ABSTRACT
Chalga embraces the tools of music and verbal parody (or self-parody), instead of responding directly to the abusive allegations of 'destroying the national culture' which have been noisily aired in public. Infused with contemporary western-derived pop music techniques, but based predominantly on a variety of different local sources of ethnic music, including those derived from the vernacular musical practices of local Gypsies and Turks. Which are more closely associated with the notion of the 'Orient', the genre could be identified as a local contemporary episode based on two continuums. Balkan urban folklore and contemporary 'world music' discourse. This new music development has become a sign of modern hybridity and a specific form of multiculturalism, similar to many recent popular musical developments that have appeared worldwide. Chalga brought back local sounds to the Bulgarian pop mainstream, which by the end of the 1980s was characterized mostly by western-oriented pop music styles.
