'They Will Long Remain as Free as the Wild Steeds of the Plains': Depictions of Kirghiz and Nomadic 'Freedom' in 19th Century Travel Writing

• In Event: To Write and to Roam: Ambiguous Liberations and the Travelogue

Abstract

This paper considers how the Kirghiz were depicted in 19th century travel writing about Central Asia by both Russian and Western European authors. The term "Kirghiz" was often applied indiscriminately by these Russian and European travelers and included people who referred to themselves, and are known today, as "Kazaks." But the term was always associated with nomadic lifestyles and the "Kirghiz" were frequently romanticized by travelers as freedom-loving, untameable but simple "children of nature." My paper will analyze the tension between this romanticization of Kirghiz freedom as an admirable trait and the accompanying anxiety about whether and how they could be incorporated into the Russian Empire as settled subjects. I also consider how this idea of nomadic freedom reflected Russian travelers' own identities and perceptions of their empire throughout the 19th century.

Author

• Hana Connelly Stankova, Yale U