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.
Author(s): Rashmi Doraiswamy
Publisher: Routledge/Aakar
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 270
City: New Delhi
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: The Arts
Architecture
Chapter 1: Central Asian Architecture: The Persistence of Pre-Modernism
Chapter 2: Sufi Remains. A Kazakh Story of Today
Chapter 3: Synthesis in the Sky
Music
Chapter 4: The Fate of the Shashmaqom in Uzbekistan in the Twentieth Century
Visual Arts
Chapter 5: The Syncretic Nature of Early Central Asian Art
Chapter 6: Travelling Cultures
Literature
Chapter 7: Ramayana and Alpomysh: Two Epics, Two Heroes
Chapter 8: Manas: The Socio-Cultural Heritage of the Kyrgyz People
Chapter 9: Literature in the Khanate of Bukhara in the Nineteenth Century
Chapter 10: Abai: A Prophet of Renaissance, A Bard of Enlightenment
Cinema
Chapter 11: The Encounter of Modernities: Cinematic Adaptations of Two Stories by Aitmatov
Part II: New Horizons
Thinkers, Travellers, Explorers
Chapter 12: Remembering Al Farabi
Chapter 13: Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943): The Expeditions and the Collections
Chapter 14: Kyrgyzstan in History: Accounts of Russians Scientists and Travellers
Traversing The Silk Road
Chapter 15: Shifting Frames: Cultural Crossroads of the Past and Present
Chapter 16: The Silk Road Re-Visited
Chapter 17: Reviving the Silk Route: Problems and Prospects
Notes on Contributors
