To each its own horse! National identities and horse breeds in former USSR (with examples from Turkmen, Kirghiz, and Yakut)

International audience This article deals with the different ways horse breeds have been used to build and reaffirm an essentialist definition of ethnos in several countries from the former USSR. The main hypothesis is that the existence of a specific horse breed can be viewed as an additional crite...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ferret, Carole
Other Authors: Laboratoire d'anthropologie sociale (LAS), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:French
Published: HAL CCSD 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hal.science/hal-01892908
https://hal.science/hal-01892908/document
https://hal.science/hal-01892908/file/Ferret%202011b.pdf
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Summary:International audience This article deals with the different ways horse breeds have been used to build and reaffirm an essentialist definition of ethnos in several countries from the former USSR. The main hypothesis is that the existence of a specific horse breed can be viewed as an additional criterion of a human community, along with language, territory and other cultural markers. During Soviet times, new horse breeds were created, such as the “Novo-Kirghiz” by crossing existing breeds from different parts of the Soviet Union in order to “ameliorate” them (i. e. enhance their productivity). A “new horse” has to be produced for “the new man”. After the dislocation of the USSR, national horse breeds have been promoted as national emblems. Turkmen horse is supposed to be the ancestor of all thoroughbreds. Yakut horse may reaffirm autochthony for Sakha people. The reinvention of the Kirghiz horse contributes to the development of ecotourism in Kyrgyzstan. The article ends with general reflections about the concept of identity. L’article traite de la manière dont les races de chevaux ont été utilisées pour construire et affirmer une définition essentialiste de l’ètnos dans plusieurs pays de l’ex-URSS. L’hypothèse principale est que l’existence d’une race équine “nationale” peut être considérée comme un critère de définition d’une communauté humaine, en même temps que la langue, le territoire et autres marqueurs culturels. A l’époque soviétique ont été créées de nouvelles races de chevaux, telles que le Novokirgiz “Nouveau kirghize”, en croisant plusieurs races originaires de différentes régions de l’Union afin de les “améliorer” (i. e. augmenter leur productivité). Il fallait produire un “cheval nouveau” pour un “homme nouveau”. Après la dislocation de l’URSS, plusieurs races équines ont été érigées en emblèmes nationaux. Le cheval turkmène est censé être l’ancêtre de tous les pur-sang. Le cheval iakoute est utilisé comme garant de l’autochtonie des Sakhas. La réinvention du cheval kirghize contribue au ...