The politics of memory in Samarkand in post-Soviet period

Abstract

In this paper the author explores the strategy of politics of memory in Samarkand, the hometown of the First President of Uzbekistan I.A. Karimov, in the post-Soviet period. The analysis concerns the traditions of Samarkand's memory culture chosen, invented or forgotten in independent Uzbekistan, to form ideas about the past using historical figures, monuments, holy places and renamed streets in Samarkand as examples. In this complex process it is important to take into consideration how the central authorities interacted with the local cultural elite of Samarkand. President Sh.Mirziyoyev formulated new trends in Uzbekistan's foreign policy, which was reflected in the politics of memory in Samarkand. These changes have become symbolic in the new politics of memory in Samarkand aimed at demonstrating the historical roots of the ethnic and religious tolerance in the society and highlighting Samarkand as a key place in the history of the Islamic world and the birthplace of the First President of Uzbekistan I. Karimov.

Women, Islam, and politics in Samarkand (1991–2021)

“…Under the conditions of an authoritarian system, the first President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov (1991Karimov ( -2016 initiated the restoration of a number of large Islamic shrines, abandoned or destroyed under the Soviet rule (Malikov 2010: 123). In the first decade of Uzbekistan's independence, local mahalla committees and individual sponsors were given the opportunity to contribute to the restoration of local shrines (Rasanayagam 2011;Malikov 2018). At the same time, there is a debate in society about whether the shrines are part of the Islamic tradition or if it is idolatry (Rasanayagam 2011: 139).…”

Case Study of De-Russification of Ukrainian Hodonyms

“…In recent years, the post-Soviet realm-with its constant and multidirectional geopolitical transformations and related hegemonic toponymic practices that range from erasing and cleansing to restoration, memorialization, and even promotional branding-has been the subject of a growing number of theoretically diverse, political, toponymic studies (Basik 2022(Basik , 2020aKudriavtseva & Homanyuk 2020). The existing proliferating literature on the critical toponomastics of post-Soviet countries already covers various national contexts (see, for example, Basik 2020b; Costa 2020; Golomidova 2020; Basik & Rahautsou 2019;Kaşikçi 2019;Malikov 2018;Kangaspuro & Lassila 2017;Saparov 2017;Manucharyan 2015;Balode 2012;Marin 2012;Dabaghyan 2011). Among the post-Soviet states, a great deal of academic attention has been placed on Ukraine's wide-scale erasure of communist symbols after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.…”

Place names as a political instrument in the post-Soviet realm: introduction

“…In recent years, the post-Soviet realm has been an object of the growing number of political toponymic studies based on a wide range of the theoretical perspectives and conducted in English on the examples of various countries of the region both by the Western (Anglophone) authors and some of the post-Soviet researchers (see, for example, Murray, 2000;Saparov, 2003Saparov, , 2017Gill, 2005;Horsman, 2006;Dabaghyan, 2011;Balode, 2012;Marin, 2012;Yanushkevich, 2014;Manucharyan, 2015;Kangaspuro, Lassila, 2017;Light, Young, 2017;Shelekpayev, 2017;Malikov, 2018;Gnatiuk, 2018;Basik, Rahautsou, 2019;Kaşikçi, 2019;Gnatiuk, Glybovets, 2020;Dala Costa, 2020;Kudriavtseva, 2020). The region serves a model hotspot of geopolitical transformations in the 20-21 centuries with the different examples of, first of all, hegemonic toponymic practices ranging from erasing and cleansing to restoration, memorialization, and even promotional branding.…”