Pamiri Lifeworlds: Memory and Rupture in Gorno-Badakhshon Autonomous Oblast, Tajikistan - Paperback

by Fiona Katherine Naeem (Author)

Living through imperial border disputes resulting in the separation of many communities and families, Pamiris find themselves surrounded by rupture, both in memory and contemporary situations in this transborder mountainous region, divided since 1895 by British and Russian imperial border demarcation. This monograph, drawing from ethnographic interviews with Pamiris from Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), Tajikistan collected between 2021 and 2023, investigates how Pamiris continue to respond to rupture, using memories of past ruptures to position themselves within their own cartography of Pamir. Ordered chronologically, this monograph begins with memories of pre-demarcation Pamir and moves through the Soviet period to independence and the Civil War, coming to contemporary Pamir's reconnection with the Ismaili Imamat and global Jamat through the work of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). For some, the memory of rupture takes the form of (im)mobility and a fear of coming too close to the border, while others turn to creativity to make sense of the ruptures around them. Through oral narrations and material artefacts, Pamiris learn, feel, and recreate a Pamiri cultural identity which provides continuity in times of rupture, helping younger generations to experience the interconnection of the lifeworld in which they find themselves and, ultimately, imagining Pamir through emotion and memory.

Author Biography

Fiona Katherine Naeem, Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin, Germany.