The Aryan myth in the nationalisms of modern Tatarstan

The features of the functioning of the Aryan myth in the nationalisms of the Republic of Tatarstan, the subject of Russian Federation, are analyzed. The spread of this myth in the post-Soviet space is ascertained. According to the author, this problem is insufficiently studied on the materials of Tatarstan. In solving the research problem, an appeal to the Aryan myth by representatives of the Bulgarian, Tatar, Kryashen and Russian nationalisms has been identified. As part of "Bulgarism" the Aryan myth is used by M. Z. Zakiev, F.G.-Kh. Nurutdinov and others to overcome the autochthonism of the Volga Bulgars (one of the ancestors of the Kazan Tatars) and to search for prestigious ancestors and large government entities of Eurasia in the Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The author hypothesized that the "Bulgarists" borrowed the basic elements of the myth from Russian neo-pagans nationalists and "processed" them. "Aryanism" in the Tatar nationalism can be a potential alternative or complement to the myth of the Golden Horde, but up to the present it was not widely actualized in this discourse (R.S. Khakimov, V.M. Lantsov, K.M. Ziatdinov and others). Kryashen historians and publicists (M.S. Glukhov, V.A. Maksimov) used the Aryan myth to justify the fact that the Kryashens was an ancient independent people with a non-tatar ethnogenesis. The Russian version of the Aryan myth in research works, journalism and museum exhibitions of Tatarstan is unexpectedly broadly presented. The academic apologist of the Aryan myth and Hyperborea is Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Irina A. Gataullina. Arguing in the framework of traditionalism, the former communist ideologist retells the myths of contemporary Russian neo-pagans in her articles, and reproduces them in the textbook History (Kazan, 2014) intended for students. The textbook also describes ancient aircrafts, on which the Atlanteans and the Hyperboreans allegedly made intercontinental flights; views of racists J.A. Gobineau, G. Wirth, R. Guenon and othes; polycentricity close to polygenism - the idea of human races as different biological species, Slavs as "defenders of Troy", etc. In Tatarstan, the Aryan myth is also promoted in articles and interviews of the journalist G. Zaynullina. In the author's opinion, a wide popularization of the artist K. Vasiliev, whose museum was opened in the most lively and attractive for a tourists street in the center of Kazan, can contribute to a more massive expansion of the Aryan myth. The author made a conclusion about the use of the Aryan myth as a tool in the nationalisms of modern Tatarstan. It is interesting for amateur and professional historians. The latter defended their theses (often in the Soviet period) on the problems of the history of the 20th century, and appealed to ancient times, including the Aryan myth in the 1990s and the 2000s. The danger of actualization of the Aryan myth from the referred sources in Russian political discourse is stated.

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