Download The Social World of Bulgarian Larp Players

Our Europe. Ethnography – Ethnology – Anthropology of Culture
Vol. 2/2013
p. 195–210
Angelina Ilieva
Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
The Social World of Bulgarian Larp Players
Abstract: This article is an anthropological study of a cultural phenomenon that is new for Bulgaria: roleplaying games in which the actions of characters are enacted live. The article traces the emergence,
spread and evolution of larps, before focusing on the social world of players and its defining characteristic:
larp clans. Players are presented in both their social (larp clubs) and fictional (larp clans) structures. The
analysis focuses on the complex interrelations between clan characters and roles, and (perceived as real)
social roles and identities.
Keywords: live action role-playing games, micro-cultures, imagination
Introduction
A live action role-playing game, or larp1, is a form of role-playing game in which
players act out their characters’ actions in a physical space chosen or set to match the game
world setting as closely as possible. It has usually been included in a system of role-playing
games along with other forms of live (e.g. table-top) and digital games by RPG scholars (see
Hitchens & Drachen 2008; Tresca 2011), but it has also been connected to non-game cultural
phenomena such as historical reenactments, psychodrama, theme parties and festivals, improvisational theatre and experimental art (Tychsen et al. 2006; Morton 2007). Larp is considered to be the most peculiar, radical and even dangerous form of role-playing (Waldron
2005), and at the same time an activity inherent to humans – forming part of the human
experience from “any childhood game involving imagination and a role” to “shamans acting out mythological tales” (Tresca 2011: 181). A potential important feature of larp is its
ability to model various traditional social and cultural practices using the abstract idea of
role-playing and to create distinctive larp subcultures around the world.
Larp developed under the inspiration of table-top fantasy role-playing games, such as
Dungeons and Dragons, and historical reenactments, more or less simultaneously in the
United States and Northern Europe (UK and Scandinavia) during the early 1980s.
“Today, LARPing is a widespread hobby, especially within the United States and Europe, and
caters to at least 100,000 players worldwide. Games range in size from a handful to more than
4,000 players at the annual event of the Lorien Trust LARP organization in England. Exclusively,
the large LARPs with hundreds or more players are set in fantasy/medieval world settings, which
is the historic genre for LARPs.” (Tychsen et al. 2006: 258).
1
I prefer the usage of ‘larp’ as a noun, not as an acronym (L.A.R.P.), as accepted in Nordic larp theory.
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In Eastern Europe, larps began mostly as a consequence of the first translations of J.R.R.
Tolkien’s novels and the subsequent evolution of the Tolkien movement in the post-socialist
countries in the early 1990s. Common features of those formative years of East European
larp cultures appear to be: exclusive use of Tolkien’s Middle-earth as a source of plots and
characters; absolute prevalence of games in the open, outside the cities, in the forests; and
emphasis on medieval or fantasy-like strong dual-sided conflicts and battles (see e.g. Kann
& Rozhkov 2010; Kovacova 2010). Bulgarian larp culture, perhaps among the youngest in
Eastern Europe, is no exception in this respect.
In Bulgaria, larps were introduced by a group of fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, united
into two club cores: the Bulgarian Bard Guild and Armenelos Online Tolkien University. The
first larp took place in August 2004 in the Rhodope Mountains. Initially, all games were set
in the open, in wild places. They had a simple system of rules and a markedly military character: participants would split into two teams (Mordor vs. Gondor); each team would carry
a standard and ten small flags and set up its base camp in the forest; the goal would be to
attack the enemy camp and capture the flags. The rules, written or verbally agreed upon at
the start of the game session, concerned mostly battles: there were rules for scoring hits and
taking damage as well as safety rules.
The phenomenon spread most actively from 2005 to 2007, chiefly via the communication
networks of science fiction and fantasy fan clubs: club meetings and celebrations, websites
and online forums, gaming ‘science fiction and fantasy conventions. At present, there are
groups of active larpers in the largest Bulgarian cities. The major larps, some of which are
called ‘national’, bring together over 100 participants each and last for two or three days. The
increasing number of participants has led to improvements in the role-playing combat rules,
with the introduction of more complicated goals and tasks (‘quests’), spell use rules, healing
rules, rules to concoct and apply potions, and diversification of the characters and concepts
used in describing the setting. Besides larps in the wild, there have emerged also urban or
indoor larps. Fantasy still prevails as the source of choice for setting up game worlds, but
other popular sources are science fiction (such as the series of Stalker larps based on the Strugatsky Brothers’ works, as well as steampunk larps), horror (‘vampire larps’), murder mystery and Western cinema genres, or certain periods from medieval Bulgarian history.
According to the established traditions, Bulgarian larps are entirely based on improvisation and free interaction among players. The initial setting is created by the organizing team
and seldom contains scripted elements: usually, it provides just a broad description and the
background of the game world. Players are free to choose and create their own characters,
in accordance with the description of the setting; the actual evolution of the roles happens
ad lib in the course of the game itself, as part of direct interaction between the participants.
