TATARNESS REIMAGINED: LANGUAGE, MEMORY, AND IDENTITY IN POST-CIVIL WAR TAJIKISTAN

Abstract

This paper examines the transformation of ethnic identity among the Tatar community in Tajikistan in the wake of the Tajik Civil War. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it analyses how the war and subsequent dispersion and migration have reconfigured Tatar ethnic ties and fostered the emergence of a hybrid identity. The findings reveal a complex process of identity formation, where the loss of homeland and language intertwines with the development of a Tajikistani national identity and the experience of differentiation through labour migration. The paper argues that the Tatar community’s self-definition as ‘Tatar of Tajikistan’ epitomises the resilience of people navigating multiple contexts and transcending conventional categories of ethnicity and migration. It offers insights into the dynamics of identity politics amidst post-socialist transition and war.