Film and Identity in Kazakhstan: Soviet and Post-Soviet Culture in Central Asia (International Library of Central Asian Studies)

Cinema and nationalism are two fundamentally modern phenomena, but how have films shaped our understanding of the creation -the 'imagining' - of Central-Asian nations? Here, Rico Isaacs uses cinema as an analytical lens to explore how the Kazakh national identity has been constructed and contested. Drawing on an analysis of Kazakh films from the last century, and featuring new interviews with directors and critics involved in the Central Asian film industry, his book traces the construction of nationalism within Kazakh cinema from the country's inception as a Soviet Republic to a modern independent nation.Isaacs identifies four narratives since the collapse of the Soviet Union: a warrior-like 'ethnic' narrative rooted in the 18th Century struggles against the Mongolian Oirat tribes; a 'civic' inspired narrative cemented in the Stalinist deportations of the 1930s and 40s; a religious narrative founded within the mystic and philosophical religion of Tengrism and the cult of the Sky God; and a socio-economic narrative which roots Kazakh nationhood and identity in contemporary social divisions, the lived day-to-day experiences of ordinary citizens and the struggles they face with authority. These last two tropes demonstrate how cinema has emerged as a site of dissent against the country's authoritarian regime under President Nazarbayev. Film and Identity in Kazakhstan advances our understanding of Kazakhstan and nationalism by demonstrating the multiple and inessential character of each, and illustrates the important role of cinema in contesting political power in the post-Soviet space. Cover Title Copyrights Dedication Content Note on Transliteration List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction From Constructed to Contested Nations: Theorising and Analysing Nation and Cinema Nations as Constructed Nations as Contested and Multiple Enter Cinema: Nationalist Myth-making and Myth-breaking Multiple Nationalisms and National Identities in Kazakhstan Analytical Framework and Methods Structure of the Book 1 Kazakh Khanate to Kazakh Eli: Nation-building in Kazakhstan in Historical and Political Context Ethno-genesis of the Kazakhstani Nation and the Rise and Fall of the Kazakh Khanate The Development of Nationalist Movements in Kazakhstan under Russian Rule Soviet Nation-building in Kazakhstan Post-Soviet Nation-building Conclusion 2 Between Two Worlds: Kazakh Film and Nation-building in the Soviet Era The Development of the Cinema Industry in the Soviet Union and Central Asia Antecedents to the Birth of Kazakh Cinema The Emergence of Kazakh Cinema and Shaken Aimanov 1960 – 1970s: The National Awakening in Kazakh Cinema: The Two Worlds of Soviet Kazakh Cinema Conclusion: Influence of Kazakh Soviet Cinema 3 The Disruption of Time: The ‘Kazakh New Wave’ 1985 – 95 Introduction Emergence of the New Wave ‘Kazakh New Wave’ as a Disruption of Empty Homogenous Time The Re-imagination of Kazakh History The Negation of Soviet Authority Capturing Transition on Screen After the ‘Kazakh New Wave Conclusion 4 Naked in the Mirror: The Ethno-centric Narrative of Kazakh Nationhood Introduction The Context of the Cinema Industry in post-Soviet Kazakhstan Defence of the Homeland Ethnic Identity Power and Regime Legitimation Reception Conclusion 5 May the Grass Never Grow at Your Door:The Civic Conception of Nationhood in Kazakh Cinema Inter-ethnic Harmony and Stability Kazakh Batyrs as Kind,Open and Hospitable Interpretation of History and Soviet Authority Reception Conclusion 6 ‘Hymn to Mother’: Tengrism, Motherhood and Nationhood Tengrism Literal Representations of Tengrism in Contemporary Kazakh Cinema Historical-philosophical Symbolic Representation of Tengrism in Contemporary Kazakh Cinema Quasi-primordial Symbolic Representation: Women, Family and the Cycle of Birth, Life and Death Controversy and Reception Conclusion 7 The Steppe, Disorientation, Division and Corruption: Social and Economic Visions of Modern Nationhood The Kazakh Steppe The Urban-rural Divide Struggles with Bureaucracy and Authority Home and Family Morality and Wealth Accumulation The Government’s Image of Modernity Conclusion Conclusion Heterogeneity of National Identity Dissent and Contentious Politics in Cinema Film and Nation-building Notes Filmography Selected Bibliography Index Cinema and nationalism are two fundamentally modern phenomena, but how have films shaped our understanding of the creation--the 'imagining'--of Central Asian nations? Here, Rico Isaacs uses cinema as an analytical lens to explore how Kazakh national identity has been constructed and contested. Drawing on an analysis of Kazakh films from the last century, and featuring new interviews with directors and critics involved in the Central Asian film industry, his book traces the construction of nationalism within Kazakh cinema from the country's inception as a Soviet Republic to its current status as a modern independent nation. Isaacs identifies four narratives since the collapse of the Soviet Union: a warrior-like 'ethnic' narrative rooted in the eighteenth-century struggles against the Mongolian Oirat tribes; a 'civic' inspired narrative cemented in the Stalinist deportations of the 1930s and 1940s; a religious narrative founded within the mystic and philosophical religion of Tengrism and the cult of the Sky God; and a socio-economic narrative which roots Kazakh nationhood and identity in contemporary social divisions, the lived day-to-day experiences of ordinary citizens and the struggles they face with authority. These last two tropes demonstrate how cinema has emerged as a site of dissent against the country's authoritarian regime under President Nazarbayev. Film and Identity in Kazakhstan advances our understanding of Kazakhstan and nationalism by demonstrating the multiple and inessential character of each, and illustrates the important role of cinema in contesting political power in the post-Soviet space--back cover. Cinema and nationalism are two fundamentally modern phenomena, but how have films shaped our understanding of the creation -the 'imagining' - of Central-Asian nations? Here, Rico Isaacs uses cinema as an analytical lens to explore how the Kazakh national identity has been constructed and contested. Drawing on an analysis of Kazakh films from the last century, and featuring new interviews with directors and critics involved in the Central Asian film industry, his book traces the construction of nationalism within Kazakh cinema from the country's inception as a Soviet Republic to a modern independent nation. Isaacs identifies four narratives since the collapse of the Soviet Union: a warrior-like 'ethnic' narrative rooted in the 18th Century struggles against the Mongolian Oirat tribes; a 'civic' inspired narrative cemented in the Stalinist deportations of the 1930s and 40s; a religious narrative founded within the mystic and philosophical religion of Tengrism and the cult of the Sky God; and a socio-economic narrative which roots Kazakh nationhood and identity in contemporary social divisions, the lived day-to-day experiences of ordinary citizens and the struggles they face with authority. These last two tropes demonstrate how cinema has emerged as a site of dissent against the country's authoritarian regime under President Nazarbayev. Film and Identity in Kazakhstan advances our understanding of Kazakhstan and nationalism by demonstrating the multiple and inessential character of each, and illustrates the important role of cinema in contesting political power in the post-Soviet space