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New Narratives and Old Myths: History Textbooks in Kazakhstan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2023

Aziz Burkhanov Open the ORCID record for Aziz Burkhanov [Opens in a new window]  and
Dina Sharipova
Aziz Burkhanov*
Affiliation:
Nazarbayev University, Graduate School of Public Policy, Astana, Kazakhstan
Dina Sharipova
Affiliation:
Nazarbayev University, Graduate School of Public Policy, Astana, Kazakhstan
*
Corresponding author: Aziz Burkhanov, Email: aziz.burkhanov@nu.edu.kz
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Abstract

This article focuses on the role of textbooks in the construction of national identity by analyzing state-approved versions of national identity and history in Kazakhstan. By doing so, this project seeks to highlight what understanding of identity prevails in the history textbooks of Kazakhstan, what narratives regarding the key historic events are promoted, particularly with respect to the Dzhungar wars, annexation of Kazakh Khanate by the Russian Empire, and the Soviet era. Finally, this article compares the main narratives in the textbooks published in Kazakh and Russian languages to illustrate differences and various understandings of identity in the two linguistic realms of Kazakhstan. The article argues that Kazakhstan’s textbooks combine new, independence-focused narratives with the old approaches and partial reproduction of the Soviet symbolic discourse.

Keywords

historical narrativenational identitynation-buildingcolonialism

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Type
Article
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 52 , Issue 5 , September 2024 , pp. 1193 - 1208
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for the Study of Nationalities

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