Bulgarian larp culture has two main peculiarities: the prevalent competitive approach
and the emergence of larp clans. Players have come to expect that each larp will provide
them with a goal to pursue, competing against the others. There exists a popular distinction
between combat larps and social larps, which, however, denotes not different approaches, but
different means to accomplish the main goal and to win: either by using mostly combat action or by relying chiefly on social skills. Large larps always involve various trials based on
rivalry: fighting tournaments and demonstrations of martial skills, puzzles and logical challenges, public debates, diplomacy, and poetry contests. This dominant competitive approach
is directly related to the tendency toward team play and to the emergence of long-lasting
alliances of players, also known as clans. The largest, or ‘national’, larps in Bulgaria are usually organized as clan larps, i.e. clan tournaments.
My task here is to present some of the existing Bulgarian larp clans and the principles of
their emergence as micro-cultures, as witnessed and documented during my field work
among larpers from 2008 to 2010. I will describe the typical processes of creation, evolution
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and disintegration of clans and illustrate them by focusing on five of the more than fifteen
clans that existed during the period in question. My choice to focus on the clans of Dulo, the
Armenelos Guards, Uruk, Warriors of the Seven Hills and Heralds of Chaos stems from the
observation made that the principles of their evolution and functioning, despite some specific elements, do not appear to be unique but representative models. Next, I will analyze
the relationships between social identities and roles that are, respectively, fictional or (perceived as) real. In the conclusion, I will examine imagination as a social practice in the contemporary world.
Bulgarian larp players: clubs and clans
A clan is a structure combining social, meta-gaming and fictional aspects; furthermore, the three aspects intersect, which makes their precise separation a difficult, sometimes
impossible task, both for the participants and for an analytical observer. In order to make the
following presentation clearer, I use three distinct terms, with the caveat that the distinction
is entirely a matter of personal perspective. By club, I denote the primary social group with
its characteristic informal relations; by team, I denote a group of participants in a larp united
by a common goal and strategy in the game; by clan, I denote the fictional make-up and
ideology of the group and the relationships between the roles it has chosen.
Clans frequently emerge and take shape between actual game sessions, behind the
scenes, during informal communication among members of various groups. Diachronically,
it is hard to determine which was the cause and which the effect: whether the competitive
gaming approach led to the emergence of larp clans, or whether, conversely, players’ disposition toward grouping into fictional structures resulted in the spirit of ongoing rivalry. At
present, the two are strongly related and determine the overall character of larp games in
Bulgaria. New players view belonging to no clan as a serious problem and acceptance into
a clan as a genuine act of socialization into the community. As a form of organization, clans
have existed since the very beginning of Bulgarian larps, and many people take them for
granted, never questioning the purpose or necessity of their existence.
Players’ ideas of what constitutes a clan are not homogeneous. Some players regard a
clan as a unifying ideology, common views that bring the members together, a characteristic
appearance and conduct, specific in-jokes. For others, a clan is a stable community of dedicated players with a similar worldview, an environment for communication, discussion and
mutual assistance. The former definition emphasizes role-playing ideology, the latter – the
primacy of a social group; they view the clan, respectively, as a mostly representative or a
mostly utilitarian form of connectedness. The two perceptions do not contradict each other,
yet they express two major approaches to creating clans: 1) the initial setup of a role-playing
ideology by one or two players, which eventually attracts and unites a team; or 2) a social
group of friends and like-minded people, who create their own game structure by jointly
choosing and developing an imaginary notion of who they are. Like any interactive game,
clan games take place within the dynamics of ideas, expectations, images and discourses.
Binding to the ethno-historical: Clan Dulo
The term clan as well as the main organizational principles were introduced and
established by the founders of the first Bulgarian clan – Clan Dulo2. It is worth noting that
According to historians, Dulo was the clan name of the first dynasty which ruled over Bulgaria in the 7th
and 8th centuries.
2
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the emergence of Clan Dulo took place at the same time as the evolution of larp games in
Bulgaria. Clan Dulo’s self-definition as a ‘military club’3 and the initial constitution of larp as
a distinctly military game are closely related. The oldest club members came in roughly
equal measure from the Bulgarian Bard Guild, gathering fans of fantasy literature and related rock music, and from Bagatur – a school for martial arts, horsemanship and bushcraft,
professing a specific ‘proto-Bulgarian’ ideology and spirituality. The role-playing ideology
of Clan Dulo combines a fantasy worldview with elements of Bulgarian history and mythology; it borrows typical notions, characters and plots of fantasy and adapts them or simply
translates them into the Bulgarian language, naming them after Bulgarian mythological and
folklore creatures (e.g., elves are called samodivas, orcs – karakondzhuls, etc.) or concepts from
early Bulgarian history (e.g,, magicians are called kolobars, the name for pagan proto-Bulgarian priests).
