This talk introduces two interlinked theoretical concepts through which to analyse decolonial cultural movements in Central Asia (and potentially beyond), especially those concerned with ecocritical themes. It first proposes the conceptual framework of “retroactive anticolonialism” as a marker of the recent turn in Central Asian cultures towards postcolonial revisionism and activism. Building on ecocriticism and ecomusicology, I further propose the concept of “post-Soviet ecopoetics” – the ecomusical language of environmental solidarity – as a particularly potent decolonial manifestation of Central Asia’s supraethnic retroactive anticolonialism. As a primary case-study, among other examples, I will analyse the ecopoetics of Hamid Ismailov’s novella The Dead Lake (2015), showing how inextricably it intertwines identity, nature and music. While uniquely shaped by Kazakh flora and fauna, as well as the local traditions of akyr zaman, zar zaman and aitys, this ecomusical language transcends the boundaries of nationality and citizenship, and evokes solidarity with the various human and non-human beings, and landscapes of Central Asia. As such, ‘post-Soviet ecopoetics’ exemplifies how retroactive anticolonialism in Central Asian cultures moves beyond the binaries of colonising centre vs. colonised periphery, dominant language vs. local languages, human vs. non-human, and proposes a truly inclusive, locally developed decolonial vision in the post-Soviet space.

During the talk, a sandwich lunch and coffee will be served.

Tamar Koplatadze is Associate Professor of Postsocialist Literature and Culture at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Postcolonial Identities in Central Asian and Caucasian Literature (OUP), the first monograph on postcolonial literature from the Caucasus and Central Asia. Her current book, Post-Soviet Ecopoetics examines ecocritical culture from the former post-Soviet space, notably Central Asia and Siberia. Dr Koplatadze's other contributions include the prize-winning article ‘Theorising Russian Postcolonial Studies’ and appearances on public platforms including the BBC.