Kyrgyzstan's 'manas' epos millennium celebrations : post-colonial resurgence of Turkic culture and the strategic marketing of cultural tourism

Thompson, Karen and Schofield, Peter and Foster, Nicola and Bakieva, Gulnara; Picard, David and Robinson, Mike, eds. (2006) Kyrgyzstan's 'manas' epos millennium celebrations : post-colonial resurgence of Turkic culture and the strategic marketing of cultural tourism. In: Festivals, Tourism and Social Change. Channel View Publications, Clevedon, pp. 172-190. ISBN 9781845410476

[thumbnail of strathprints007660]
Preview
 Text. Filename: strathprints007660.pdf
Accepted Author Manuscript
Download (198kB)| Preview

Abstract

The paper addresses the symbolic nature of the Manas epos and its influence on both the unification of Kyrgyzstan and the enhancement of the country's national and Turkic identity. The case of the Manas epos millennium celebrations event is then used to illustrate the relationship between the uses of the Manas 'legend' in the construction of a national identity and in the positioning of the cultural tourism product. The paper subsequently assess the potential usefulness of the Manas epos in the creation of a destination image for Kyrgyzstan and in the positioning of Kyrgyzstan in the global tourism marketplace.

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)