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- Chair:
-
Alexey Ulko
(Independent researcher)
- Discussant:
-
Alexey Ulko
(Independent researcher)
- Format:
- Panel
- Theme:
- Cultural Studies, Art History & Fine Art
- Location:
- William Pitt Union (WPU): room 539
- Sessions:
- Friday 20 October, -
Time zone: America/New_York
Accepted papers
Session 1 Friday 20 October, 2023, -Paper abstract
This paper focuses on identity through the prism of fashion in Azerbaijan. I argue that a significant shift in clothing practices has taken place since the 1990s, which is connected to wider economic and political changes in society. This paper unravels the reasons for the changes that have taken place. For example, men started to dress in black and darker colours in the 1990s, which can be related to several factors, one of them being Black January, when the Soviet troops entered Baku to crush popular protests. I further argue that the changes in clothing practices have to do with feelings of uncertainty, which can be seen in the light of “liquid modernity” (s. Z. Bauman). At the same time, there is continuity in terms of certain elements of dress, related to the cultural and religious heritage of Azerbaijan. This paper studies the discourses surrounding the changes in fashion through interviews with Azerbaijanis who were born during the Soviet times and with young people who were born at the beginning of the 90s to compare and account for the fashion changes over time. Furthermore, photo material gathered from online sources and informants is analysed drawing on social semiotic techniques to record how fashion has changed visually. Identity in Azerbaijan is a complex issue and a dynamic variable, considering that the country was on the fault line between the Persian, Ottoman, and Russian empires. Fashion helps to look at Azerbaijani identity in manifold ways and to trace the changes which have taken place since the country’s independence in 1991. This paper seeks to show how identities are renegotiated, generations are changing, and how life in the post-Soviet space has taken shape. This paper adds to the yet sparse literature on Azerbaijani identity and is an application of social semiotic ethnography.
Paper abstract
This project aims to capture the different linguistic ideologies (after Silverstein 2004) supporting codeswitching (after Woolard 2005) and translanguaging (after Wei 2011) practices in Astana’s public spaces. This paper is the result of a three-month ethnographic fieldwork. I carried out participant observation in three main public spaces: a bazaar, the old city center, and a mall. At each site, I took pictures of the linguistic landscape (written occurrence of languages within public spaces). I conducted interviews structured around life narratives allowing each participant to bring forward their own themes and underlining changes in their linguistic practices. I argue that two linguistic ideologies structure the contemporary use of the Kazakh language. The “older ideology”, which appeals to the collective memory of the soviet experience, limits the Kazakh language’s usage to the domestic sphere and presents it as an index of rurality and lack of education. Kazakh people vividly remember the interdiction of speaking the Kazakh language in public spaces and its devaluation in favor of the Russian language during the last decades of the Soviet period. Despite important kazakhstanisation efforts, it still marks the linguistic practices, often involuntarily. The “new ideology”, which competes to convey meaning to Kazakh language usage, reflects the valorization of a standardized register (after Agha 2005). A good command of standardized Kazakh is understood as an index of education and, more generically, of the achievement of Kazakhstani independence. As a result, fragmentary use of standardized Kazakh is perceived negatively: it is seen as an index of being “half-Kazakh” [Shala Qazaq], a term that serves as a racial slur. This situation often discourages Kazakh semi-speakers to use the language. Russian remains the language of social ascension as it is still the main language used in commercial spaces and workplaces. In parallel, English is seen as an index of modernity, or more specifically of access to Western resources and references such as media, capital, employment, or immigration. On a larger scale, it can be understood as a renegotiation of Soviet modernity’s narrative and as a will to sideline Russian soft power. The scope of this project highlights how the past year’s international political events affect linguistic practices in Astana. Languages are key pieces in the construction of Kazakhstani social identities. This research aims to deepen the understanding of code preferences to empower communities and to give them the possibility to renegotiate the next page of their story.
Paper abstract
The purpose of this paper is to analyze Soviet films, ranging from the 1920s-1990s, to show the shifting ideologies and culturally expected behaviors that Central Asian women (particularly in Turkmenistan) are adhering to. The films are Gorkak Batyr - Çaman (1982), Далёкая невеста (1948), Тихая Невестка (1967), and Невестка (1971). Key concepts and themes of the analysis include, double-burden which refers to women who hold a professional career while also being expected to fulfill house chores, simultaneously; the notion of motherhood and building a family as holding more weight than pursuing self-fulfillment; and the imbalance of gender power dynamics in a domestic space. This research also analyzes how political agendas during the Soviet Era had an influence on the film industry, while at the same time indirectly impacting/reinforcing the expected gender roles of Turkmen women. Based on my findings, Central Asian women in the 21st century continue to face certain barriers that might not be as heightened in European countries, considering the cultural expectations of double-burden, which makes progression towards equitable gender roles seem like an unachievable prospect. Since films are integral in influencing Central Asian culture and the gendered roles that women are seen portraying, in order to spur change, strong reframing of alternate narratives is necessary.