This thesis discusses nationalism in modern Kyrgyzstan by analyzing the film Kurmanjan Datja (2014). Since Kyrgyzstan’s independence in the early 1990s the government has attempted to create a...Show moreThis thesis discusses nationalism in modern Kyrgyzstan by analyzing the film Kurmanjan Datja (2014). Since Kyrgyzstan’s independence in the early 1990s the government has attempted to create a general sense of belonging and unity among the ethnically varied people of Kyrgzstan. The film Kurmanjan Datka was one of the projects aimed to do so. The state sponsored film tells the romanticized story of heroine Kurmanjan who unites the 40 Kyrgyz tribes in resistance to the Russian expansion into Central Asia. In this thesis, the film is connected to nationalism, nation building and the ways in which the Kyrgyz government attempts to shape its history, culture and traditions.Show less
