Tracing Tradition: Discourses and Practices in the Soviet Union and the Contemporary Caucasus

Dr. Julie Fairbanks, assistant professor of anthropology at Coe College, will lecture Tuesday April 10th. In this presentation, Fairbanks considers the ways that Adygs (also known as Circassians), a people living in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, have been talking and writing about their traditions since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Soviet-era discourse forms the backdrop to the contemporary reading of tradition, and Fairbanks traces connections between present discussions and Soviet ideas about tradition, examining how and why traditions matter for Adygs today. Sponsored by LACE.