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Accepted Paper:
Qara shanyraq: Searching for a Qazaq Home between Two Worlds
Zhaina Meirkhan
(University of Michigan)
This chapter describes how Qazaqs migrating from Xinjiang to Qazaqstan are making sense of their history, political and cultural identity to carve out a sense of ethnic belonging, despite forms of exclusion in both states. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in 2019, I show how Xinjiang Qazaqs related to a 'historical homeland' by emphasising shared nostalgic memories of ‘home’ in Xinjiang, aul (village) life and cultural values that underpin the idea of a qarashangyraq (the shared native/original home). These themes are highlighted in historical and contemporary performances of oral aitys poetry (oral tradition) which is also lauded as a vehicle of identity and belonging. I argue that Qazaq migrants’ notion of ‘homeland’ is not anchored only in one place but divided in space and time – between strong memories of Xinjiang and hopes for a better future in Qazaqstan. The analyses show how Xinjiang Qazaqs project their relatedness to the 'homeland' and argue for Qazaqstan as the ‘one shared nation’ for all Qazaqs, despite the different level of attachments to their own roots and origins.