Clan Dulo is a hierarchical structure organized around the number seven. For their clan
symbol, Dulo chose the seven-beam Rosette from Pliska4, with each beam of the rosette corresponding to an abstract element in the clan ideology and structure: Fire, Water, Wind,
Earth, Light, Darkness and Shadow. The seven elements govern the clan ‘families’, led by
boils. Each boil can be in charge of seven batirs, and each batir can be in charge of seven chigots5. The whole clan is led by the ichirgu-boil, the rosette center, who is annually elected by
the Council of Boils. Applicants for the clan are called oglans (squires) and must prove themselves by passing trials before they can be accepted as full members. Each ‘family’ has specific duties within the clan, in accordance with its element. The warriors of the Fire element
are the clan’s frontal combat force, and in ‘times of peace’, they are responsible for combat
training and manufacture of weapons or other fighting props. Water is seen as ‘an element
of change and boundlessness’; therefore, warriors governed by it are expected to ‘wash
away’ quarrels and enmities, to function as conciliators and arbiters. Warriors of Wind serve
as messengers and heralds, negotiators and traders, as well as chroniclers. Earth warriors
take care of the clan’s well-being, provisions, the camp; they are also healers who help the
wounded in battle. Light warriors are meant to inspire the others and guide them with their
wisdom. Shadow warriors guard the ichirgu-boil and engage in espionage and sabotage.
Darkness warriors hunt demonic creatures.
In order to be accepted as a full member of the clan, each squire must ‘perform a feat and
pass trials worthy of recognition’. Acceptance in the clan according to one’s merits reinforces
personal motivation and loyalty among group members; at the same time, it presents belonging to the clan as a desirable goal for all larp players, which can, however, be attained
only by the few elect. Some of Clan Dulo’s members have an extensive playing experience.
Before being accepted, newcomers ‘must be continuously tested, provoked and rejected so
as to ascertain how dedicated and steadfast they are’. In addition, they are carefully selected
from new players who have demonstrated notable skills or potential. The traits that Clan
Dulo values highly correspond to the personal qualities that most larpers regard as positive:
a dedicated attitude to the game, warrior skills, a competitive spirit and aspiration for victory. The emergence and evolution of the clan in parallel with the evolution of the game itself have fostered a state of interdependence: the playing style, the main principles and rules
as well as the most desirable qualities of a player were set up by the founders of Clan Dulo;
simultaneously, the evolution of the clan as a team and as a role-playing conduct style has
All the phrases in quotation marks have been cited from Clan Dulo’s website: http://clan-dulo.blogspot.
com/ (last accеssed 28.03.2013).
4
A bronze artifact discovered in the old capital of Bulgaria Pliska in 1961 and dated back to the 7th-9th century.
5
All of these terms belong to proto-Bulgarian military and state nomenclature.
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Photo 1. The Council of Clan Dulo, 31 August 2010. Courtesy of Petya Spasova
incorporated the specifics of the game. Coupled with the unique fictional make-up of the
group, Clan Dulo has gained a reputation of being the best, those who always win in a contest. This image of winners derives to a large extent from a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’, from
refusing to accept any loss, because it cannot be reconciled with the clan’s (emphatically
military, romantic, glorifying) ideology and rhetorics. Out of a total of five clan larps that
took place between August 2008 and August 2010, the team of Clan Dulo formally won only
one, yet they left all of them as winners, owing to alliances, skillfully managed conflicts,
agreements or even the general impression of the public about their performance. The manifest, frequently proclaimed desire of newer clans to prove themselves in a direct clash and
victory against Clan Dulo has nourished the club’s cohesion and motivation while continuously reinforcing their image as the best group player.
Binding to a fictional universe: the Armenelos Guards and Clan Uruk
The Armenelos Guards and Uruk are larp clans founded by groups of fans of
J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, brought together by Armenelos Online Tolkien University, which
was active from 2005 to 2008. The conflict between ‘good’ and ‘evil’, and their champions in
Tolkien’s oeuvre, were reenacted in the early larps organized by enthusiasts from the virtual
university; this directly influenced the participants’ choice of characters: they belonged to
either the ‘good’ or ‘evil’ races of Tolkien’s. The choice of a character and a side in the conflict
led to the creation of larp teams and, later on, to the development of their stable fictional
image, that is, to the establishment of clans which were aligned unambiguously in conformity with Tolkien’s world: the clan of the ‘good’ Numenoreans (the Armenelos Guards), and
the clan of the ‘evil’ orcs (Clan Uruk).
The official announcement of the Armenelos Guards took place in the beginning of
2006, when the group appeared in uniforms and in a military formation at the grand opening of the Armenelos academic year. A prerequisite for joining the Guards was being a stu-
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dent of Armenelos University; the Guards were envisioned as a substructure of the university, and the value they upheld the most was knowledge. Their members were unified by their
shared role-playing identification with the positive characters in Tolkien and a shared ethical code, as well as by the mission of Armenelos University, the unique fan initiative for
studying and promoting Tolkien and his works.
