Truth, History and Politics in Mongolia: Memory of Heroes

For seventy years Mongolia was dominated by the Soviet Union. During the democratic revolution of 1990 and afterwards, historical imagery occupied a key place in public debates on what it meant to be Mongol. This book examines issues of social memory, culture and identity in the context of the collapse of socialist rule in Mongolia. It shows that in addition to the officially approved socialist interpretation of history, there existed unofficial, competing interpretations of the past. Using Mongolia as its example, this book examines how knowledge is transmitted and transformed in light of political change by looking at shifting conceptions of historical figures. It suggests that the reflection of people's concept of themselves is a much greater influence in the writing of history than has previously been thought and examines in detail how history was used to subvert the socialist project in Mongolia. This is the first study of the symbolic struggle over who controlled 'the past' and the 'true'identity of a Mongol fought between the ruling party and its protesters during the democratic revolution. Based on extensive field research spanning over a decade, this book is the first English language account of the Mongolian democratic revolution. Its questioning of preconceptions about socialist control over identity and the writing of history will be of great interest to those studying culture, history and memory, as well as those in the field of Mongolian and Post Soviet Studies.

Christopher Kaplonski, affiliated to the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at the University of Cambridge, has carried out extensive research in post-socialist Mongolia where he has worked since the early 1990s.