofia: Universitet-
sko izdatelstvo “Sv. Kliment Ohridski.” [ Bulgarian Aliani: Collection of Ethnographic Materi-
als.] [Георгиева, Иваничка, съст. 1991. Българските алиани: Сборник етнографски 
материали. София: Университетско издателство “Св. Климент Охридски.”]
Gramatikova, Nevena. 2011. Neortodoksalniyat islyam v balgarskite zemi: Minalo i savre-
mennost. Sofia: IK “Gutenberg.” [The Non-Orthodox Islam in Bulgarian Lands: Past 
and Contemporaneity.] [Граматикова, Невена. 2011. Неортодоксалният ислям в 
българските земи: Минало и съвременност. София: ИK “Гутенберг.”]
Gramatikova, Nevena. 2016. “Rolyata na poetichno-muzikalnata traditzia s religiozno-mis -
tichen harakter za sahranyavaneto i izyavata na aleviysko-bektashiyskata kultura v Ludo-
gorieto.” In Iz zhivota na evropeyskite provintzii na Osmanskata imperia prez XV–XIX vek, 
edited by Stefka Parveva and Olga Todorova, 531–591. Sofia: IK “Gutenberg.” [“The Role 
of Poetic-Musical Tradition of Mystic-Religious Nature for the Preservation and Mani-
festation of Alevi-Bektashi Culture in Ludogorie Region.” In From the Life of the European 
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   141 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   141 28. 07. 2022   12:07:56 28. 07. 2022   12:07:56

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
142
Provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the XV–XIX Centuries.] [Граматикова, Невена. 2016. 
“Ролята на поетично-музикалната традиция с религиозно-мистичен характер за 
съхраняването и изявата на алевийско-бекташийската култура в Лудогорието.” В 
Из живота на европейските провинции на Османската империя през XV–XIX век, 
съставители Стефка Първева и Олга Тодорова, 531–591. София: ИK “Гутенберг.”]
“Grupa za Semah – ritual na alianite.” [n. d.]. Chitalishte “Prosveta – 1944.” [“Semah 
Group – Ritual of the Aliani.”] [“Група за Семах – ритуал на алианите.” Читалище 
“Просвета – 1944.”] Accessed April 12, 2022. shorturl.at/iyZ14.
Margaritova, Rumiana. 2010. “Etnokulturnoto mnogoobrazie v muzikalnite proyavi na edin 
religiozen praznik v Iztochnite Rodopi.” In Izkustvo i kontekst 5, edited by Ruslan Stoy-
chev and Marina Koleva, 207–218. Sofia: Institut za izsledvane na izkustvata. [“The 
Ethno-Cultural Diversity in the Music of a Religious Feast in the Eastern Rhodope 
Mountains.” In Art and Context 5.] [Маргаритова, Румяна. 2010. “ Етнокултурното 
многообразие в музикалните прояви на един религиозен празник в Източните 
Родопи.” В Изкуство и контекст 5, съставители Руслан Стойчев и Марина Колева, 
207–218. София: Институт за изследване на изкуствата.]
Margaritova, Rumiana. 2013. “Muzikalno-folklorni praktiki v multietnicheska sreda.” 
PhD diss., Institut za izsledvane na izkustvata – Bulgarska academia na naukite. 
[“Traditional Music Practices in Multi-Ethnic Environment.” PhD diss., Institute 
of Art Studies – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.] [Маргаритова, Румяна. 2013. 
“Музикално-фолклорни практики в мултиетническа среда.” дисертация, Институт 
за изследване на изкуствата – Българска академия на науките.]
Margaritova, Rumiana. 2016. “From Meydan Evi to the Stage: Continuity and Change 
in Meaning and Uses of Ritual Music of the Alevis/Bektashis in the Eastern Rho-
dope Mountains in Bulgaria.” In Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe Myth, Ritual, 
Post-1989, Audiovisual Ethnographies: Proceedings from the Fifth Symposium of the ICTM 
Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe, edited by Ivanka Vlaeva, Liz 
Melish, Lozanka Peycheva, Nick Green, and Ventsislav Dimov, 61–65. Blagoevgrad: 
University Publishing House Neofit Rilski.
Margaritova, Rumiana, and Nevena Gramatikova. 2020. “Insider and Outsider Perspectives 
of Field Research on Alevi-Bektashi Ritual Music in Bulgaria.” In Past, Present and 
Future of Ethnomusicology in the World and Turkey: Book of Symposium Proceedings, edited 
by Özlem Varlı, 131–144. Bursa: Association of Ethnomusicology Publications.