The establishment and maintenance of the positive image of the Guards was not merely
a choice but a mission in itself: according to their charter, the Guards were to serve educational, promotional and representative functions. These ambitious goals laid the groundwork for the development of complex inter-personal relationships and procedures, which
eventually turned out to be too burdensome for the fragile structure of an informal group.
Unlike Clan Dulo, the Guards were a democratic alliance of equal guardsmen led by a captain. All decisions concerning the Guards’ development and actions were taken by the general assembly after debates and voting; it was only during larps that the Captain had the
right to take one-person decisions about her or his team. During larps, Guardsmen wore
uniforms, with their coat of arms embroidered on them. This consisted of four images representing the fictional ideology of the group: the White Tree of Gondor, the symbol of the
royal power on the island of Numenor; an eagle’s head, the symbol of the power of Valar, the
supreme deities in Middle-earth, and a statement that Guardsmen were descendants of
those Numenoreans who remained loyal to the Valar after the sinking of Numenor; two
crossed arrows, the symbol of a warrior; and a ship, the symbol of Armenelos University.
The role-playing identification with Tolkien’s characters showed both in the semiotic structure of the coat of arms and in the players’ conduct during larp sessions: participants strove
to maintain their image of positive characters by serving all that was ‘pure, light and sacred’,
protecting good, justice and honour.
After Armenelos University stopped functioning, some members of the Guards left, and
in 2009 the Armenelos Guards announced their disbandment as a clan. They were suc-
Photo 2. Members of the Armenelos Guards, 18 October 2008. Photo by Angelina Ilieva
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ceeded by the Order of the Eight, an alliance of those Guardsmen who were determined to
keep and uphold its mission and ideals to the very end. However, the succession took place
mostly at the club level: the group has been actively organized larps, several times a year,
contributing its own efforts and funds, but has rarely participated in them as a team and
even more rarely proclaimed a clan ideology. The principle of organization has thus
changed radically, from the unifying focus of ideology to the social bonds of a circle of
friends. The weakening of the clan connectedness and the shift toward a club community
have dramatically transformed the group’s behaviour from pursuing goals in the game to
preserving and developing the game itself. For ex-Guardsmen, fostering larps has become a
cause in itself.
Common ideas and the upholding of particular principles or convictions do not suffice
per se to provide strong inter-personal bonds in an informal group such as a larp club. Such
bonds require establishment of amicable relationships in a natural everyday environment
– and that is the leading principle of another clan of Tolkien’s fans, Clan Uruk. The clan is
named after the word Tolkien’s orcs use to denominate themselves: ‘uruk’ translates as ‘orc’
in the Black Speech used by evil creatures in Middle-earth. Clan members name their characters by borrowing from the Black Speech (for instance Gash, ‘fire’) or from characters in
The Lord of the Rings (e.g. Shagrath, Gorbag, Ugluk). Players deliberately make their appearance ugly, deformed, terrifying. However, their likeness as Tolkien’s creatures ends here.
During larps, Uruk members talk and behave in an emphatically provocative manner, aiming to evoke mostly laughter.
Clan Uruk’s aggression during a larp session is that of jokes and ridicule, invariably involving self-irony. The ‘depravity’ demonstrated by the group consists of constantly defying
accepted norms of conduct, using obscenities, parodying genre clichés. Their image is constructed through open proclamation of immorality and foolishness, or negatively, through
rejection of virtues:
Photo 3. Members of Clan Uruk holding the clan standard, 9 August 2009. Courtesy of Nikola Balimezov
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“You are a skillful, famed fighter, having waded through a string of victorious battles?
You are deeply aware of the meaning of honour and dignity, your word is law, and your leadership undeniable?
You can fence, play a musical instrument and recite poetry, all at the same time?
You are ambitious and demand that others treat you with the respect you deserve?
Well, SCREW YOU. We want orcs!”6
Clan Uruk’s game conduct distinguishes clearly between permissible and impermissible
provocations. Crude jokes, inane talking or behaviour and sexual innuendo are permissible
as long as they are part of the chosen roles. However, breaking the larp rules is impermissible, as players believe that it would compromise and threaten the most valued aspect of
the game: entertainment. In the context of romanticism and heroics, characteristic of fantasy,
the choice to assume the role of the hideous, evil and ignorant character presupposes a
higher level of self-reflection and the ability to make fun, not only of others, but also of oneself. Being good and being evil are equally acceptable roles in a larp; the choice between
them is ethically neutral. What matters is personal choice, individual disposition and preference. Uruk’s role-playing ideology and rhetoric constitutes a carnival reversal of the values
and notions of ‘high’ fantasy literature; its motivation is best summed up by the popular
larp saying, ‘Good is goods!’. Within the framework of the black-and-white opposition between good and evil, which characterizes much of fantasy, evil turns out to be the champion
of the ideology espousing rebellion against the established rule.
