Nation-Building and a School Play in a Kazakh Saint’s Jubilee

Abstract

This article focuses on a theatrical play performed during the Jubilee, the anniversary feast of Isabek Ishan, a local Kazakh saint. The state-supported celebration at Isabek’s restored shrine is an example of the nation-building processes of post-Soviet Kazakhstan. The Jubilee brought together pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet themes, including narratives of sainthood and the significance of local sacred lineages. The play depicts Stalinist repression of religion, pointing to the importance of religious nationalism in contemporary state ideology. Despite occupying a relatively small space in the celebration, the play demonstrated how Stalinist trauma continues to inform local Muslim beliefs and practices, emphasizing the association of Kazakh nationalism with religious practices.

Problematic of ideological formation in Kazakhstan: three-dimensional practice of the Muftiate as an ideological state apparatus (an Althusserian analysis)

“…Shrines of saints ( auliye ) provide a commemorative link for Kazakhs with the sources of Islamic faith, sacred past and moral values. Now shrines have been gradually becoming an attractive element for the nation-building process and starting to function under the patronage of the state (Bigozhin, 2018). Recently, within the framework of the ideological program Ruhani Zhangyru [2] , a map of Kazakhstan’s sacred places has been elaborated, which included objects of religious pilgrimage.…”

“…Recently, scientific studies considering Islam as an integral part of the dominant ideological hegemony that has been taking shape in Kazakhstani society, have significantly increased. Ulan Bigozhin (2018) analyzing one of the theatrical plays, presents how state-supported religious celebrations continue to reshape local Muslim beliefs and rearrange the collective unconscious, and emphasizes that this is the main component of the nation-building processes in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. Wendell Schwab (2019), who predominantly focuses on Islam in Kazakhstan, analyzes the discursive debates between the organic intellectuals of the scripturalist movement and the traditionalists in mass media and argues that the nationalist discourse articulated with Islam is much more effective.…”

Sacred Geographies in the Eurasian Steppe: The Aqkol Shrine as a Symbol of Kazakh Ethnicity and Religiosity

“…The Aqkol shrines went from small Soviet-style buildings to tall Islamic domes. The shrine reconstruction ended with a large celebration of Isabek Ishan in the summer of 2011 (Bigozhin 2018), which cemented the shrine's new status. The shrine complex has become known on the regional and even national level.…”