Marinov, Vasil, Zahariy Dimitrov, and Ivan Koev. 1955. “Prinos kam izuchavaneto na bita 
i kulturata na turskoto naselenie v Severoiztochna Bulgaria.” Izvestia na Etnografskia 
institut s muzey, no. 11: 95–216. [“Contribution to the Study of Manners and Culture 
of the Turkish Population in North-Eastern Bulgaria.” Bulletin of the Ethnographic In-
stitute with Museum, no. 11.] [ Маринов, Васил, Захарий Димитров, и Иван Коев. 
1955. “Принос към изучаването на бита и културата на турското население в 
Североизточна България.” Известия на Етнографския институт с музей, кн. 11: 
95–216.]
Marinov, Vasil. 1956. Prinos kam izuchavaneto na bita i kulturata na turtzite i gagauzite v 
Severoiztochna Bulgaria. Sofia: BAN. [Contribution to the Study of Manners and Cul-
ture of Turks and Gagauz in North-Eastern Bulgaria.] [Маринов, Васил. 1956. Принос 
към изучаването на бита и културата на турците и гагаузите в Североизточна 
България. София: БАН.]
Markoff, Irene. 2002. “Alevi Identity and Expressive Culture.” In The Garland Encyclopedia 
of World Music, vol. 6: 793–800. Routledge.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   142 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   142 28. 07. 2022   12:07:56 28. 07. 2022   12:07:56

Rumiana Margaritova: Revealing the Secret Sounds and Movements...
143
Markoff, Irene. 2009. “A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Expressive Culture of Turkish-
Speaking Alevi/Bektashi and Alevi/Babai (Bobai) Communities in the Eastern Rhodope 
Mountains of Southern Bulgaria: In Search of Origins and Parallels with Turkish Alevis/
Bektashis and Tahtacis.” Tu ˘rk Ku ˘ltu ˘ru ˘ ve Hacı Bektaş Veli Araştırma Dergisi 52: 39–51.
Markoff, Irene. 2016. “Veneration of Bektashi and Baba’i Saints in Bulgaria through  Nefesler 
and Local Lore: Demystifying the Intersection of Legends, History, and Mystical Po-
etry.” In Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe Myth, Ritual, Post-1989, Audiovisual 
Ethnographies: Proceedings from the Fifth Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Music 
and Dance in Southeastern Europe, edited by Ivanka Vlaeva, Liz Melish, Lozanka Pey-
cheva, Nick Green, and Ventsislav Dimov, 50–60. Blagoevgrad: University Publishing 
House Neofit Rilski.
Markoff, Irene. 2018. “Reflections on the Construction of Alevi-Bektashi Rituals and Ritu-
al Space in the Transnational Perspective: Performing Spirituality, Navigating Identity.” 
Bulgarian Musicology, no. 3: 23–31.
Mikov, Lyubomir. 1988. “Ritualnoto piene na alcohol pri aleviite v Bulgaria.” Bulgarski 
folklor, no. 3: 28–36. [“Ritual Drinking of Alcohol at the Alevis in Bulgaria.” Bulgar-
ian Folklore, no. 3.] [ Миков, Любомир. 1988. “ Ритуалното пиене на алкохол при 
алевиите в България.” Български фолклор, кн. 3: 28–36.]
Sökefeld, Martin. 2008. Struggling for Recognition: The Alevi Movement in Germany and in 
Transnational Space. New York: Berghahn Books.
Sözer, Hande. 2014. Managing Invisibility: Dissimulation and Identity Maintenance among 
Alevi Bulgarian Turks. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
Trimingham, John Spencer. 1989. The Sufi Orders in Islam . Moskva: Nauka. [ Тримингэм, 
Дж. Спенсер. 1989. Суфийские ордены в исламе. Москва: Наука.]
UNESCO. [n. d.]. “Semah, Alevi-Bektaşi Ritual.” Accessed April 12, 2022. https://ich.
unesco.org/en/RL/semah-alevi-bektai-ritual-00384.
Vannini, Phillip. 2020. “Introduction.” In The Routledge International Handbook of Ethno -
graphic Film and Video, edited by Phillip Vannini. London: Routledge.
Vlaeva, Ivanka. 2008. “Internal Practices of the Muslims in Bulgaria and Their Music.” 
In Music from Turkey in the Diaspora, edited by Ursula Hemetek and Hande Saglam, 
131–138. Wien: Institut für Volksmusikforschung und Ethnomusikologie.
Filmography
Dobreva, Mira. 2016. “Otblizo – Alianite.” [“Up Close – Aliani.”] [“ ОТБЛИЗО – 
Алианите.”] Sofia: Bulgarian National Television. January 24, 2016. YouTube video, 
23:26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amrA1i9WDvA .
Kostadinova, Verginia. “Ru ˘ka na su ˘rtseto.” [“Hand over the Heart.”] [“ Ръка на сърцето.”] 
Bulgarian National Film Center, 1996.