Binding to the local: The Kingdom of Seven Hills
The Kingdom of Seven Hills is a fictional world that brings into a common imagined space players who live chiefly in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, known as the City of
Seven Hills. The kingdom is made of three separate larp clans: Warriors of the Seven Hills,
Heralds of Chaos, and The Dark Guards. It expresses its members’ sense of local identity:
they have chosen to declare themselves a ‘kingdom’, which implies their connection to a
particular territory, having their own space.
The club was established with the active involvement of a member of the local Tolkien
movement, Biology teacher Petar Gyudzhenov, who was appointed the clan leader, wearing
the title of ‘King Beren Erchamion’. The group, initially consisting mostly of high school
students of P. Gyudzhenov, quickly grew and had its first team participation in the Spring
2008 national larp, calling itself Warriors of the Seven Hills. The initial attempt to organize
the clan members into various brigades according to military rules, depending on the weapons of choice, with each brigade commanded by a captain, soon gave way to a tendency to
form subgroups based on the participants’ preferred fictional roles and game strategies.
There emerged individual clans and factions with their own independent, and sometimes
competing, teams. The first such clan, Heralds of Chaos, gathered players whose common
ideology rejected hierarchy and who chose their characters to be ‘free citizens and craftsmen’, counting on cunning and ingenuity for the achievement of their purposes. The Dark
Guards are a strike force of assassins, ‘dark elves’, relying on surprising and swift combat
action. Besides the above clans, a few more subgroups have been created among the Warriors of the Seven Hills, inspired by their leader Petar Gyudzhenov. Their purpose is to diversify and enrich the role-playing conduct during a larp session. What brings all of them together is their imagined connection to a common territory denoted as the Kingdom of Seven
Hills. Since these clans are younger, their desire for individuality and differentiation from
Cited from the website of Bulgarian Larp Players: http://larp-bg.org/forum/index.php?topic=2066.0/ last
accеssed 28 March 2013.
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Photo 4. Group photo of Heralds of Chaos, 1 August 2010. Courtesy of Radoslav Radev
already existing clans is particularly strong; they reject the idea of order, of hierarchic structure and of following common models. Their leading trend is the right of free choice and of
expressing one’s own will.
This trend has crystallized into a clan ideology for the Heralds of Chaos. The philosophy of ‘chaos’ is that of anarchism, founded upon the ‘belief that freedom is the sublime
human value’. Freedom is regarded as both a right and a duty, and anarchy as an environment where individual abilities and personal potential can thrive best (‘Chaos is the sea
where the skilfully steered ships of individualities can reach the farthest horizons, owing to
their boldness but also to mutual respect and help’7). Heralds’ role-playing conduct is ideologically subjected to the notions of freedom, right of choice and mutual respect, and their
game strategy leans toward social interaction, intrigues and machination. The philosophy of
anarchism has attracted mainly the older Plovdiv larpers, uniting them into the Heralds of
Chaos clan. The others—‘the king and his warriors’—interact among themselves mostly according to their social roles and statuses.
The considerable age difference and the existing social relations—a teacher and his students—have been transferred both to the fictional worlds of larps in Plovdiv and to the
system of clan characters and roles in the Kingdom of Seven Hills. They involve entrusting
the leader with role-playing as well as organizational duties, seeking his approval and counsel, placing him in the center of both the fictional and the real world—which effectively
amounts to reenacting the work environment characteristic of his profession. In ‘translating’
the social roles into clan ones, formal relations transform into informal ones, yet they retain
status distance: the ‘king’ is surrounded by ‘children and grandchildren’, ‘princes and prin-
Cited from the website of Heralds of Chaos: http://www.chaosbg.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2/ last
accеssed 28 March 2013.
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Photo 5. The sovereign of the Kingdom of the Seven Hills dubs a knight, 20 September 2008. Courtesy of Asen
Iiliev
cesses’, ‘counts and lords’. The model of distributing clan roles according to age and social
status has solidified and has been accepted as ‘natural’. The trend is for clan aristocratic titles
to be ‘conferred’ on older and more experienced members, committing them, however, to
mostly club responsibilities, and new members of the group often assume the roles of sons
or daughters of already existing ‘counts’ and ‘lords’.
Identities and roles
According to theorists of social constructionism, both identities and roles are socially
determined, imagined and dynamic. Stuart Hall claims that identities are constituted within, not outside, representation, that they are constructed within, not outside, discourse, and
through, not outside, difference.
“They arise from the narrativization of the self, but the necessarily fictional nature of this process
in no way undermines its discursive, material or political effectivity, even if the belongingness,
the ‘suturing into the story’ through which identities arise is, partly, in the imaginary (as well as
the symbolic) and therefore, always, partly constructed in fantasy, or at least within a fantasmatic
field” (Hall 1996: 4).
