FROM MOBILITY TO "EXILE". SHIFTING CO-PRESENCE: NARRATIVES OF BULGARIAN-SYRIAN FAMILIES IN BULGARIA.

The article addresses the topic of shifting co-presence of four Bulgarian- Syrian families living in Bulgaria with their Syrian kin. Since the dividing line is the beginning of the conflict in Syria, the body of the text consists of two sections: the first one regards the physical co-presence before and the second one presents the virtual co-presence after. The notion before also refers to the free movements between "here" (Bulgaria) and "there" (Syria), and after encompasses the time of the peculiar "exile" of the mixed families who were deprived of the possibility to travel and to be bodily present. Therefore, the shift is shown by analysing the essence of the face-to-face and from-distance communication within the context of changing lifestyle circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]