Russian Tashkent in Satirical Poetry of the Early Twentieth Century

The article deals with the image of Tashkent as it appears in the Russian satirical poetry of the early 20th century. Initially, the article presents a review of sketches about Tashkent of that time made by travelers from the central part of Russia. The article emphasizes that the main feature of these works is the combination of Asian realities and features of the Russian province in the cultural image of Tashkent. Further, the comparison reveals the differences in the descriptions of Tashkent in the poems of visiting poets and Tashkent poets: while in the texts of the first category of authors there is a unity of Russian and Asian motifs, in the texts of Tashkent poets the city is portrayed as a typical Russian province. The central part of the article analyzes the poetic feuilletons of two satirical journals of the early last century, Turkestan Scorpion and Turkestan Kara-Kurt. The method of cataloging reveals the main components of the image of Tashkent of that period, which was portrayed by satirical poets (permanent residents of the city) as a provincial Russian city with minimal inclusions of Asian realities.