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This volume offers perspectives from the general public in post-Soviet Central Asia and reconsiders the meaning and the legacy of Soviet administration in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This study emphasizes that the way in which people in Central Asia reconcile their Soviet past to a great extent refers to the three-fold process of recollecting their everyday experiences, reflecting on their past from the perspective of their post-Soviet present, and re-imagining. These three elements influence memories and lead to selectivity in memory construction. This process also emphasizes the aspects of the Soviet era people choose to recall in positive and negative lights. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how Soviet life has influenced the identity and understanding of self among the population in post-Soviet Central Asian states.
List of contents
1. Collective Memory, Oral History, and Central Eurasian Studies in Japan.- 2. Recollecting the Soviet Past: Challenges of Data Collection on Everyday Life Experiences and Public Memory in Post-Soviet Central Asia.- 3. Famine in Kyrgyzstan in the 1930s and 1940s.- 4. Soviet Agricultural Policy and Cultivating "Virgin Lands" in Kazakhstan.- 5. Religious Life of Kyrgyz People According to Oral Materials.- 6. Stalin's Passing Recollected.-7. Evaluations of Perestroika in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Public Views in Contemporary Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
About the author
Timur Dadabaev is Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, and Director of the combined MA and Ph.D. Program in Central Eurasian Studies.
Hisao Komatsu is Professor at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Japan.
Summary
This volume offers perspectives from the general public in post-Soviet Central Asia and reconsiders the meaning and the legacy of Soviet administration in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This study emphasizes that the way in which people in Central Asia reconcile their Soviet past to a great extent refers to the three-fold process of recollecting their everyday experiences, reflecting on their past from the perspective of their post-Soviet present, and re-imagining. These three elements influence memories and lead to selectivity in memory construction. This process also emphasizes the aspects of the Soviet era people choose to recall in positive and negative lights. Ultimately, this book demonstrates how Soviet life has influenced the identity and understanding of self among the population in post-Soviet Central Asian states.
