Feudal villains or just rulers?: The contestation of historical narratives in eastern Xinjiang

Ildiko Beller-Hann

doi:10.1080/02634937.2012.723417

Feudal villains or just rulers? The contestation of historical narratives in eastern Xinjiang

Ildiko Beller-Hann

Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Focusing on representations of the Muslim dynasty that exercised power locally under the Qing dynasty until 1930 in the oasis of Qumul in eastern Xinjiang, this article challenges the binary notions of ‘official’ versus ‘unofficial’ discourse by looking at the production of historical knowledge on the ground. Versions of local histories are communicated both in censored publications and in informally transmitted oral narratives, which are not independent realms but in constant dialogue with each other. Produced at the interface of the oral and the written, these representations are laden with contradictions and ambiguities, portraying the Muslim dynasty sometimes as feudal exploiters, at other times as models of good governance. It will be shown how historical knowledge is produced at the junctures of the oral and the written, and of official and unofficial discourses.

Original language	English
Journal	Central Asian Survey
Volume	31
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	311-325
Number of pages	15
ISSN	0263-4937
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2012.723417
Publication status	Published - 3 Dec 2012

Keywords

Faculty of Humanities

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1080/02634937.2012.723417

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02634937.2012.723417

Cite this

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title = "Feudal villains or just rulers?: The contestation of historical narratives in eastern Xinjiang",

abstract = "Focusing on representations of the Muslim dynasty that exercised power locally under the Qing dynasty until 1930 in the oasis of Qumul in eastern Xinjiang, this article challenges the binary notions of {\textquoteleft}official{\textquoteright} versus {\textquoteleft}unofficial{\textquoteright} discourse by looking at the production of historical knowledge on the ground. Versions of local histories are communicated both in censored publications and in informally transmitted oral narratives, which are not independent realms but in constant dialogue with each other. Produced at the interface of the oral and the written, these representations are laden with contradictions and ambiguities, portraying the Muslim dynasty sometimes as feudal exploiters, at other times as models of good governance. It will be shown how historical knowledge is produced at the junctures of the oral and the written, and of official and unofficial discourses.",

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