History of Russian Muslims' Ideas in the Soviet and Turkish Scholarship
This survey examines the definition and scope of Jadidism and attempts to determine the basic characteristics of Soviet and Turkish scholarship in the field in order to achieve a better understanding of contemporary studies. Soviet studies varied in different periods but in general tended to see the intellectual history of the Muslims of Russia as a battle ground between progressives (enlighteners, democratic intelligentsia) and reactionaries (religious fanatics and pan- Turkist Jadids). Turkish scholarship, on the other hand, was made up mainly of the immigrant Turkic intellectuals and tended to focus on the pan-Turkist wing of the Jadids. It saw them as national liberators and progressive heroes. The collapse of the Soviet Union changed the parameters of the studies of the intellectual history of Turkic communities in Tsarist Russia. After the 1990s a larger body of young Turkish scholars interested in this field brought new perspectives, but still Turkish historiography has a Jadid-centered tendency that identifies almost all pre-Revolutionary Muslim intelligentsia as protagonists of progress and national liberation. Finally, this study presents a bibliography of books, articles, pamphlets and dissertations by Turkish scholars on the subject.
AHMET KANLIDERE
