American Journal of Sociological Research

p-ISSN: 2166-5443    e-ISSN: 2166-5451

2019;  9(2): 15-19

doi:10.5923/j.sociology.20190902.01

 

Role of Television in the Consolidation of the Tajik Nation

Sarfarozova Nazira

Institute of Philosophy, Political Science and Law, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan

Correspondence to: Sarfarozova Nazira, Institute of Philosophy, Political Science and Law, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan.

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Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Scientific & Academic Publishing.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract

The article is devoted to the role of the media, primarily television, in the development of national identity in Tajik society. In this regard, the author explores the economic, socio-political, cultural factors that contribute to the consolidation of the nation, as well as negative factors such as the phenomenon of clan and clan relations, related marriages and others that negatively affect the formation of the national identity of the Tajik people.

Keywords: Self-consciousness, Identity, Nation, Television, Media, Related marriages, Clan relations, Nation consolidation

Cite this paper: Sarfarozova Nazira, Role of Television in the Consolidation of the Tajik Nation, American Journal of Sociological Research, Vol. 9 No. 2, 2019, pp. 15-19. doi: 10.5923/j.sociology.20190902.01.

Article Outline

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, our country, along with other former Soviet republics, became an independent state. However, shortly after the acquisition of state independence, a civil fratricidal war began in the country, the main cause of which, along with socio-economic and geo-strategic problems, is attributed by researchers to cronyism and localism common among the local population of the country. By the way, this phenomenon from time immemorial hindered not only the national integration of the Tajiks, but also progress. For example, H. Kuddusov, analyzing this problem, concludes that the main cause of the socio-political crisis and the civil war in Tajikistan in the early 90s of the 20th century is associated with a low culture of the population and regionalism. (3.С.91) Touching on this painful topic, another researcher H. Dodikhudoev asks the question: “Why did the Tajiks, who actually stood at the origins of Central Asian civilization and as a single people, have been formed before all other ethnic groups in this region for more than a thousand years? Had their own state? ” Answering his own question, the scientist notes that localism and regionalism were the main reason for the political disunity of Tajiks and their lack of a national state. (1. P.34) as for the causes of the phenomenon of regionalism itself, this problem has been widely and comprehensively studied hand domestic and foreign authors.
Thus, according to PD. Representatives of some orders of Sufism (7.C.49) contributed to the spread of this phenomenon, who built their monasteries in various localities, around and near which settlements of their followers gradually formed. Localism as a social norm among Tajiks persisted even in the Soviet period, as evidenced by the widespread practice in the Soviet Tajikistan of the distribution of power in accordance with this tradition. Moreover, it can be said that the tradition of localism was encouraged by the central Soviet government and served for it as an important means of preserving the loyalty of local authorities to it, that is, central.
In general, some researchers suggest that the Soviet government during the life of I.V. Stalin acted on the principle of "divide and conquer" that this trend continued in all subsequent years of the Soviet Union. For example, the secretary of the Central Committee of Tajikistan was traditionally appointed from among those party leaders who were born in the north of the republic, and the prime minister and minister of internal affairs were usually chosen from those who were born in the southeast.
With the acquisition of state and political independence, this phenomenon gradually disappears from state practice and politics. To prevent and eradicate it, appropriate measures are taken up to the adoption of legal acts that regard this phenomenon as a criminal offense and an unlawful act. According to Article 189 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, incitement to national, racial, religious, and local hatred and hostility is considered a crime and is punishable by five years in prison (4.С.94). However, to completely eradicate this undesirable flaw in Tajik society, only the adoption and application of legal measures is insufficient, since criminal laws, as is well known, only fight against the manifestations of flaws. Here, we are talking about finding and eliminating sacramental and spiritual sources, and the reasons from which this flaw begins and grows. Therefore, as noted by domestic researchers who are studying this problem, to eradicate parochialism and its negative consequences, optimal and effective scientific methods should be used, especially the methods of Western European researchers. With regard to the problem of reviving and strengthening national identity and unity, to solve this problem, in our opinion, the most appropriate methods are constructivism and innovation. As the Tajik researcher Kh.U. Idiev: “Innovation will become a (national) tradition only when it emerges on the basis of (that) separate (national) culture, is associated with the idea of a people, or occurs on the basis of specific (national) customs that have evolved when living conditions change” (2. P. 114).
In the past, one of the factors that influenced the consolidation of the nation and the spread of parochialism in Tajikistan was the lack of communication and highways, due to which interregional and interdistrict connections between the population of the country were fragmentary and seasonal. The population of the country was fragmented by localities and regions, isolated and isolated from each other. Based on this, the government of the republic from the first days of independence as one of its strategic goals chose to overcome the country's communication isolation. In a relatively short period, roads and tunnels were built, which connected the north with the south and the Gornobadakhshan Autonomous Region with the center. Due to this, residents of GBAO, who only during the six warm months of the year had the opportunity to visit the capital, can now freely visit the capital all year round, at any time and in any season. In the light of increasing communication, there is a slow ethnocultural rapprochement between the inhabitants of the regions of the republic. For example, in the past, residents of mountainous areas differed significantly from residents of the capital and lagged far behind them in terms of secular education and secular culture. They were overly attached to their provincial tribal and ethnic traditions, fanatically observed religious customs prevalent by the sheikhs of Sufism, for example, veneration of saints and belief in their supernatural abilities, etc. Naturally, such differences prompted the residents of the mountainous regions and localities to take care of the inhabitants of the cities and more to join their small homeland and their countrymen. Recall that such an attitude of mountain people to the urban population existed even in the Soviet period and prevented the formation of national identity and unity. Therefore, to eradicate this stereotype of thinking among mountain people, which is one of the spiritual sources of localism, it was necessary to increase close contact between mountain areas and cities of the country, especially with the capital, which was provided by the built all-season roads and tunnels.
