From clan narratives to clan politics

摘要

This essay focuses on clan narratives as cultural tools in a particular sociocultural setting where mass literacy meets mass media. It shows how the interactions between different producers of clan narratives - the news media, the academic establishment and an intellectualist movement for the recovery of Kyrgyz history and culture - have resulted in a profound reshaping of the content of clan genealogies, of the claims of their compilers and, more significantly, of the ways various social actors relate to clan identities. Based on these analyses, it is argued that social representations and social practices related to genealogy and clans have undergone significant changes over the last 15 years, and that the production and consumption of clan narratives have played a crucial role in this transformation.View full textDownload full textKeywordsclan, identity, narrative, genealogy, KyrgyzstanRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2012.720868