Nyd den ubegrænsede adgang til tusindvis af spændende e- og lydbøger - helt gratis
The Caucasus region of Eurasia, wedged in between the Black and Caspian Seas, encompasses the modern territories of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as the troubled republic of Chechnya in southern Russia. A site of invasion, conquest, and resistance since the onset of historical record, it has earned a reputation for fearsome violence and isolated mountain redoubts closed to outsiders. Over extended efforts to control the Caucasus area, Russians have long mythologized stories of their countrymen taken captive by bands of mountain brigands.
In The Captive and the Gift, the anthropologist Bruce Grant explores the long relationship between Russia and the Caucasus and the means by which sovereignty has been exercised in this contested area. Taking his lead from Aleksandr Pushkin's 1822 poem "Prisoner of the Caucasus," Grant explores the extraordinary resonances of the themes of violence, captivity, and empire in the Caucasus through mythology, poetry, short stories, ballet, opera, and film.
Grant argues that while the recurring Russian captivity narrative reflected a wide range of political positions, it most often and compellingly suggested a vision of Caucasus peoples as thankless, lawless subjects of empire who were unwilling to acknowledge and accept the gifts of civilization and protection extended by Russian leaders. Drawing on years of field and archival research, Grant moves beyond myth and mass culture to suggest how real-life Caucasus practices of exchange, by contrast, aimed to control and diminish rather than unleash and increase violence.
The result is a historical anthropology of sovereign forms that underscores how enduring popular narratives and close readings of ritual practices can shed light on the management of pluralism in long-fraught world areas.
© 2016 Cornell University Press (E-bog): 9781501702860
Udgivelsesdato
E-bog: 15. maj 2016
Over 600.000 titler
Download og nyd titler offline
Eksklusive titler + Mofibo Originals
Børnevenligt miljø (Kids Mode)
Det er nemt at opsige når som helst
For dig som lytter og læser ofte.
1 konto
100 timer/måned
Eksklusivt indhold hver uge
Fri lytning til podcasts
Ingen binding
For dig som lytter og læser ubegrænset.
1 konto
Ubegrænset adgang
Eksklusivt indhold hver uge
Fri lytning til podcasts
Ingen binding
For dig som ønsker at dele historier med familien.
2-6 konti
100 timer/måned pr. konto
Fri lytning til podcasts
Kun 39 kr. pr. ekstra konto
Ingen binding
2 konti
179 kr. /månedFor dig som vil prøve Mofibo.
1 konto
20 timer/måned
Gem op til 100 ubrugte timer
Eksklusivt indhold hver uge
Fri lytning til podcasts
Ingen binding
Dansk
Danmark