According to P.D. Shozimova: “The more people are close to the “center”, the more their national identity becomes stronger ... and (on the contrary), the more citizens of the state are far from the “center ”, the more religious and ethnic self-knowledge increases in it” (7.С.70). In this case, one of the ways to strengthen the national identity and national identity of the population, mountainous and distant from the capital areas of the republic is all-season and uninterrupted opening of highways and, of course, effective work of the media, especially television and radio, their accessibility to the entire population of the country. It should be noted that at present the television network of Tajikistan covers almost 97% of the country's territory, therefore, it should increase the supply of programs for residents of various regions, tell them about the achievements and life problems of the population in all regions of the country, about labor migrants and compatriots living in the near far abroad. For example, TVT broadcasts a program called Traveler (Sayoҳ), the main purpose of which is to familiarize viewers with the ethnocultural features and sights of those areas where there is a prospect for the development of national and international tourism. However, with the onset of the winter season, the display of such programs from remote areas of the country, primarily, GBAO slows down or almost stops.
In our opinion, in the current conditions of the country's economy development, the development of domestic tourism is one of the most effective ways to form and strengthen national identity, national identity, increase the sense of patriotism and national pride of society members, especially the younger generation. On this basis, the President of Tajikistan declared the year 2018 as the Year of Tourism Development. By the way, within the framework of the strategic plan for the development of tourism adopted by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Committee for the Development of Tourism under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan was established on the basis of the Committee on Youth, Sports and Tourism. An important role in the development and popularization of domestic tourism is played by television - through the development and broadcasting of various programs devoted to important tourist zones and objects of the country. In addition, close cooperation with domestic travel companies has been established. Certainly, the preparation and display of high-quality television advertisements and videos about tourist zones and sights of various regions and corners of the country, themselves arouse the interest of viewers and encourage them to visit these zones and attractions, which in turn also contributes to the deepening and strengthening of their patriotic feelings.
For example, the development of tourism can be observed where the solution to the problem of reviving and strengthening national self-consciousness in the modern globalization period requires a constructive and innovative approach. However, as the modern Western researcher E. Hobsbaum rightly notes, “to apply innovative skills, one must be prudent, since various forms of social relations, the structure of power and the outdated traditions associated with them are not able to adapt and quickly become unsuitable ... Adaptation is carried out by achieving old goals in the new environment, or using old structures for new purposes. There are cases when old institutions that have a stable goal, tested and established through numerous rites in practice, need to adapt new rites and traditions” (8.S.50).
E. Hobsbaum is right, as in this case, the media, and especially television, as an effective means of influencing all social institutions, play a necessary role in the smooth introduction and dissemination of new values. This is confirmed by the results of our sociological research. In the course of a sociological survey among citizens of the republic, it turned out that out of the total number of respondents we interviewed, the question about the role of the media in developing and strengthening national identity and the most effective media, 83.5% noted the role of television, the role of theater - 5.8%, radio, 36.5%; press, 41.8%; books, 31.5%; cinema, 15.8%; and the Internet, 40.8%. According to the majority of the respondents, television plays a major and decisive role in strengthening national identity (see Figure 1).
Diagram 1. From your point of view, which of these tools plays an important role in improving national identity? (N = 400%, total)
Tajik television, for the implementation of its mission, performs significant work. For example, at each holiday program, folk artists and artists from various ethnic groups and regions of the republic perform and demonstrate to the audience the peculiarities of their local ethnic culture. In addition, each channel of Tajikistan develops programs in various genres, which acquaint viewers with the local traditions and culture of the population of various regions and their attractions. For example, in TVT there are the programs “Traveler” (Sayoҳ), “Peerless Territory” (Sarzamini benazir), “Unique Exhibits” (Nigorakoi Nodir), in the TVS “Conductor” (Robalad), and in the TVB program “Traveler” (Raunard) which show the spectators the amazing nature and unique beauty of the mountain regions and valleys of the republic, acquaint them with the interesting customs and life of the indigenous people of various regions, tell about their important historical, cultural and natural sights. It is obvious that such programs contribute to strengthening the national unity and self-awareness of the population. However, in our opinion, the content of television programs requires new promising ideas that could enhance the patriotic feelings of the audience. In addition, for the effectiveness of emotional and spiritual and moral influence of television programs aimed at reviving and developing national identity, it is necessary to use modern innovations in the field of telecommunications. For example, programmers should show episodes from daily life and relationships among residents of different districts and localities, organize sports, art and cultural competitions in different regions of the country and show these competitions on the TV channel, etc.
