Tatar Jadidism in Perspective: Differences, Similarities, and Continuities in the Turkish Historiography of the Late Nineteenth Century Intellectual Movement Among the Muslims of Imperial Russia

This thesis examines the Turkish histories of Tatar Jadidism appeared after 1991, when the Soviet archives had opened up to provide researchers with the newly available primary sources. A thorough discussion and the positioning of these histories in the broader research agenda on Jadidism, has not been done yet. Besides the Turkish historiography, two more geographically located historiographical traditions exists; the Soviet and the Western. The Soviet discourse did not survive, whereas the Western underwent significant revisions in the new era. Based on comparisons in time of new Turkish histories and Cold War Turkish works, the changed perspectives from secular-nationalist to religious oriented, have been unfolded. In the comparisons between each other, the new Turkish histories either show the tendency of a traditional religious discourse nested in the Islamic scholastic scholarly domain, or an almost-secular reformist one that perceives the Jadid attempts as not bounded by the...Show moreThis thesis examines the Turkish histories of Tatar Jadidism appeared after 1991, when the Soviet archives had opened up to provide researchers with the newly available primary sources. A thorough discussion and the positioning of these histories in the broader research agenda on Jadidism, has not been done yet. Besides the Turkish historiography, two more geographically located historiographical traditions exists; the Soviet and the Western. The Soviet discourse did not survive, whereas the Western underwent significant revisions in the new era. Based on comparisons in time of new Turkish histories and Cold War Turkish works, the changed perspectives from secular-nationalist to religious oriented, have been unfolded. In the comparisons between each other, the new Turkish histories either show the tendency of a traditional religious discourse nested in the Islamic scholastic scholarly domain, or an almost-secular reformist one that perceives the Jadid attempts as not bounded by the scholastic tradition. In result, neither the strong ideological framing of the Cold War does prevail anymore, nor can speak one of a thorough revision of the new histories; a ‘lighter’, de-ideologized construction of Cold War Jadidist narratives continues, by shedding light on the previously underlit religious aspects of the movement.Show less

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Tatar Jadidism in Perspective: Differences, Similarities, and Continuities in the Turkish Historiography of the Late Nineteenth Century Intellectual Movement Among the Muslims of Imperial Russia