Creating a Tatar Capital: National, Cultural, and Linguistic Space in Kazan, 1920-1941
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CREATING A TATAR CAPITAL: NATIONAL, CULTURAL, AND LINGUISTIC SPACE IN KAZAN, 1920-1941 Gary Guadagnolo A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Donald J. Raleigh Louise McReynolds Susan Pennybacker Chad Bryant Eren Tasar © 2016 Gary Guadagnolo ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Gary Guadagnolo: Creating a Tatar Capital: National, Cultural, and Linguistic Space in Kazan, 1920-1941 (Under the direction of Donald J. Raleigh) This dissertation examines the introduction and implementation of Soviet nationalities policies among Russians and Tatars in the city of Kazan, an important cultural, educational, and industrial capital in the heart of Soviet Russia. Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and the creation of the Tatar Republic in 1920, Kazan functioned as a laboratory in which Party-state authorities experimented with incorporating national minorities into the new socialist society under construction. Soviet nationalities policies allowed Tatars to pursue educational, political, and social opportunities denied them under the tsarist regime. Initiatives such as korenizatsiia (indigenization) and the “Realization of the Tatar Language” sought to bring national minorities into the mainstream of Soviet life by recruiting and training them to work in local Party-state apparatuses, industrial enterprises, and academic institutions. Supporting native cadres would make Soviet power seem indigenous, rather than something imposed by a new form of Russian colonialism. While these endeavors constantly ran into various roadblocks, over time they did attain some success in promoting indigenous minorities into positions of authority within the local Party-state apparatus, giving them an active role in shaping their own system of rule. Speaking to the fields of nationalities studies and urban history, this dissertation shows how residents of Kazan navigated ethnolinguistic differences and political changes in the physical and cultural spaces around them in order to create their own sense of belonging within a iii new kind of city, a Tatar capital whose public spaces reflected its diverse population. The first three chapters analyze the education, training, and employment of Tatars in schools, universities, and factories. The last three chapters discuss the evolution of Tatar culture, namely its expression in theater, architecture, and public festivals, as a product of I. V. Stalin’s famous dictum that Soviet minorities’ culture be “national in form and socialist in content.” Ultimately, I argue that urban space mediated how residents experienced, articulated, and responded to Soviet nationalities policies, leading to a new understanding of the place and purpose of Tatars and their traditions in Kazan. iv To EV, WD, DJR, AA, and many other teachers and mentors who guided me along the way v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Despite all the hours I have spent staring at a computer screen alone in my office, I have no doubt that research is a fundamentally communal process. A host of friends, colleagues, and advisors sustained me as I labored over this project. It is my pleasure to thank many of these people for their roles in bringing this dissertation to fruition. I am particularly grateful to my mentor, Donald J. Raleigh, for his unflagging encouragement and support over the past seven years, manifested in comments on hundreds of drafts of various articles, chapters, and grant proposals, as well as a pat on the back or a kick in the rear, depending on what I needed at the time. I can say conclusively that working with Don was a gift like no other, and I am a better scholar and person for it. I am likewise thankful for the rest of my dissertation committee–Louise McReynolds, Chad Bryant, Susan Pennybacker, and Eren Tasar–and the opportunities they gave me to learn from their expertise. I must thank too other faculty across a number of institutions for their contributions, big and small, to this project: Mustafa Tuna, Michael Tsin, Ben Eklof, Julie deGraffenried, Wallace Daniel, Michael Long, and Betsy Vardaman. Many generous sources of funding enabled me to conduct research for this dissertation, including the New York Public Library Short Term Fellowship, Foreign Language Area Studies and Title VIII language study awards for Russian and Tatar, the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Award, and the Title VIII Research Scholar and Combined Research and Language Training Programs, supported by the U.S. State Department, Title VIII Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and administered by vi American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS. I appreciate in particular how these resources enabled me to connect with many scholars and colleagues in Russia who profoundly shaped my research, most notably A. A. Sal’nikova and S. Iu. Malysheva, my advisors at Kazan Federal University; I. I. Khanipova and A. G. Galliamova from the Institute of History of the Republic of Tatarstan’s Academy of Sciences; and A. Sh. Iusupova, G. A. Nabiullina, E. N. Denmukhametova, and K. S. Fatkhullova, my wonderful Tatar language instructors. Special thanks goes to the extremely supportive archivists and staff at the National Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Central State Archive of Historical-Political Documentation, the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books at Kazan Federal University’s Lobachevsky Library, the Archive of the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, and the Museum of History at Kazan State Architectural and Construction University. In particular, the resourcefulness and knowledge of L. V. Khuzeeva and L. Z. Khasanshina–not to mention daily tea breaks with them–proved so crucial to carrying out my work during long days in the archives. Wonderful friendships, new and old alike, helped to buoy me during many research stints in Russia. I can only say the biggest spasibo (and rakhmat) to Ildar and Aygul Ayupov, Gena and Fatima Andreev, Anton Novik, Simon Kravchenko, Sergei Kazakovtsev, Aidar Gatin, Marat and El’vira Bagautdinov, Alina Usmanova, Artem Krest’ianikov, Nastya Fedotova, and Denis Kolesnikov, who opened their homes (and banyas) to me, demonstrated impressive patience as I stumbled through and eventually refined my Russian and Tatar language skills, provided great insights into that elusive “Russian soul,” and became lifelong friends. Many colleagues and friends at UNC helped to make Chapel Hill a home for many years and comprised a wonderful community of scholars, including Emily Baran, Mike Paulauskas, Dan Giblin, Stephen Riegg, vii Adrianne Jacobs, and Audra Yoder. Greg Mole helped me keep local coffee shops in business as we wrote our dissertations and has been a wonderful friend since we first arrived on campus. Beyond the walls of the university, many friends and family, too many to name, have cheered me on along this journey. Fellow scholar Trey Guinn deserves credit for keeping me laughing and reminding me why I became so passionate about higher education in the first place. My parents Tony and Beverly have supported me in every possible way since I first began this journey with a trip to Russia in 2006; finally introducing them to the people and places in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kazan that have so profoundly influenced me was a real highlight of my graduate school career. Last but not least, I must thank my wife Catherine (the Great). Her love, patience, and dedication endured many months apart as I finished my research in Russia and always kept me grounded and joyful. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 Kazan: Gateway to Empire ..................................................................................................4 Historiography ...................................................................................................................16 Framework .........................................................................................................................23 CHAPTER 1: BETWEEN RHETORIC AND REALITY: LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION IN KAZAN SCHOOLS .....................................................................................26 Imperial Legacies ...............................................................................................................27 Muslim Education in the Soviet Context ...........................................................................33 Bolsheviks and Native Language Education .....................................................................40 Russian Language and Tatar Schools ................................................................................47 Russification Revisited? .....................................................................................................54 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................58 CHAPTER 2: SEPARATE BUT EQUAL? NATIONALITY POLICIES IN KAZAN VUZY ......................................................................................................61 Fleeing the Shadow of Empire ...........................................................................................63 Workers’ Faculties .............................................................................................................70