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- Russia and the Mongols: Conflict, Collaboration, and Cultural Transformation in Inner Asia
- CEUS-R 369/569
- Tristra Newyear
This course carries COLL S & H distribution credit
For centuries, Russians and Mongols have been more than mere neighbors. They have played integral parts in shaping each other’s histories and societies during several key periods: when the Mongols ruled what would later become Russia under the Golden Horde; when Russians and Mongols interacted during the Tsarist Empire period; when Russians entered the Mongolian homeland and established a new kind of government during the Mongolian Revolution; and as Mongolic groups struggled with their status as imperial subjects and today, as Soviet and post-Soviet citizens. Yet despite extensive contact, as cultures and societies, they remain radically different.
By examining these four crucial moments in the historical interaction between Russians and Mongols, we will attempt to understand a variety of issues, both specific to the region and its peoples and with broader implications for the human experience in general. We will examine what economic, political, and cultural impact the relations between these two societies had and continue to have, as well as what this might suggest about the relationship between divergent “civilizations” or groups. Are different groups doomed to conflict? What constitutes an invasion? Are invasions and occupations necessarily or solely negative phenomena? How do extremely different groups living side by side affect each other? What rights does a smaller group have vis-à-vis a larger, more powerful group? How can those rights be guaranteed, or need they be?
We will approach our subject from two angles, by examining primary source documents in detail and reading secondary historical narratives of the periods in question, all from a critical perspective and with an eye for evaluating our sources. In addition, we’ll watch several excerpts from films in class, to gain a broader understanding of the persistent images of these periods that continue to haunt us. Discussion of these sources will be supplemented by lectures designed to give historical background into the period, and context for understanding both the Russian and Mongol perspectives involved.
