RU | EN
Submenu

Vasiltsov K., Kazurova N. On the Roof of the World or at the Foot of the Mithra: Isma‛ilism and Ethnic Identity of the Pamiris in Historiography and V. Erofeev’s film (1928)

K. Vasiltsov
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0002-5830-2904
E-mail: vasiltsovk@mail.ru

N. Kazurova
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0001-6312-1721
E-mail: kazurova@inbox.ru

 

 Download  |  Go to Issue #3. 2022

 

ABSTRACT. The article examines the issues of ethnic and religious identity of the Pamirs, as reflected in V. A. Erofeev’s newsreel The Roof of the World (1928). The authors analyze the film using an interdisciplinary approach as they pay attention to the visual vocabulary of the film and the political and cultural context against the broad background of Pamiri historiography. The ethnocultural specificity of the region strongly influences the visual grammar and meaning of the film: the mountainous landscape of the area (harsh natural conditions not only for filming but also for living there), political processes (consolidation of Soviet power in Central Asia), the ethnic status of the Pamir population and its confessional composition. The analysis draws on the newsreels and memoirs by V. Erofeev, field materials, and works in ethnography and linguistics by the “founding fathers” of Russian and foreign Pamir studies and their students. This kind of research indicates the importance of studying the colonial visual topoi of Soviet culturfilms, reveals the ways of interaction between the center and the ethnic periphery, shows the specifics of creating visual images of the USSR regions, and points to the possibilities of educational and propaganda potential of non-fiction cinema in the context of the formation of the new political course in the country. At the same time, the research shows that studying cinematic representations of local topics, particularly the religious and ethnic aspects of the life of the Pamiris, requires a broader range of special oriental studies sources for an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of newsreel materials.

 

KEYWORDS : visual anthropology, Culturfilm, Soviet cinema, Pamir, ethnic identity, Isma‛ilism

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2022-3(17)-179-196
УДК 304.44+791.43.05

 

REFERENCES

  • Andreev M. S. [Tajiks of the Khuf Valley (upper reaches of the Amu Darya)]. Trudy Acadimic nauk Tadzhikskoi SSR. Materialy k izucheniiu kul’tury i byta tadzhikov [Collection of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography at the Imperial Academy of Sciences]. Stalinabad: Academy of Sciences of Tajik SSR, 1953, vol. 7, iss. I. (In Russian).
  • Cheshko S. V. Vremia stirat’ “belye piatna” [Time to erase “White Spots”]. Sovetskaia etnografiia[Soviet ethnography], 1988, no. 6, pp. 3–15. (In Russian).
  • Davydov A. S. [Unreasonable, but Journalistic]. Sovetskaia etnografiia [Soviet ethnography], 1989, no. 5, pp. 15–22. (In Russian).
  • Dodikhudoeva R. [From the History of Writing of the Shugnan Language. Introductory Remarks]. Yazyki i etnografiia “Kryshi mira” [Languages and ethnography “Roofs of the World”]. St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie Publ., 2005, pp. 31–37. (In Russian).
  • Erofeev V. A. “Po “Kryshe mira” s kinoapparatom” [On the «Roof of the World» with a Movie Camera]. Moscow: Molodaia gvardiia, 1929. (In Russian).
  • Golovnev I. A. [Anthropological Newsreel by Vladimir Erofeev (The Example of the Film «The Roof of the World»)]. Vestnik Permskogo universiteta. Istoriia [Bulletin of the Perm University. Story], 2019, no. 2 (45), pp. 87–96. (In Russian).
  • Golovnev I. A. [Kinoatlas SSSR: The History of the Project]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Kul’turologiia i iskusstvovedenie [Bulletin of Tomsk State University. Cultural studies and art history], 2020, no. 38, pp. 12–24. (In Russian).
  • Gray G. Cinema: A Visual Anthropology. Oxford: Berg Publishers, 2010. (In English).
  • Griunberg A. L., Steblin-Kamenskii I. M. [A few Comments on the Response of A. S. Davydov on the Article by S.V. Cheshko]. Sovetskaia etnografiia [Soviet ethnography], 1989, no. 5, pp. 35–38. (In Russian).
  • Heider K. G. Indonesian Cinema: National Culture on Screen. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. (In English).
  • Hirsch F. Empire of Nations. Ethnographic Knowledge and the Making of the Soviet Union. London: Cornell Iniversity Press, 2005. (In English).
  • Kleiman N. [Cinema as a Feat (About the Film by Vladimir Erofeev «The Roof of the World. Pamir»)]. Arterritory.com. URL: https://csdfmuseum.ru/articles/225 (accessed: 07.08.2021). (In Russian).
  • Monogarova L. F. Pamirtsy — narodnosti ili subetnosy tadzhikov (otvet A. S. Davydovu) [Pamiris — Ethnic Groups or Sub-ethnic Groups of Tajiks (Response to A. S. Davydov)]. Sovetskaia etnografiia [Soviet ethnography], 1989, no. 5, pp. 28–34. (In Russian).
  • Palko O. Screening Soviet Nationalities: Kulturfilms from the Far North to Central Asia. By Oksana Sarkisova (Review). History (The Journal of the Historical Association), 2018, vol. 103 (357), pp. 691–693. (In English).
  • Polo M. Kniga o raznoobrazii mira [A Book about the Diversity of the World]. Moscow: Mysl’, 1997. (In Russian).
  • Ptolemy C. Rukovodstvo po geografii [Geography Guide]. Moscow: Direkt-Media Publ., 2008. (In Russian).
  • Sarkisova O. Screening Soviet Nationalities: Kulturfilms from the Far North to Central Asia. London; New York: I. B. Tauris, 2017. (In English).
  • Shlegel’ Kh.-Y. Nemetskie impul’sy dlia sovetskikh kul’turfil’mov 20 godov [German impulses for Soviet Culturfilms of the 20s]. Kinovedcheskie zapiski [Film history notes], 2002, no. 58. URL: http://www.kinozapiski.ru/ru/print/sendvalues/313 (accessed: 07.08.2021). (In Russian).
  • Sobolev V. G. [The Role of I. I. Zarubin in the Processes of National Demarcation in Central Asia in the 1920s]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of St. Petersburg State University. Ser. 6.], 2015, vol. 6, iss. 2, pp. 141–151. (In Russian).