Paper short abstract:

In the southern republics of the USSR, the Brezhnev era corresponds to a moment of awakening of the national consciousness and the architecture of this period reflects this aspect.

Paper long abstract:

The objects of the Soviet world that we will focus on in this article are architectural and concern the material culture of the southern Soviet republics under Brezhnev. They have in common that they were built for an anniversary (ûbilej in Russian) and their commemorative significance oscillates between two groups of celebrations: those of socialist mythology and those of the national pantheon. On the borderline between sovietology and architectural history, the theme of the project highlights the opposition between dates linked to the heroes of communism (Lenin, the October Revolution, etc.) and others linked to the national consciousness (pre-revolutionary events, famous people, etc.). Inaugurating a building to commemorate is a very Soviet practice and raises questions about the relationship of Soviet power, architects and citizens to the temporality in which their practices are embedded. The present and the past mingle with architecture around architectural festivities whose purpose is presumably unifying. The anniversary buildings (and their graphic representation) that we study (Armenian Genocide Memorial (1965) in Yerevan, Lenin Palace (1970) in Alma-Ata, Mirzo Tursunzoda Mausoleum (1981) in Dushanbe or Lenin Square (1984) in Bishkek) are remarkable because they mark the Soviet landscape and present singular architectural qualities mixing modern properties, kitsch attributes and inspirations of the capitalist world. In the post-Soviet period, these architectures were sometimes destroyed in the context of "decommunization" but were also sometimes taken up as symbols of independence, which raises the question of their heritage value. From a methodological point of view, this research combines architectural analysis, ethnographic interviews and state and personal archives, which are indispensable tools for the study of material culture. The main result of this research is the idea that the architectural calendar reflects the contradictory temporal paradigm in which Soviet citizens are locked in this Brezhnevian period of "stagnation". These conclusions are in continuity with the research of many scholars such as Boris Chukhovitch, Jean-Louis Cohen and Richard Klein in the history of modern architecture, Edwin Bacon, Mark Sandle, Catherine Poujol, Isabelle Ohayon and Taline Ter Minassian in the history of the late Soviet Union.

Paper short abstract:

In this paper, the author focuses on the analysis of Uzbek films with vivid ornamentalistic stylistics ("Man Follows Birds" (1995) by A. Khamraev and "The Road Under the Skies" (2006) by K. Kamalova) and proposes the specific features that distinguish external ethnography from ornamentalism. 

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on the analysis of ornamental films in Uzbekistan, where the author proposes the specific features that distinguish external ethnography from ornamentalism.

Although there is a common stereotype that Soviet cinema can be explained within a realistic paradigm, this thesis can be accepted with reservations because of the works of Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergei Paradjanov, Yuri Ilyenko, etc. Most people identify Uzbek cinema as realistic, frequently interpreted as creativity built on external ethnic principles. However, there are a few examples that pull back from pure ethnographic narration and are not based on the empirical level of visualization.

Along with realistic tradition, Uzbek cinema makes the first non-realistic attempts at ornamentalistic stylistics during and after the collapse of the USSR. Ornamental movies, as a product of emerging post-modernism, are balancing on the fine line between folkloric and ethnographic films. However, ornamental movies bring with them non-structural, chaotic narratives where the linear storytelling is overlapped by unnatural-looking visual compositions that construct their own highly symbolic narratives, while objects gain social meanings regarding their placement in the context and talk by themselves. "Man Follows Birds" (1995) by Ali Khamraev and "The Road Under the Skies" (2006) by Kamara Kamalova can also be attributed to the "ornamental style," in which the cinematic language differs from traditional forms of Uzbek filmmaking. 

This paper is based on a comparative analysis of Western and Uzbek ornamental films. Academic works related to the analysis of modernist cinema (N. Karimova, A. Kovács, K. Oeler, etc.) are also used.

Paper long abstract:

Women play a significant role in music-making, performance, and development of musical and poetic heritage in Tajikistan. They are very active in sharing their musical skills on various occasions of life cycle events. This paper discusses female musicians of Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast of Tajikistan, particularly focusing on the women’s involvement in the tradition of qasīda-khonī, a distinct musical, cultural practice of Central Asian Ismaili Muslims that has been shaped by history, language, geography, and religion. Based on the ethnographic research materials collected by the author, the paper examines the contribution of performers and how the tradition of qasīda-khonī has become an important genre for the expressions of women’s voices in Islam, despite the musical performance, and women’s participation in general, being condemned and regarded as unlawful and a deviation from religious norms by various orthodox religious authorities in Islam. However, women always have been active in music-making and performing in the Muslim world and have had access to a wider range of musical instruments and that is because the status, rights, privileges, and powers of women vary greatly in the Muslim cultures. (Shiloah, 1980; Morris and Rihtman, 1984; Doubleday, 1999).

The paper examines the attitude towards both music and women, historically shaped by Islamic religious doctrine and re-shaped by Soviet anti-religious policy. It also provides the contextual basis for an investigation of the qasīda-khonī tradition and the status and role of women involved in the performance, and the cultural and musical life of contemporary Tajikistan.