Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality.
Log in
- Convenors:
-
R. Charles Weller
(Washington State University)
Flora Roberts (Leiden University University of Tubingen)
Send message to Convenors
- Theme:
- HIS
- Location:
- Posvar 3800
- Start time:
- 26 October, 2018 at
Time zone: America/New_York
- Session slots:
- 1
Long Abstract:
This panel will bring together a range of perspectives and sources on the history of Kazakhstan across the twentieth century in order to examine how national historical narratives are written and re-written. It will include analysis of newly discovered documents from archives both within Kazakhstan and outside the country, as well as interviews and published sources. Maria Blackwood's paper examines the relocation of Kazakhstan's capital from Orenburg to Kzyl Orda to Alma-Ata between 1920 and 1929 in order to illuminate the Soviet Union as a state that was explicitly anti-colonial and anti-imperial in its rhetoric but nevertheless replicated patterns associated with European imperialism. Comparing the decision-making processes and the narratives surrounding the Soviet-era capital relocations to those of the post-independence relocation of the capital to Astana, she explores the nation-building function of capital cities. Gulnara Mendikulova's paper is part of her broader research on Kazakh participation in World War II, a project that is adding a new dimension to Kazakhstani historiography by incorporating a global perspective. Based on research conducted in European archives, she considers both those who fought for the Axis powers and those who fought against them, adding new depth to our understanding of Central Asians' involvement in the war and to Kazakhstan's national historical narrative. Gulnara Dadabayeva's paper looks at the "boom" of interest in national histories in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and '70s, examining in particular the Rus and Koshpendiler trilogies as a means of exploring how the Soviet historical genre "shaped" the trajectories of the future Post-Soviet states. Zhanat Kudakbayeva's paper analyzes published historiography, incorporating interviews with historians, in order to examine how the Soviet period has been mediated in post-Soviet professional historical literature in Kazakhstan. By looking at individual scholars and their works, she demonstrates the role of human agency in the creation and articulation of the nation in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. Taken together, these papers will shed new light on Soviet and post-Soviet historical narratives and their role in national discourse across the twentieth century and into the present day.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Gulnara Mendikulova (Satbayev University)
Paper long abstract:
In my paper I examine an understudied aspect of Kazakh participation in World War II, focusing on those Kazakhs who fought with Nazi and buried in France and Belgium.
As you know a few years I try conduct complex and comparative-analytical research on the theme on participation of the Kazakhs (Soviet prisoners of war) to Resistance Movements during the Second World War.
One of the most important successes in conducting research on this issue, for the first time discovered documents on Kazakh participation to the Resistance movement in the Southern France in French archives. In 2016 in the CESS conference in Princeton I told about these findings in French archives which were the evidences of Kazakh participation to the resistance movement on the southern part of France.
Now I found new documents and photos concerning to Kazakhs in the WWII, the author found in different parts of France and Belgium, such as near Gent, Brussels, Strasbourg, Metz, Biarritz and others.
I would like to present these new achievements as a chief of International research project "Kazakhs in the WWII: New Documents from Foreign Archives", which is financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This project will represent a significant contribution to understandings of the international dimensions of Kazakh participation in World War II.
Aliya Akatayeva (Satbayev University)
Paper long abstract:
A recreation the real picture how Kazakhs former POW of the Reich, had escaped from concentration, labor camps and heroically fought fascism in the Resistance movement, partisan fighting groups in different countries during the WWII, on the base of the foreign archival documents and memoirs is offered for the first time.
The Soviet and Kazakh historiography used only materials of Kazakh and Russian archives. Foreign documents were not involved in the scientific circle. More intensive study of participation of Kazakh soldiers in the WWII began within the Independence, and characterized by the G.M. Mendikulova, B.G. Ayagan, B.I. Sadykova, A. Kara, A. Kaken, S. Bekenov, other researches.
In 2014-2016 within the program "People in the stream of history», Dr. K. Aldazhumanov conducted research "Kazakhstan within the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. 1941-1945" and mentioned the problem of Kazakh POW. Study was based on documents from the State Archive of the Russian Federation.
The paper will cover the importance of the research of Kazakh participation in the WWII and how it affects the contemporary political and economic aspects of the nation building process in Kazakhstan.
Zhanat Kundakbayeva (al-Farabi Kazakh National University)
Paper long abstract:
This paper through analysis of secondary source literature, interviews conducted from scholars and university professors, chapters of widely used history textbooks, history curricula explores how do the Soviet period has been mediated in post-soviet professional historical literature in Kazakhstan. By looking at individual intellectuals/historians and their works the purpose is to show the role of human agency in the creation, and articulation of nation. By looking at individual intellectuals/historians and their works the purpose is to show the role of human agency in the creation, and articulation of nation. In Kazakhstan, a unique situation has developed: while the Soviet period entered into the official history in the "Soviet version", academic content and research projects are focused on the pursuit of assessment of Soviet period as interruption of the way to independence. They do it implicitly: exhibiting hypertrophic interest to the pre-imperial past, and marginalizing the Soviet period. At the same time, the choice of topics is driven not by research interests, but mostly by the "long way to independence" concept. To confirm it, historians study the Turkic period of history, the history of the Kazakh Khanate as the first state of the Kazakhs, Kazakh people national liberation wars of the Russian Empire period, an increasing interest to the role of Alash intelligentsia in building Kazakhs national consciousness. So there is gap between institutional assessment of Soviet period and real attitudes of historians toward the soviet legacy. The author argues that the ambiguity of the discourse about the Soviet period in professional historical literature is not due to the politics of history, but to the position of historians. While the state serves as a deterrent of the penetration of nationalist discourse into the historical narrative, historians through their attitude to the Soviet period implicitly express their disagreement with the official policy of the authorities to build a civic-based sense of identity. The analysis of the academic discourse on soviet period clearly demonstrates inconsistencies and discrepancies between declared policies in creating all Kazakhstani state identity and situation on the ground. Thus the assessment of Soviet period along with the language and toponymy become one of the most sensitive factors of nation-building process in Kazakhstan.