Dagestan: The Mountain and the Wall (Alisa Ganieva, trans. Carol Apollonio)
Background: Oh man – I have learned so much from this book! I think most Westerners think Russia is one country….but it basically isn’t. Technically it’s a federation, which includes a number of “states,” as well as number of essentially separate countries (22), with their own constitutions and independence, that just recognize Putin. I had no idea! Dagestan, which borders Georgia and Azerbaijan, is one of these “countries.” Since reading this book, the government was actually dissolved on February 5, 2018 and the whole area is currently under the direct control of the Russian government. Historically, Islam was adopted in the region early on (c.1000 AD) and Christianity was almost entirely gone by the 15th century. From the 16th to the 19th centuries , the area was under the alternating rule of the Persians and the Russians, although the mountainous regions had a fair amount of autonomy. During the first few decades of the 19th century, power was solidified into the hands of the Russians, although not without a good deal of civil unrest. From 1917-1921, the region declared its independence from Russia as the United Mountain Dwellers of the North Caucasus, until Russia forcefully added it to the Soviet State.
This book, the first ever published in English from the region, is really remarkable. Ganieva, the author, is from the region, although she went to Moscow to study literature at the Gorky Literature Institute, and has now become a critic. Dagestan is one of the most heterogenous regions of the Russian Federation, with a population of 3 million. The region comprises a few dozen ethnic groups, with their own traditions, religions, and language, none of which have a majority. Since the 1990s, there has been a significant increase in Islamic insurgency, with a significant amount of ethnic tension between traditional Sufi groups which advocate for secular government, and Salafist groups that want the implementation of sharia law within Dagestan. Ganieva’s choice to write about this particular situation is a courageous one; since Putin came to power, 123 journalists have been killed. Perhaps her courage stems from her success: she was on the under-25 Debut Prize in 2009 for her novella Salam Dalgat!.
The story has a magical realist thread, although it is not developed very fully, in which characters visit Rokhel-Meer, a magical mountain village representing a sort of utopian view of Dagestan amidst the turmoil below. The story generally follows Shamil, a cog who is not really an activist for either side, but disenchanted with the assimilationists and the religious zealots. As tensions rise, a rumor circulates that a Wall is being built to separate the Caucasus from Russia, cell service is cut off, and many important men suddenly disappear. Although there is never real confirmation of the Wall, the capital city slowly descends into chaos and violence, and unexpected characters, including Shamil’s former fiancée, suddenly come out of the woodwork as religious conservatives. Without giving away too much, I highly recommend this book. It is a really fascinating look into a culture I think most people are totally ignorant of, and it examines in depth the problem of Islamic extremism outside of the West.
