Feeling of Membership of the Tribe in Present-Day Kazakhstan

Author: Umbetalijeva, Tolganay

Source: Anthropology of the Middle East, Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2008 , pp. 82-91(10)

Publisher: Berghahn Journals

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Abstract:

This article is devoted to an investigation of the 'feeling of membership' of certain subtribes and tribes that is typical of the cultural and social memory of traditional Kazakhs. Our empirical study found that people in present-day Kazakhstan are strongly interested in their social and historical roots and traditions and in a sense of tribal (zhuzal) belonging. This tendency is most probably a result of the necessity for Kazakhs to find a new self-identification, as the old one has been destroyed. Along with the development of traditional values, there has been a growth of Western innovations and cultural values in Kazakh society. We examine the interlacing of old values and ideas with new motives and ways of social activity, a process that has affected societal behaviour in everyday life.

Keywords: FEELING OF MEMBERSHIP; KAZAKHS; MYTHS; SELF-IDENTIFICATION; SUBTRIBE; TRADITIONS; TRIBE; ZHUZ

Document Type: Short communication

DOI: 10.3167/ame.2008.030108

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