Mishkova, Elena. 2018. “Alianite ot selo Bisertsi.” [“The Aliani from the Village of Bisert-
zi.”] [“Алианите от село Бисерци.”] Sofia: Bulgarian National Television 2. February 
18, 2018. TV Video, 29:27. https://bnt.bg/bg/a/alianite-ot-sbisertsi.
Radulov, Stoyan. 2011. “Mezhdu polumesetsa i kru ˘sta.” [“Between the Crescent and the 
Cross.”] [“Между полумесеца и кръста.”] Sofia: Television Tourism. May 18, 2022. 
YouTube video, 17:27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEvnQkDOtOM .
Simeonov, Tzvetan. 2020. “Siyanieto na Dvanadesette.” [“The Radiance of the Twelve.”] 
[“Сиянието на Дванадесетте.”] Plovdiv: Sim Stone Studio. February 28, 2020. You -
Tube video, 58:01. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrWmKpGMG98 .
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   143 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   143 28. 07. 2022   12:07:56 28. 07. 2022   12:07:56

muzikološki zbornik • musicological annual lviii/1
144
POVZETEK
Razkrivanje skrivnih zvokov in gibov:  
predstavitve zvrsti nefes in semah iz Bolgarije
Živa obredna kultura alevi-bektašev v Bolgariji je stoletja ostajala tajna, kar je omogočilo 
ohranjanje vanjo vtkanih pomenov. Njeni bistveni elementi so pesmi (nefes, ed.), ki jih spremlja 
saz (lutnja), in posebne kinetične oblike (semah, ed.), ki v okviru obredja delujejo kot tradi-
cionalni elementi za prenašanje alevi-bektaškega skrivnega izročila preko besed, dejanj ter 
interakcije med glasbeniki (zakirji / İmam Caferji) in poslušalstvom, preplavljenim s čustvi, 
ki jih sproža ali krepi moč glasbe.
Z željo, da bi presegli stigmo negativnega odnosa do njih in dosegli družbeno in kulturno 
enakopravnost, so alevi-bektaši izbrali pot vidnosti oziroma nadzorovanega dostopanja do 
njihovih religijskih vrednot – med najbolj cenjenimi so religijska uglasbena poezija (nefes) 
in obredne kinetične oblike (semah). Občasno so zapustili omejen krog poslušalstva svojih 
skupnosti in prešli v javne in medijske kontekste, ki so njihovemu delovanju dali dodatno 
dimenzijo, saj so postali orodja alevi-bektaške družbene in kulturne prepoznavnosti ter ozna-
čevalci identitete njihove skupnosti.
Zvrsti nefes in semah, vzeti iz obredja in izvajani na koncertnih ali festivalskih odrih, 
analizirani v znanstveni literaturi ter predstavljeni v filmih ali inovativnih oblikah, kakor je 
virtualni ogled, sta pripomogli k razumevanju in prepoznavanju bolgarskih alevi-bektašev. 
A ker je skupnost še vedno občutljiva in nekoliko nezaupljiva do opazovanj in interpretacij 
drugih, tovrstno pozornost lahko interpretira kot razumevajočo ali žaljivo, odvisno od stop-
nje razumevanja in pristopa zunanjih raziskovalcev, filmskih ustvarjalcev in drugih kulturnih 
agentov. Za bolj pozitiven učinek mora biti etična skrb za zunanje kulturne posrednike ved-
no na prvem mestu, saj sodelujejo pri družbenem posredovanju predstavljanja in izmenjavi 
znanja o kulturi alevi-bektašev.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RUMIANA MARGARITOVA (rumiana_margaritova@yahoo.com) is an Assistant Pro-
fessor at the Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She received her MA 
degree in Musicology from the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov,” Sofia, 
and her PhD in Ethnomusicology from the Institute of Art Studies (Bulgarian Academy 
of Sciences). Her research interests and publications are focused on Turkish traditional 
music in Bulgaria, Alevi-Bektashi ritual music, as well as traditional music in multicultural 
environments.
O AVTORICI
RUMIANA MARGARITOV A (rumiana_margaritova@yahoo.com) je docentka na Inšti-
tutu za umetnostne študije Bolgarske akademije znanosti. Magistrirala je iz muzikologije na 
Nacionalni akademiji za glasbo »Prof. Pancho Vladigerov« v Sofiji, doktorirala pa iz etnomu-
zikologije na Inštitutu za umetnostne študije Bolgarske akademije znanosti. Njeni raziskovalni 
interesi in objave so osredotočeni na turško tradicionalno glasbo v Bolgariji, alevi-bektaško 
obredno glasbo ter tradicionalno glasbo v večkulturnih okoljih.
MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   144 MZ_2022_1_FINAL.indd   144 28. 07. 2022   12:07:56 28. 07. 2022   12:07:56