Search Results
Abstract
The article explores popular rituals among residents of a poor neighbourhood in Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. It focuses on the activities of Uyghur healers who mediate between humans and the spirit world. These inspirational practices are so thoroughly intertwined with Islamic symbols and assumptions that simply to label them shamanistic is inadequate and certainly unacceptable to the actors themselves. The efflorescence of healing activities among the Uyghur in the changed political and economic climate of post-Soviet Central Asia demonstrates continuities with past practices, which have some of their roots in ancestor cults. Invention of tradition is compatible with inventive strategies on the part of the healers, who are competing in a lucrative market. The success of individual healers depends on a number of interrelated factors, including intra-group divisions in the Uyghur diaspora in Kazakhstan, particularly that which separates early arrivals from more recent migrants.
anthropology. Giving substance to the concept of tradition which modern Uyghurs invoke when constructing their collective identity, Bellér-Hann's study also has implications for contemporary analyses of inter-ethnic relations in this sensitive region.
anthropology. Giving substance to the concept of tradition which modern Uyghurs invoke when constructing their collective identity, Bellér-Hann's study also has implications for contemporary analyses of inter-ethnic relations in this sensitive region.
Contributors include: Ildikó Bellér-Hann, Rahile Dawut, Arienne Dwyer, Fredrik Fällman, Chris Hann, Dilmurat Mahmut, Takahiro Onuma, Alexandre Papas, Eric Schluessel, Birgit Schlyter, Joanne Smith Finley, Rune Steenberg Jun Sugawara, Äsäd Sulaiman, Abdurishid Yakup, Thierry Zarcone.
Contributors include: Ildikó Bellér-Hann, Rahile Dawut, Arienne Dwyer, Fredrik Fällman, Chris Hann, Dilmurat Mahmut, Takahiro Onuma, Alexandre Papas, Eric Schluessel, Birgit Schlyter, Joanne Smith Finley, Rune Steenberg Jun Sugawara, Äsäd Sulaiman, Abdurishid Yakup, Thierry Zarcone.