The dynamic aspect of identity concerns its presentation, not so much as being, but as an
uninterrupted process of becoming: an identification that takes place and changes its content
all the time. Role itself, having originally emerged as a dramaturgic term (drama, Hellenic:
‘action’), inherently contains the idea of dynamics, of conduct and interactions. In his seminal
work The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956), Erving Goffman defines social role as the
enactment of rights and duties attached to a given status in front of an audience of observers
or co-participants. He also defines the ‘performance’ of a role as ‘all the activity of a given
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participant on a given occasion which serves to influence in any way any of the other participants’ (p. 8). At the same time, identity is experienced as totality; it is a sense of selfsameness and continuity in time, provided by the group’s background or the individual’s
personal memories (as per Erikson 1968). Roles, on the other hand, are often perceived as
something external and transient; we take on a role, switch between various roles, like skins
that an actor can put on and then cast away: “A role, then, may be defined as a typified response to typified expectations. […] The individual actors, therefore, need but slip into the
roles already assigned to them before the curtain goes up” (Berger 1963: 112). Identity
means constituting oneself in a process of identification and differentiation with respect to
others; whereas roles determine our relations with others. Every role in society has a certain identity attached to it:
“The person is perceived as a repertoire of roles, each one properly equipped with a certain identity. The range of an individual person can be measured by the number of roles he is capable of
playing. The person’s biography now appears to us as an uninterrupted sequence of stage performances, played to different audiences, sometimes involving drastic changes of costume, always demanding that the actor be what he is playing” (ibid.: 123).
At the abstract level of theory, it seems easy to distinguish the fictional identities and
roles chosen or invented by players and performed during a larp, from the social identities
and roles assumed by them, or attributed to them, in everyday life. The task appears simple
if we choose to trust common sense and explanations provided by the players themselves:
in the former case, we put on a show, we pretend, and all of this is make-believe; in the latter,
we are ourselves. Bulgarian larpers insist that in-game and off-game events, roles and relations should not get mixed. However, to what extent is such a division genuine, and
how much of it is only a defensive rhetoric? The following analysis aims to answer this
question.
The transfer of concepts from dramaturgy and classical theater to role-playing games
poses the risk of numerous misunderstandings, including the idea that a character precedes
a role, both logically and chronologically, i.e. that a role is originally a text and only then its
‘reading’8. In Bulgarian larps, players usually create their character and role simultaneously,
and the ad lib development of the two is much more socially determined than stemming
from a preliminary text or intent. The logic here is the opposite of theatre: a character-text
comes after a role-performance; it becomes complete only during the narrative (re)construction
of the action, which usually takes place after the end of the larp session. During the game
itself, the role is simultaneously ‘written’ and ‘read’ within the tension of two interrelated
but opposing tendencies: players become what they play and play what they are. The former
tendency is fictional in nature, insofar as it seeks to create the illusion of transforming oneself
into another; the latter aims to destroy this illusion and keep the performance within the field
of social interactions, with their norms and sanctions. Together, the two determine the role,
with the former shaping its fictional, or clan, aspects, and the latter shaping its social, or club,
aspects.
Given the tension defining clan roles, neither individual nor group identities can be positioned entirely within one field; they are simultaneously fictional and socially attributed,
they constitute dynamics between what the person or group imagine themselves to be and what
they are. Interestingly, this is a conscious process of deliberately sought-for and chosen identifications. Constructing a group (clan) identity is perceived as a game and therefore as free:
The etymology of ‘role’ takes us back to ancient Greek and Roman theatre, where the word signified the
roll of parchment on which an actor’s part was written (see Pavis 1998).
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a free choice within the field of imagination. Besides freedom, however, a game presupposes rules, and the regulating mechanism here are systems of inter-group and intra-group
control, of actions of social recognition. Perceiving clan identities as a game element does not
deprive them of their potential for totalization, nor does it decrease their ability to consolidate or motivate confrontation. Clan game is not about playing with identities; it is a play of
identities.
Identity is ‘a culture privatized by a person or group’, a proclaimed ‘ownership over a
certain set of cultural qualities’ (Dichev 2002). In this particular instance, the main source are
popular texts, whose borrowing, rearranging and interpreting follows specific narrative, pictorial and symbolic strategies for constructing identities. The starting point, basis and framework of this construction is the personal or group clan name.
A name does not merely signify: it creates the essence; neither clans, nor clan characters
can exist without a name, because they are the name. Each new clan first announces its name
and offers it for public sanction: whether the other players will welcome it or contest it. The
‘clan history’, which is written and published online, aims to interpret and legitimize the
clan name. Once chosen, the name sets the direction and content of all subsequent choices
of cultural qualities; it becomes a meta-linguistic dominant. For instance, choosing the name
‘Dulo’, so as to signify what is ours (e.g. the Bulgarian ethnic history and mythology) and
distinguish it from what is alien (the fantasy genre), entails the (alleged) proto-Bulgarian
state and military terminology, which serves as a metalanguage: boils, batirs and chigots denote not merely ranks, but the Clan Dulo ranks. Choosing proto-Bulgarian names appearing
in historical texts as the names of clan characters (Bayan, Kosara, Malamir) designates players as members of Clan Dulo. The narrative strategy for constructing the group deliberately
mimics the stylistic features of historical novels (the ‘annals’ of Clan Dulo are a conscious
imitation of the Bulgarian writer Anton Donchev); while the pictorial strategy, the choice of
outfits, hairstyles, objects and organization of the clan role-playing space, draws from the
images and sets of historical cinema.
