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- Convenors:
-
Ablet Kamalov
(University Turan)
Zulfiya Imyarova (NARXOZ University)
Gulnisa Nazarova (Indiana University)
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- Discussant:
-
Krista Goff
- Formats:
- Panel
- Theme:
- History
- Location:
- GA 1122
- Sessions:
- Saturday 22 October, -
Time zone: America/Indiana/Knox
Abstract:
This panel will discuss results and findings of the ongoing project on oral history of migration of the 1950-1970s from Xinjiang province of People’s Republic of China to Soviet Kazakhstan. Based on interviews of the migrants of different ethnic groups (Kazakhs, Uyghurs, Dungans, Tatars, Russians) living in Kazakhstan and comparison of their stories with the archival materials and other kinds of sources, the scholars will examine how Soviet repatriation policy was accepted and internalized by representatives of different groups of population in the frontier regions of Xinjiang, personal experience of migration and adaptation of migrants to the Soviet environment and some consequences of the migration, one of them being emergence of segments of “Chinese” groups among the Dungans, Uyghurs and Tatars of Kazakhstan. The panel will include papers on the role of Soviet propaganda in repatriation and migration of the peoples of Xinjiang to Kazakhstan, on interactions between “Chinese” and “Soviet” groups of Dungans in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, on last stage of migration during the “cultural revolution”, when some groups of young Uyghurs and Kazakhs crossed the Soviet-Chinese state border trying to escape repressions in the homeland. Discussion of papers will be put into the context of geopolitical situation and deterioration of relations between the USSR and PRC.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Saturday 22 October, 2022, -Paper abstract:
This paper sheds light on three understudied aspects of Dungan studies: their kinship patterns, identity within the diaspora and interactions with other ethnic groups across Central Asia. The first Dungans (Chinese Muslims) used the strategy of groupness to survive in an unknown environment upon the arrival to the Russian Empire. They tended to keep together predominately with their compatriots who originate from the same Chinese province and had very few contacts with the Dungans from other groups. For a more than a century the Dungans’ kinship patterns have not changed. The ancestors of modern Dungans migrated to the territory of modern Central Asia in the second part of the 19th century mainly from two Chinese provinces – Gansu and Shaanxi with different dialects and traditions. Nowadays, in daily life, Dungans still have strong internal division and they are guided by the principle of fraternity, which means that they mostly prefer to settle and work with compatriots and try to avoid inter-marriage and doing business with other Dungan groups. The study is the result of numerous fieldworks conducted in n Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the areas of the Dungans’ residences. This research is mostly based on primary sources, including rich ethnographic data: observation, focus group and in-depth interviews with Dungan cultural elites as well with leaders of Dungan Associations of People in these three republics, published materials on Dungan Studies.
Paper abstract:
The paper will discuss one of the important stages in the process of migration of local population of Xinjiang to Soviet Kazakhstan in the 1950-1960s. The migration which was initiated based on the Agreement between the Soviet and Chinese governments of 1950s and was envisioned as a repatriation of Soviet citizens residing in the province had several stages. One of them was an exodus of the 1962 which became known as “events of May 29”. Unlike other stages of the migration it was a result of deterioration of the Sino-Soviet relations and implied illegal crossing of the state border. It resulted in the migration of more than 70 thousand of people who fled to the Soviet Union without legal documents. The paper will examine the causes and consequences of the exodus putting it into the context of the “great game” that is a struggle between great powers for domination in Central Asia. The exodus will be characterized as a last stage of the “great game” between the Soviet Union and China, as result of deterioration of Soviet-Chinese relations. Application of the “great game” paradigm to discussion of this stage in the migration in question will be based on analysis of both archival materials and oral histories collected in the course of implementation of the project held in 2020-2022.
Paper abstract:
The paper discusses the Soviet propaganda among in Xinjiang in the 1950-1960s, which played the role of pushing factor in the migration stimulating migratory moods of the population. The Soviet propaganda machine included documentary films and movies demonstrated in the cinema clubs across the province, especially in the neighboring to Kazakhstan districts, magazines and newspapers published in Soviet Central Asian republics in the Uyghur and Kazakh languages in Arabic script, as well as books and textbooks for Xinjiang readers printed in the publishing houses, such as “Qazaq eli” (Alma-Ata) and “Sherq heqiqeti” (Tashkent). Repertoire of the films, movies, periodicals and books was formed with the aim to propagate the Soviet achievements describing the life in the Soviet Union as a paradise. The Soviet propaganda was supported by positive and very often praising materials on Soviet industrial, technological and agricultural successes published in the Chinese press during the early years of the Communist rule when “great eternal Sino-Soviet friendship” was a main priority for the Communist Party of China. Discussion of the role of the Soviet propaganda in pushing migration to Soviet Kazakhstan will be based on the oral stories collected during the project as well as other materials.