In this thesis, the following research question is answered: What is the reliability of Jan Danckaert’s Dutch description of seventeenth-century Muscovy? The methodology used is comparative...Show moreIn this thesis, the following research question is answered: What is the reliability of Jan Danckaert’s Dutch description of seventeenth-century Muscovy? The methodology used is comparative philology, through a close reading analysis a comparison is made between different texts to study whether one makes use of the other as a source. Only a preliminary answer can be given to the research question. On the one hand, since the work is not purely written by Danckaert, but makes use of information given by both Herberstein and Massa without mentioning these sources, it is not reliable as a source of how a Dutchman perceived Muscovy at the beginning of the seventeenth century. On the other hand, if you purely look at the ratio between chapters that are demonstrably copied and those that seem to be purely written by Danckaert, one could conclude that this work written by Danckaert is fairly reliable to see how the Dutch perceived the Russian people at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The negative image of the Russians that is conveyed in this work influences the way the Dutch perceive them, who at that time did not have many different sources on which they could base their opinion.Show less
Triggered by the Euromaidan protests of 2013/14, Ukraine over the past eight years has experienced a cultural revival as a response to Russian aggression. This revival has manifested itself no more...Show moreTriggered by the Euromaidan protests of 2013/14, Ukraine over the past eight years has experienced a cultural revival as a response to Russian aggression. This revival has manifested itself no more so than in music, where numerous Ukrainian artists have used traditional instruments and ethnic motifs in combination with broader, “western” styles of popular music. In this thesis I will argue that the motivation behind this music revival - and by extension the wider cultural revival in general - is a restorative nostalgia for a free, flourishing, democratic, western-oriented, independent Ukraine that is entirely separate from Russia. After noting the stark similarities between music revivalism and restorative nostalgia, I will answer how more deeply held restorative nostalgic sentiments manifest themselves in Ukrainian revivalist music, and investigate why these sentiments manifest themselves in the way that they do. I will argue that contemporary Ukrainian revivalist popular music is instrumentalising the past in present-day culture in order to “create a future”. I term this process “signposting” insofar that signposts create a future for those who follow them, promising where they will eventually end up should they choose that path. Given Russia’s renewed, full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022, this topic is particularly current, and will demonstrate Ukrainian culture’s tenacity, ingenuity, adaptability and resilience in the face of Russian military and cultural aggression. While the discussions in this thesis predominantly focus on cultural artefacts from between 2014 and 2021, all evidence is pointing to another Ukrainian cultural revival borne out of the events of 2022 that will make the revival of the past decade seem fairly timid by comparison. To this end, I include an afterword looking at Ukrainian music during the latest chapter of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.Show less
Citizenship and the intertwined educational subject of civic education are highly contested, as the notion of citizenship is strongly dependent on the type of government with its specific political...Show moreCitizenship and the intertwined educational subject of civic education are highly contested, as the notion of citizenship is strongly dependent on the type of government with its specific political system and the cultural-historical development of a nation. The Russian Federation as the multinational successor state of the Soviet Union (SU) faced major struggles concerning notions of citizenship during the 1990s. After the collapse of the SU and leaving the notion of citizenship as ‘the builder of communism’ behind, the main focus of Russia was on democratization, but this changed after 2000, when patriotism was getting more prominent. A way to get access to Russia's conceptions of civic education is examining high school textbooks. An analysis of their content can provide a deeper understanding of how civic education is approached and practised in nowadays Russia, in shaping its next generation. This analysis applied three general conceptions of citizenship, namely liberal individualism, republicanism and communitarianism and argues that Russia fits the the communitarian approach the most.Show less
