Cultural Histories of Central Asia

Central Asia, the 'heart' of the Eurasian landmass, has through the centuries been the hub of diverse and varied cultures. These cultures have encompassed pre-Islamic religions and Islam, sedentary and nomadic lifestyles and lived through rapid transitions from feudal, capitalist and socialist economies, from Tsarist to Soviet and post-Soviet formations. The essays in this volume examine the cultural exchanges and encounters that have occurred in the region through a vast timeline that extends from the premedieval to the medieval and modern periods. The writers are academics, as well as art practitioners and independent researchers who belong to a wide spectrum of disciplines: Central Asian and Russian Studies, Architecture, Ethno-Musicology, History, Painting, Film Studies, Art History, Textiles, Literature and International Relations. The volume presents a colourful mosaic of views on the many cultural histories of Central Asia.

Rashmi Doraiswamy is Professor at the Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She was the recipient of the National Award for the Best Film Critic (1994). In December 2007, she was an International Observer for the Presidential Elections in Uzbekistan. She is the author of The Post-Soviet Condition: Chingiz Aitmatov in the '90s (Aakar, 2005) and Guru Dutt: Through Light and Shade (Wisdom Tree, 2008). She is co-editor of the book Being and Becoming: The Cinemas of Asia (Macmillan, 2002). Her entry on 'Film and Literature (India)' has appeared in the Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literatures in English (Routledge, 2005).

Introduction I. THE ARTS ARCHITECTURE 1. Central Asian Architecture: The Persistence of Pre-Modernism 2. Sufi Remains. A Kazakh Story of Today 3. Synthesis in the Sky MUSIC 4. The Fate of the Shashmaqom in Uzbekistan in the Twentieth Century VISUAL ARTS 5. The Syncretic Nature of Early Central Asian Art 6. Travelling Cultures LITERATURE 7. Ramayana and Alpomysh: Two Epics, Two Heroes 8. Manas: The Socio-Cultural Heritage of the Kyrgyz People 9. Literature in the Khanate of Bukhara in the Nineteenth Century 10. Abai: A Prophet of Renaissance, A Bard of Enlightenment CINEMA 11. The Encounter of Modernities: Cinematic Adaptations of Two Stories by Aitmatov II. NEW HORIZONS THINKERS, TRAVELLERS, EXPLORERS 12. Remembering Al Farabi 13. Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943): The Expeditions and the Collections 14. Kyrgyzstan in History: Accounts of Russians Scientists and Travellers TRAVERSING THE SILK ROAD 15. Shifting Frames: Cultural Crossroads of the Past and Present 16. The Silk Road Re-Visited 17. Reviving the Silk Route: Problems and Prospects