“Blessed Idlers” or “Indolent Loafers”: the Stereotype of Crimean Tatar Laziness in Russian and Foreign Mind in the Late of the 18th and 19th Centuries

Abstract

This paper discusses the origin and evolution of the stereotype of “laziness” of the Crimean Tatars, which appeared in Russian and foreign travel writings from the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It has been shown that this stereotype was a product of Western “armchair” knowledge of the Enlightenment, which produced the ideas of “terrestrial paradise” in faraway countries where lived the “noble savages”. Applying it to what was seen in the Crimea, the writers and scientists ignored the specificities of Muslim ethics and political-economic developments in the region. The reflections on the Crimean residents were sometimes influenced by subjective circumstances, such as conflicts with Tatars concerning the possession of land properties. The stereotype of “Tatar sloth” quickly established itself in public mind. It had real political consequences, as it influenced the actions of the government and private persons. Perhaps this stereotype was among the reasons why the integration of the Crimea into the Russian empire took a very long time.