Russian Culture in Uzbekistan: One Language in the Middle of Nowhere

Recent political changes in Central Asia, where the United States is replacing Russia as the dominant power, are having a profound effect on Russian speakers in the region. These people, formerly perceived as progressive and engaging with Europe, are now confronted by the erasure of their literary, musical, cinematic and journalistic culture, as local ethnic and American cultures become much stronger. This book examines the predicament of Russian culture in Central Asia, looking at literature, language, cinema, music, and religion. It argues that the Soviet past was much more complex than the simplified, polarized rhetoric of the Cold War period allows, and also that the present situation, in which politicians from the former Soviet regime often continue in power, is equally complex.

David MacFadyen is a professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of California, Los Angeles.