The clan name also determines the reception of the group by other larp groups, becoming a generalizing stereotype: Clan Uruk are ‘the orcs’; Warriors of the Seven Hills are ‘the
Plovdiv folks’, Clan Bdin9 are ‘the Vidin folks’; the Pack Clan are always called ‘the mercenaries’, even though they always participate as a separate team in larps. A character’s personal clan name is subjected to the metalanguage established by the group name and is invariably sanctioned by acceptance or rejection. After leaving one clan and joining another,
the player whose character is known as ‘Lieutenant Helen’ in the Armenelos Guards may be
accepted by the Heralds of Chaos as ‘Herald Helen’, and the change of clan may lead only
to a change of role; in this case, the new and the old role can be combined into a common
biography, i.e. into the structure of a single identity. However, ‘Baradj the Mage’ must transform into ‘Savrog the Kolobar’ before he can join Clan Dulo: by changing his clan, the player
also changes the name of his character, and changing the name entails changing the
identity.
Once established, clan identities cannot survive without being reinforced by gestures of
recognition, which leads to the accumulation of differentiating qualities, i.e. totalization processes. When participating in a clan larp, a clan chooses its banner and coat of arms (construction through symbols); states goals and aspirations, names ‘friends’ and ‘foes’, motivates its
participation in the game (construction through narrative); devises a characteristic appearance – uniforms or common props, sets (tents and a camp), common physical features (e.g.
teeth and masks, black mascara for the ‘orcs’ of Clan Uruk or pointy ears for the ‘elves’ of
9
Bdin was the medieval name of the Bulgarian town of Vidin.
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Clan Noldor) (construction through images). Symbols and images always take precedence
for the ease with which they can be borrowed and their ability to code identifications: to
show rather than tell.
The identity portrayed by images or signified by symbols is in most cases perceived as
complete and sufficient. Figures of identity are meant, first and foremost, for the others; they
are the facade of the construct, a display. Narrative strategies are employed when there is an
external pressure, when an identity has been challenged and must be fixed in history, ‘pieced
together with a story’. Then the clan needs to imagine itself in time. The narrative, the ‘clan
history’, is deemed significant mostly by its authors; it is a tool of self-legitimization. Paradoxically, an intentionally invented history of a deliberately imagined community cannot serve
its functions if it is entirely fictional: the ‘annals’ of all clans are always bound to real events
from larp sessions; they are allowed to be a free ‘literary’ interpretation of these events, but
can never be a ‘cock-and-bull story’, because the group requires its collective memory. Clan
annals cannot be pure fiction: they must relate to events that the group has experienced together, contain at least a speck of ‘real truth’, in order to serve their purpose of bonding real
(social) personalities.
So far we have examined clan identities mostly as a static construct. To reveal the dynamic aspect, i.e. to see identity as becoming, we have to see how roles create identities. The
choices of identity and role are parallel, insofar as ‘I want to be like’ presupposes ‘I want to
act like’ (as per Dichev 2002). In Clan Uruk, for instance, the choice of ‘race’ determines both
a specific appearance and a characteristic behaviour. The choice of sobriquets (e.g, Natan the
Lion, Shegor the Bull, Bayan the Bear – in Clan Dulo) is an attempt at predicative expression
of personal traits related to a particular type of conduct. The performance of a role, however,
being entirely impromptu, is governed not by a preliminary text (a dramaturgic character),
but by the dynamics of social interaction. The resulting conduct, imposed by the social definition of a concrete situation, may correspond to, but also contradict, the selected fictional
model. Roles are the dynamics between the mimicked behavioral model chosen by a larper
and the socially imposed model in a concrete interaction.
One typical situation in clan larps is that of competitive group confrontation, implying
an overt conflict, or a ‘combat situation’, where the universal role is that of ‘warriors’. The
‘Dulo member’ and ‘Seven Hills member’ identities are both constructed through the imaginary roles of ‘warriors’, but are effectively almost oppositely modified by their attributed
social roles: the former belong to the oldest generation of larpers, those who have been inventing and enforcing the game rules, which provides them with the identity of ‘founders,
the best’; the latter take on the role of followers, who have to learn already established rules
and so are ‘the young ones, the pupils who make mistakes’. The former have the right to
adopt roles and identities and also the right to attribute them to the latter. The latter have to
pass procedures of socialization and to ‘gain recognition’. However, recognition has to be
gained as a clan, i.e. through the conduct models of the chosen fictional roles: ‘Seven Hills
members’ have to act convincingly as ‘warriors’ during a clan larp. A successful performance would change the social identity of their group toward ‘grown-up, more experienced’
and toward the social role of peers capable of victory, and therefore of renegotiating the
game rules.
