The Reterritorialization of Culture in the New Central Asian States
A Report from Uzbekistan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4000685 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Theodore Levin (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Pages | 51 |
| Publication date | 1993-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Yearbook for Traditional Music (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0740-1558 • E-ISSN: 2304-3857 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/768683 |
| OpenAlex | W2314853233 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 2 |
Reterritorialization in Central Asia Since the last third of the nineteenth century, major reterritorialization' has occurred in Central Asia, including both the geographical reformulation of political territories and the socially constructed reformulation of cultural territories. The central facts are well known: between 1865 and 1920, all of Central Asia north of the Amu Darya became part of the Russian, and subsequently, the Soviet, colonial empire. Under Soviet rule, Central Asia was divided into political territories whose boundaries did not accurately reflect the cultural boundaries of the populations that lived there. The Central Asian republics remained geo-politically stable from 1929, when Tajikistan was recognized as a full-fledged Soviet republic, until 1991, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist and the five Central Asian republics-Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenia, Kirghizia, and Kazakhstan-were thrust, some of them rather unwillingly, into a new life as independent states. Following Independence, each of the former republics faced the challenge of formulating its own foreign policy, devising its own constitution, and defining its own social priorities. Each has had to reassess the conception of national identity that evolved during seventy years of Communist rule and articulate the principles under which it is presently striving to move forward as a national culture. In other words, each has had to reimagine its own cultural identity, historically, in the present moment, and for the future. Having just returned from a three-month stay in Uzbekistan, I shall focus my comments on what is transpiring in that nation.2 Of all the former Soviet Central Asian republics, Uzbekistan has arguably been the scene of the most active confrontation between pre-Soviet cultural traditions and Soviet cultural influences. For example, within Uzbekistan's borders lies the greatest center of Central Asian Islam: Bukhara, known at various times in its history (as any inhabitant of the city will tell you) as Qubbat ul-Islam (Cupola of Islam) and Bukhara-e Sharif (Noble Bukhara). During the Communist years, however, Bukhara's mosques, medressehs, and palaces were boarded up or turned into museums of atheism, while Uzbekistan became the showplace of the Soviet East, proudly displayed to Moscow's allies and client states as an example of Marxiststyle Third World development. The competition of old and new cultural values that was played out in Uzbekistan during the years of Soviet rule has by no means been resolved
Ancient history · Central asia · Communism · Constitution · Economic history · Empire · Ethnology · Geography · National identity · Political science · Politics · Cuban History and Society · History · Law · Soviet and Russian History
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2019 (24) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |