Throughout my blog posts this semester, I have attempted to explore the relationships between historical migration events, the folk narratives remembering those events, and how these narratives are exploited by modern states to build nationalist mythologies. I have compared nation building through the use of mythic histories in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. This theme is particularly […]
Deportation, exile, and refugees
The People and Culture of Meskhetia
What is a community? What does it mean to be a part of a community, especially when that community is not in its homeland? These are the main questions that I have been investigating during my research of the Meskhetian Turks and their experiences in Central Asia. In my first post I provided a short […]
Crossing the Cairn-Marked Border: Imperial Policy and Diaspora in Buryat Folk Songs
In my previous post, I introduced a Buryat folk song which described events which took place in 1727-1728. These events demonstrate the impact of imperial diplomatic policies and decisions on individuals and communities. In this post, I will provide an historical background for the geopolitical circumstances in which this folk song arose. I will also […]
Language and Social Institutions: Koryo Saram, Part II
Whereas my previous blog post outlined the lives and livelihoods of ethnic Koreans in the Russian Far East prior to their exile in 1937, my next two posts will shift gears slightly, focusing more on the status of the Korean language among Koryo saram throughout the past century. This post will track the maintenance of […]
Identity in Exile: The Expansion of the Circassian Nation?
Identity in Exile: The Expansion of the Circassian Nation Prior to the expulsion of the Circassians, or Adyge, from their homeland in the North Caucasus in 1864, the 1 to 1.7 million Circassians lived as 12 distinct tribes along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea (Richmond 2). They did not have a strong or […]
What does education look like for South Sudanese kids in the midst of a civil war?
My research looking at the manner in which the South Soudanese displaced people deals with the temporary or semi-permanent displacement through the lens of education. With my next post, I discuss thoughts on returning home now that the state has entered into a tentative peace deal. South Sudan has been engaged in a civil war […]
The Exile and Forced Migrations of the Meskhetian Turks
Before I begin, I would just like to say thank you to all the people who read my last post and left great comments. I hope that I have done an adequate job in exciting you to learn more about the history of the Meskhetian Turks and welcome you to this blog post, in which […]
Migration, Exile, and Homeland: Koryo Saram, Part I
The Soviet Era often brings talk of the multi-ethnic nature of the Union. Certainly, its vast territorial expanse would encompass the homelands of many indigenous Eurasians. One group that often sits at the periphery of discussions of both the Soviet Union and Eurasia is the Koreans. In 1937, 170,000 of them – nearly the entire […]
Great Retreat: Muslim Migration from the Russian Empire to Turkey
When people think about ethnic minority groups in Turkey, they usually think about the obvious cases—Kurds and Syrians today, Armenians and Greeks in the past. However, the country’s population of 83.4 million encompasses many other smaller groups, including significant groups that came from the Russian Empire during its expansion (World Bank). If one wanted to […]
Migration : More “Push” than “Pull”
Imagine packing everything you own into one little suitcase and never having a home. Well this is the experience for Rozina. She was born in Iran after the Islamic revolution in 1979. Almost all aspects of life were changed, especially for women. Rozina is a Persian name and the Iranian government disapproved of any name […]