Sexualized girls, macho culture and crude lyrics: developed on the ruins of communism, the “tchalga” musical genre continues to seduce young Bulgarians, a success that worries in a country undermined by violence against women. “Punish me, grab me by the hair, tell me what you want,” intones the star with the stage name Diona, long brown braid and sexy outfit, to heady oriental rhythms. In this stadium in the town of Haskovo, in the south of the country, the public is excited. When the West has rap, “we have Tchalga, here as in Serbia,” says Viktor Panev, a muscular young man like the stars of his favorite music videos, between two dances. “She embodies the Bulgarian soul.” This mix of Balkan and Oriental folk music with pop elements became widespread in the 1990s, appealing to the “nouveau riche”. Her hits feature scantily clad women singing about easy money, sex and gangsters. But far from the stage, 17-year-old girls who came out of curiosity to this free concert talk about the influence of this culture on a daily basis. “We are overwhelmed by Tchalga,” confides Kristiana, preferring to keep her last name silent. She floods the nightclubs and influences high school girls, “who have their lips and breasts redone to look like their idols”. With this mentality, “it’s not surprising to see cases like Deborah’s,” adds her friend Styliana, referring to a recent tragedy that shocked Bulgaria.
Deborah Mihailova, 18, has become the face of domestic violence that often takes place in silence. “Slap, punch in the stomach, he treated me like trash,” she said of her companion in a recent interview on a popular YouTube channel. Until that day at the end of June when he slashed her dozens of times, broke her nose and shaved her hair, according to her account. Initially left at large, this 26-year-old nightclub bouncer – who denies the attack – was arrested this summer under the pressure of scandalized public opinion. After years of indifference, thousands of people took to the streets and the authorities toughened penalties for these types of cases. According to a survey by the Trend Institute published at the end of August, this news item has accelerated society’s awareness. 76% of Bulgarians now believe that “domestic violence is an important problem”, compared to only 50 to 60% previously. And the word seems to be freed: the police recorded nearly 600 cases between January and August 2023, almost as many as for the whole of 2022, the Ministry of the Interior noting “a clear increase in investigations since the Deborah case”. However, there is no official data on the number of feminicides. NGOs report at least 15 cases since the start of 2023 in this country of 6.5 million inhabitants.
Suddenly in the spotlight, Deborah Mihaïlova, a fan of Tchalga, was invited by her favorite singer to try her luck in the industry. But NGOs and experts are concerned about the “prejudices” conveyed by this culture. “Violence and Tchalga form a vicious circle,” says Dilyana Dimitrova, director of a renowned cultural site. “It’s a way of thinking that disdains the weakest, implicitly praising corruption” and demeaning women, she says. If the AFP was not able to interview the celebrities in the industry, the star producer, Payner, rejects all responsibility. “It is not because there are sick minds that we must give up showing feminine beauty,” he reacted. Far from the movement