BATYRS IN THE NATION-BUILDING IN KAZAKHSTAN
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Date
2022
Authors
Rakhymzhanov, Arlan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nazarbayev University School of Sciences and Humanities
Abstract
In this research, I analyze the role of batyr images in the nation-building process in
contemporary Kazakhstan. In particular, I focus on the batyrs as ideological personages who
previously were considered historical figures and literary heroes. I demonstrate how the
government instrumentalized the batyr images, which position batyrs as defenders of the Kazakh
state and Kazakh people through the idea of uninterrupted continuity of Kazakh sovereignty.
After a thorough analysis of different approaches to nation-building in Kazakhstan, I argue that
batyr commemoration is a part of a recent trend in the Kazakh ethnonational way of
nation-building. Similarly, I show the development of the batyr cult in pre-modern times. After
considering the nineteenth-century ethnographic sources, folklore works, and the Soviet period
of batyr commemoration, I show how the batyr cult changed over time. Additionally, I consider
three main levels involved in the nation-building and batyr reimagination process in Kazakhstan:
national, local, and grassroots levels, and analyze the role of every layer in this process.
Description
Keywords
Type of access: Restricted, batyr images, Kazakhstan, nation-building process
Citation
Arlan Rakhymzhanov (2022). Batyrs in the nation-building in Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev University, Nur-sultan, Kazakhstan