Sources and Aims of Soviet ‘Survivals’ Ethnography in Its Initial (Pre-World War Two) Phases

Abstract

This chapter continues the quest to understand the origins and aims of both Tsarist and Soviet historiography and ethnography of Central Asia, especially their shared focus on ‘pre-Islamic remnants’ or ‘survivals’ (cf. also ‘vestiges,’ ‘relics,’ etc.) and their respective appropriations of that construct. Given the clear pre-existence of a well-established tradition of ‘survivals’ historiography and ethnography between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries in Tsarist Russia, with a closely related tradition of ‘double faith’ going back to the eleventh century, (see Chapter Two), the question arises of the relation of Soviet views and approaches to former Tsarist Russian historiography, both in terms of how they compare with one another on theoretical and practical levels and in terms of how the Tsarist tradition may have shaped the Soviet. Central to addressing these issues are the questions of when, why and how Soviet ethnography began distinguishing between ‘pre-Islamic’ and ‘Islamic’ identity in Central Asia via the conceptual apparatus of ‘survivals’ and what sources the various authors of Soviet ‘survivals’ ethnography specifically cite within their studies. Two main traditions of Tsarist ‘survivals’ ethnography are the most immediately relevant and obvious in terms of potential influence—namely the Russian Orthodox ‘double-faith’ and the secular scientific versions—though Euro-American sources also played a significant role, as did Islamic ones.