The identity of Heralds of Chaos has emerged from their rejection of the subordinate
‘pupil’ social role of ‘Seven Hills folks’ and from constituting themselves as the Other to the
fictional roles of ‘warriors’: assuming the roles of predominantly ‘civilian’ citizens and craftsmen (blacksmiths, innkeepers, healers, etc.). This rejection, however, is not merely a choice;
it has been acted out as a rebellion against the established order, as a form of upholding the
ideals of free egalitarianism and anarchism. In social relations, the Heralds take on the role
of Clan Dulo’s opposition, turning ‘the Dulo folks’ into the basis of a negatively constructed
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identity. Constant confrontation between the two groups is, effectively, ongoing struggle for
recognition. The conflict has taken place at the levels of both social and fictional roles, as
follows:
Adhering to their own, i.e. Other, larp conduct models based on avoiding overt confrontation, ingenuity and social skills, the Heralds managed to beat Clan Dulo in a series of clan
larps in 2010. Their victory transformed their social identity from ‘still socializing’ into ‘already socialized and equal’; the recognition of this identity by Clan Dulo led to the beginning of ‘diplomatic negotiations’ in August 2010, some taking place during the actual larp
session, and some behind the scenes. As a result, the Heralds recognized Dulo’s claim to
supremacy, that is, their identity as ‘the first and the best’. Convincingly played fictional roles
transform social identities, and social roles determine what fictional identities will be recognized.
This applies to both group and personal clan identities and roles, with the caveat that the
latter have more nuances (and therefore fuzzier boundaries) due to the greater number or
inter-personal relationships. For instance, the social role of a teacher is what assigns to P.
Gyudzhenov the fictional role of ‘good King Beren’; it not only establishes his position as a
leader, but also predetermines the necessity for his fictional character to behave in a ‘caring’
liberal way. His social identity as a ‘Tolkien buff’ obliges him to assume the role of a ‘friend
and ally’ of the Armenelos Guards. His fictional role of a sovereign obliges all Warriors to
behave as friends and allies of the Guards, which creates tension within the group as it contradicts the deep-rooted social opposition between people from Sofia and people from
Plovdiv.
Both social and fictional roles and identities are assumed or attributed, maintained and
transformed inside the social subworld of larpers, where playing and imagining are a social practice. Attempts to divide it into an in-game and an off-game world, as two separate,
independent social spaces whose inside interactions do not affect the other space, remain a
purely rhetorical gesture, because role-playing and non-role-playing social worlds are defined not by the physical costumes and sets, but by the social actors taking part in the
interaction.
Conclusion
In Modernity at Large (1996), Arjun Appadurai announces “something critical and new in
global cultural processes: the imagination as a social practice” (p. 31, original emphasis). This
study has attempted to examine imagination as an organized field of social activity from the
opposite point of view: through its manifestations and functions in local micro-cultures. To
the relatively small community of Bulgarian larpers, imagination as a social practice is a
justification for the community’s existence: larps are a hobby based on imagination, creativity and artistic interaction.
Clan identities and roles are fictional and entirely dependent on a concrete situation: they
are manifested only within the social subworld of larp players. Yet, within this world, they
are real because they have been created and experienced collectively, because they are governed by social processes much like the processes of everyday life. They exist as alternative,
or rather supplementary, social identities and roles of the larpers; they get bound to the players
and mutually shape one another: just as actual social identities and roles supplement and
shape one another in our daily life. What distinguishes them is that identities and roles typical of the contemporary world, such as ‘student’, ‘teacher’, ‘accountant’ or ‘father of two’,
supplement and interact there with ones that no longer exist, such as ‘chigot’ or ‘kolobar’, or
that have never existed, such as ‘orc’ or ‘Numenorean’. It may sound excessive, yet I am
tempted to claim that identities of this kind have become available in our present reality.
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Mentioning our present reality also tempts me to wonder about the degree to which
(post)modernity and its characteristic social structures and relationships are still a norm, or
a matter of choice. Those who prefer to spend at least part of their time in a feudal system of
interactions, or another entirely fictional social model, seem to have no difficulty in creating
it and experiencing it as real. At the very end of their graphic guide Introducing Postmodernism (2005), Richard Appignanesi and Chris Garratt conjecture that the postmodern will be
succeeded by a new Romanticism. If they are correct, then perhaps the new knights, ladies
and their social worlds, “luxurious in imagination and filled with mysterious delights” (Fine
1983: 72), are already here.
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Biographical note: Dr Angelina Ilieva is a Senior Assistant Professor and researcher at
the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
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