The Caucasus Beyond the Mythical White Person
From the vantage point of the peoples colonized by Russian rule
High in the mountains running along the border between Azerbaijan and Georgia, in the garrison town of Zaqatala, former outpost of the famed Imam Shamil who in the mid-nineteenth century led the longest resistance to Russian rule, I meet an elderly woman crossing the street.
“Come inside and drink some tea with me,” she said. “I have lived in this town all my life,” she explains. “I have pictures to show you. I will tell you the history of everything.”
Stifled Voices
When conflict in the Caucasus leads journalists to turn to literary sources in search of new perspectives, Pushkin, Lermontov, and Tolstoy are always ready at hand. Yet, for every Russian source that is invoked, a source indigenous to the Caucasus is neglected. Narratives in non-Russian languages and based on non-Russian experiences are suppressed.
What does the Caucasus look like from the perspective of these suppressed narratives? What do the stories that never traveled to Moscow or St. Petersburg, let alone to Europe…
