SUMMARY:

The author explores the “archeology of Central Asian nationalisms” by applying Faucauldian methodology to Russian scholars’ texts on Central Asia. The article surveys a selection of texts written in the last two centuries. First, the author analyzes the text by Filip Efremov, a late 18th century Russian soldier who spent several years in Bukhara. Efremov describes ethnic diversity of the Central Asian city without stressed references to ethnicity. His classifications of Uzbeks and Bukharians (Tadzhiks) are based on their social status or occupations. Next, the author addresses texts by N. A. Khanykov, a Russian mid-19th century scholar and diplomat. Unlike Efremov, Khanykov presents a more sophisticated classification of peoples populating Bukhara and makes a clear distinction between Uzbeks and Tadzhiks. Finally, the works by O. A. Sukhareva, Soviet ethographer of 1950s-1970s, are considered. Her analysis, deprived of visibly judgmental connotations, represents a modern stage in the classification of Central Asia nationalities and involves problems of national self-identification of diverse ethnic groups in Bukhara. The author concludes that it is the modern epoch that creates “the ethnic man”.