Etnokul’turnaia spetsifika kyrgyzstanskikh i afganskikh kirgizov: sravnitel’nyi analiz

Abstract

The article discusses the changes in the Kyrgyz culture that have taken place after the breakdown of the USSR. The author compares the Kyrgyz people living as the major ethnic group in Kyrgyzstan with the Kyrgyz people living as ethnic minorities in adjacent countries such as Afghanistan, China, and Tajikistan. He attempts to examine whether certain principal cultural elements have the same signifi cance for the Kyrgyz living in Kyrgyzstan and those living in other countries. The article draws on fi eld research conducted mainly in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, but also employs data obtained from the study of China’s and Tajikistan’s Kyrgyz.