Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies

The poetry and prose of the literary elite in Tajikistan took part in the strengthening of national myths as well as in the building of a national consciousness in Tajikistan before and after Perestroika. In Tajik literature of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, many defined the image of the “other” in their poetry and prose, namely Russia, Uzbekistan, and the city of Khujand. This paper expands Soviet-era kinship metaphors in Tajik poetry. Russia was seen as both a motherly figure and an evil step-mother. Neighboring Uzbekistan was portrayed as the evil step-father. And the city of Khujand, Tajikistan, was portrayed as a half-brother.