The construction of north Caucasian mythology

Abstract

This article looks at the causes and the mechanism behind the process of mythologizing the history of the peoples of the North Caucasus, which was initiated by the collapse of the Soviet historical paradigm. It is pointed out that after the collapse of the USSR, many pieces of research came out, where the authors turn to history in order to manipulate public consciousness and, therefore, behavior. We analyze the reasons for the process of mythologizing the history of the peoples of the North Caucasus, connected with the historical memory of peoples and opportunistic political considerations. Ethnic versions of historical events attempting to rethink the problems of the origin and settlement of peoples (substantiation of claims on territories, idealization and search for “great ancestors”), as well as problems related to the tragic moments of the history of the peoples of the North Caucasus - the Caucasian war of the 19th century, following resettlement to the Ottoman Empire - mahadzhirstvo, deportation to Central Asia during the Great Patriotic War (trying to create the image of a fighter for the interests of the people and in order to gain material compensation, members of nationalist movements represent the resettlement of the mountaineers as genocide). It is shown that a serious research of historical problems is replaced by politically justified study in order to ideologically substantiate claims to the material resources of national elites. The article concludes that historical myths, created on the basis of glorification of national originality, false analogies, and distortion of historical facts, contribute to the politicization of the history of the North Caucasus, influence the world outlook of people, provoke wars based on historical memory, and ethnic conflicts