“Muslim Eurasia” Opens Tatarstan for Europeans

 
17.12.2015
 
Department of History
 
Alfrid Bustanov

Original article: Web-magazine “Realnoe vremya” [“Real Time”] (in Russian) 

A new book series “Islamskaia Evraziia [Muslim Eurasia],” (Amsterdam University Press) aims to provide accessible information about the history and culture of the Muslims of Russia. The editorial board of the series includes world-renowned Islamic studies experts: Michael Kemper from Holland, Paolo Sartori from Austria, Michael Reynolds from the United States, and Alfrid Bustanov, a professor at the European University at St. Petersburg who presented the details of the project in an article written especially for “Realnoe vremya.”  

Our People in Remote Amsterdam

Muslim culture in Russia has recently attracted a lot of attention both in our country and abroad. One of the clearest indicators of this interest is the regular stream of young foreign researchers who come to Kazan each year to work on their dissertations. This is to be expected: the multi-faceted cultural experience of the peoples of our country undoubtedly demands reverent and careful attention. It is, after all, substantial cultural capital, easily convertible into tourist and investment attractiveness.  

In crafting a worthy presentation of cultural heritage, a cheap popular image of folk culture (as in the Soviet tradition where everything and everyone is reduced to rural folklore) is insufficient. Combining an academic approach with accessible language is the key to success in popularizing scholarly knowledge for a general reading audience, especially at the international level.  

The new book series “Muslim Eurasia,” begun by the Amsterdam University Press, aims to support the demand for information about the history and culture of the Muslims of Russia that is simultaneously well founded and accessible. The series’ editorial board consists of world-renowned experts in Islamic studies: Michael Kemper from Holland, Paolo Sartori from Austria, Michael Reynolds from the United States, as well as the author of this article.  

The mission of the new book series is to create an interdisciplinary forum for studying history, religion and politics in Eurasia. This may take the form of monographs or peer-reviewed dissertations, as well as ready-to-print books, textbooks, critical editions and translations of important sources in relevant languages (Tatar and other Turkic languages, Persian, Arabic, and Russian). Furthermore, contributions are welcomed from anyone involved in comparative and theoretical studies related to the field. The chronological scope spans both the modern era and key eras of the past. We are currently planning to publish books on the history of the Golden Horde, inter-regional intellectual relations between Dagestani and Tatar theologians, and studies of the Russian language of Islam. We look forward to working with colleagues in Tatarstan, given the rich tradition of the study of the city of Bolgar, the Tatar epigraphic tradition and valuable founts of Arabic manuscripts housed in the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.  

Why is the University of Amsterdam going to publish books about Islam in Russia? Today, of course, Islam is a hot and very politicized topic. Many discuss it, though often without the experience of working with primary sources in history and the present. This academic approach, oriented toward original source material, forms the basis of the field for studying Islam in Russia. It was developed at the University of Amsterdam and is now at the European University at St. Petersburg, where, in the fall of 2014, a named professorship in the history of the Muslim peoples of Russia was opened with support from the TAIF Company. The “Muslim Eurasia” book series is one of the projects of the professorship, which actively collaborates with foreign Islamic studies centers.  

TAIF Professorship Projects  

The TAIF Professorship is the only center in the country aimed both at teaching and the academic study of the history of the Muslims of Russia. The work of the professorship is carried out in an international context that involves activities with foreign colleagues and the publication of results in leading international journals and publications. The organization of fieldwork expeditions, conferences, seminars and round tables in close collaboration with academic institutions in the Republic of Tatarstan is planned within the framework of the professorship. Masters and post-graduate students receive a solid stipend, participate in academic projects and write dissertations on the history of Islam in Russia. The professorship is intended to overcome the insularity of regional schools through the study of local forms of Islam and to see the historical processes on top of modern borders.   Among the activities conducted by the TAIF Professorship in conjunction with Leiden University (Netherlands), it’s necessary to mention the international conference on the history of the Golden Horde, as well as the first Summer School on “Islam in Russia: Muslim Education, Ideological Trends, Contemporary Islamic Texts,” organized through Kazan Federal University. Such events will be held regularly, which will take interest in Russia’s Islamic heritage to a new level and attract international expertise to a particularly Russian context.  

Alfrid Bustanov

  • TAIF Professor in the History of the Muslim Peoples of Russia, European University at St. Petersburg.
  • Academic degree: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, University of Amsterdam).
  • Research interests: the history of Islam in Northern Eurasia, Eastern Studies in Russia and the Soviet Union, Tatar history and literature.
  • Graduated with honors from Omsk State University (Department of History) in 2009 and completed graduate studies in the Department of Eastern European Studies at the University of Amsterdam in 2013.
  • Author of five monographs in Russian, Tatar and English and close to 40 scholarly articles.