Travel Reference
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All those people who sowed land and were afraid of our tumens [regi-
ments] now organize their lives in a similar way. But they are settled and,
in this, is their great strength, their … future. See, they even build their
settlements in a complete order, like tumens. Russians call it 'blocks.' …
they can't leave them, ride away… And we ride on the steppe, feeling
happy that it's big. But from all sides, a different life stifles us. And we
disappear if … we don't learn how to build those blocks, sow land and
mine ([1973] 1985).
From a Russian/Soviet perspective, the appropriation of the elements
of the sedentary way of life by the Kazakh nobility was a sign of their
growing dependency on colonial patronage. But Ablai had no desire to
surrender; instead, he hoped to strengthen his domain. His appreciation
of foreign borrowing was a strategy for collective survival within the new
context of power relations. Whether this conversation between Ablai and
Bukhar zhirau indeed took place or not is hard to say, but it has been in-
scribed with “a palpable awareness of what could be truth” (Hecht, 2007). 34
What this dialog and, more generally, the novel, have accomplished is that
they repositioned Kazakhs vis-à-vis Russia, reclaiming their role as the
actors who were able to define themselves and produce critical reflections
on their society. The reflections that open a space for debate and potential
arguments that the Russian colonization in the 19th century and the Soviet
forced sedentarization project in the twentieth century that had the most
devastating impact on the Kazakhs were not inevitable.
In sum, Kazakh oral tradition and history literature tell different sto-
ries. The former focuses on Ablai glossing over the active role of other his-
torical actors, especially Russia and China. The latter, on the other hand,
attributes so much retrospective significance to Russia and China that it
subordinates the local actors to their politics. Despite this disparity, these
storylines are compatible, both helping to create a more complex picture
of the historical period from the perspective of the Kazakh steppe. 35 In this
regard, where does the Nomad film fit in? Its final episode has been de-
signed to stir up nationalistic feelings: the globe is being shown to Galdan
34 We should bear in mind that, in Edwards' words, “all historical narratives reflect to some degree a
sense of what ought to have happened rather than what did” (1996: 55).
35 Consider, for example, the interpretations of Ablai's release from the Galdan Ceren's imprisonment.
Russians indeed made an effort to have him go; but, at the same time, Ablai indeed could impress
Galdan Ceren, which is the interpretation in the oral tradition, who might have thought that he could
use Ablai, once he is free, for his purposes.
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