This thesis analyses the forms, content, networks and function of Uzbekistani representations of Temurid figures, namely Amir Temur and Alisher Navoiy, across the Soviet and post-Soviet (Karimovian...Show moreThis thesis analyses the forms, content, networks and function of Uzbekistani representations of Temurid figures, namely Amir Temur and Alisher Navoiy, across the Soviet and post-Soviet (Karimovian and Mirziyoyevian) eras in order to assess the degree of change and continuity in these components across time and the reasons for said change and continuity. After an introduction, an explanation of the methodology and a literature review related to the state of affairs in Central Asian Studies, and English and Russian scholarship on Uzbekistani nation-building and Temurid figures, there are three chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the early Soviet nation-building project in Uzbekistan (1920s-1940s) and the relationship of Alisher Navoiy and Amir Temur to this in the context of Soviet ethnogenesis and historiography. It also analyses the failed attempt at the rehabilitation of Temur in the 1960s due to said historiography and analysing the late Soviet context which laid the foundation for post-independence nation-building in which Temur and Navoiy have played an integral role. Chapter 2 examines the context of Uzbekistan’s newfound independence from 1991 onwards before taking a case study of the 1996 celebrations linked to Amir Temur’s 660th anniversary in 1996, analysing decrees, speeches, the use of public space, and a literary publication related to this anniversary and the relationship of a rehabilitated Amir Temur in particular to state legitimisation and nation-building in the Karimovian era. It finds that an Uzbekified and "Universalised" Temur was a key image in the domestic and international legitimisation of early post-Soviet rule. Chapter 3 turns to Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s presidency (2016-present), examining the context of this political and historical crossroads in post-independence Uzbekistan before turning to a case study of the 2021 celebrations of Alisher Navoiy’s 580th anniversary, looking at decrees and associated actions as well as an online forum from the British-Uzbek Society. It is argued that cultural diplomacy is seen as a way of domestically and internationally rebranding Uzbekistan in the post-Karimovian era, though the structure of the cultural diplomacy betrays deeper tendencies toward continuity.Show less
This thesis investigated why Marko Vovchok, a Russian noblewoman, chose to narrate her stories through the voices of Ukrainian serf and peasant women. Likewise, this research sought to determine...Show moreThis thesis investigated why Marko Vovchok, a Russian noblewoman, chose to narrate her stories through the voices of Ukrainian serf and peasant women. Likewise, this research sought to determine what significance her use of the Ukrainian language in her early prose fiction had apart from its folkloric / national values, and whether it had any significance for the topic of gender. She was the first female Ukrainian writer. Using the Ukrainian language uttered by peasant and serf women, Vovchok found a way to talk about otherwise difficult issues through a kind of ‘wilderness’, defined by Elaine Showalter as being outside of male experience. Female bodily, cultural, and social issues were problematic in the contemporary literature of the Russian Empire. Therefore, her deployment of a neutral form of Ukrainian, but based on female peasant and serf forms of speech with folk elements, opened up a ‘wilderness’ of expression not yet available to anyone in Ukrainian – whether they were male or female authors. Another important feature of her stories and their language is their universalism: firstly, in their applicability to oppressed people everywhere, and secondly in their applicability to oppressed women everywhere.Show less
History has shown us that human language, and the media and mechanisms used to record it, are changeable. The languages of Uzbek and Kazakh are currently experiencing such transformation in the...Show moreHistory has shown us that human language, and the media and mechanisms used to record it, are changeable. The languages of Uzbek and Kazakh are currently experiencing such transformation in the form of an alphabet transition, in both cases from Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet. Uzbekistan officially commenced this reform in the early 1990s, with Kazakhstan following suit in 2017. Historically, both nations have switched alphabets on several occasions. Uzbekistan’s most recent attempt is widely considered a failure due to the length of time already involved, alongside the fact that it still remains far from complete. An examination of the shortcomings with Uzbekistan’s reform allows us to chronicle key factors involved in facilitating successful change; public opinion, education, politics, and linguistics. This thesis explores those factors within the Kazakhstani context through primary research. A survey was created with questions relating to the four factors and was taken by seventy-five respondents consisting of Kazakhstanis, Kazakh speakers, and several experts in the field of linguistics and alphabet reform. Quantitative and qualitative data was sought and compared to prior scholarship concerning Uzbekistan’s reform, in order to determine the likelihood that Kazakhstan’s reform would be more successful. Kazakhstan’s policymakers have no doubt attempted to learn from Uzbekistan’s mistakes. However, complications caused by COVID-19, in addition to a lack of public information coming from the government as well as an incomplete version of the Kazakh Latin alphabet could lead to Kazakhstan’s alphabet reform being dragged out over a long period of time, implying a potential failure akin to Uzbekistan’s. However, the study also determined that recently-elected Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is dedicated to completing the reform in a conscientious and unhurried manner, thereby increasing Kazakhstan’s chances of successful Latinization. Serbia’s system of synchronic digraphia, officially utilizing both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, is a potential failsafe – or solution – in the outcome of a failed reform.Show less