One of the main reasons that had a significant impact on the evolution of national self-awareness is the internal migration of the population of the republic. The experience of the period of development of Soviet power in the republic shows that the campaign to resettle the population of the mountainous regions of the country to the Vakhsh valley and other lowland regions of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Tajikistan in order to develop the agricultural economy, especially cotton growing, began in the 30s, and then continued in the 50s and 60s of the last century. During the period of independence, this tradition got a different character: internal migration is carried out for objective reasons (as a result of natural disasters and damage to agriculture, construction of strategic facilities such as the Rogun hydropower station, etc.). In remote mountain villages, this process is carried out due to the reduction of arable land, and the lack of all-season work, since the change in the social environment affected not only their economy, but also influenced the formation of a social system of social life. As a result of the resettlement of people, they began to live more safely, the level of culture and literacy changed. It is well known that the Tajik people were engaged in farming from time immemorial, and with this in mind, the Government of the republic concentrated all its efforts on turning the country into a developed agrarian-industrial state in the coming years. This trend, one way or another, will affect the internal migration of the population.
From a strategic point of view, this phenomenon has its positive and negative sides: according to statistical data, the population of some border areas (Tursunzade, Shakhritus) are mainly representatives of other national minorities. Although they were resettled to the valleys several decades ago, nevertheless, after the birth of their third and fourth generation, they consider themselves to be residents of the regions from which they moved. Surprisingly, so far marriage between representatives of the third and fourth generation of people resettled to the valley from different regions (Kulyab, Rasht valley, GBAO, Zarafshan valley) is considered to be very rare. To eliminate this problem, the role of the media, especially television, is very large. In our opinion, Tajik television should use all its genres to represent the way of life of people relocated from different places to the same region, their relationships and their relations with local residents of the same area, to promote the development of friendship between young generations of local people and relocated people. from different regions of the country. Thanks to the tireless care of the Leader of the nation Emomali Rahmon, significant steps have been taken in this direction. These include, for example, the creation of a presidential quota for gifted applicants and admission to higher educational institutions of the country through the National Testing Center. In both cases, the student has the opportunity to enroll and study at any university in the country. Today, programs are being written on Tajik television about students' life and study, but these programs do not agitate students to study at universities located in remote regions and / or cities, for example, Badakhshan, Kulyab, Rasht Valley, Penjikent, Kurgan-Tube, or vice versa.
One of the negative factors of national unity in the country is the outdated tradition of kinship marriages. In order to reduce the level of this phenomenon, the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan introduced a special article into the Family Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, according to which violators will be held accountable in accordance with the current legislation. (6.С.8)
In the fight against this social phenomenon, the media and television play an important role. Tajik journalists, explaining the harmful consequences and harmfulness of marriage between relatives, conduct various programs. For example, Nazira Sarfaroz in the program “Woman and Time” (Zan wa Zamon), which was broadcast on March 5, 2015 in 2000 on “TVT”, together with specialists from the field of medicine, biology, psychology, philosophy and guest of the program, in which children were born disabled as a result of marriage with a relative, discussed the negative effects of such a traditional phenomenon. In her opinion, marriage with close relatives increases the risk of having a child with disabilities, more precisely, a disabled person. And although some of them are lucky, or vice versa, some of them are faced with terrible bad luck, both cases have the same result for the gene pool of a nation - damage. A conversation with the heroine of the Kurbonbegim Negmatulova program began with the following questions: Who do you live with? I live with my husband for 25 years. Question: What kind of relatives are you? Answer: Tetushkin son. Question: Were you forced to marry or did you love your husband? Answer: Parents are forced. Question: How many children did you have? Answer: two daughters and two sons. Thank God, my daughters are healthy, and, unfortunately, both of my sons are disabled. Question: What kind of disease do they have? Answer: They are weak-minded (5).
Sh. Rakhmatulloev, a representative of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan states: This is the highest indicator of diseases that cannot be cured” (5). In the middle of the program, the journalist addressed the viewer like this: “Imagine that this book and the writers 2 have chromosomes. Only 4 letters make up more than 3 billion. of words. Parents always give their genetic message to children. For example, you can inherit works of Ibn Sino from your father, and Zebunniso’s thinking from your mother. During the transfer, they will be mixed. When these children give information as an inheritance to their children, they are already mixed with Shino and Zebunniso, and in addition with Aini and Farzona. In other words, each generation will take new books for themselves, and will create a large library in their will” (5).
According to N. Amonov, a candidate of psychological sciences, “if the parents are different, then the child will be beautiful and mentally developed. Another positive aspect of unrelated marriage is that young people in it choose a life partner from different regions of the country in order to acquire the good qualities of other localities ... tribes of Tajikistan. This becomes an important factor in the development of the gene pool of the nation and the synthesis of the best qualities of our future generations” (5). R.Kasimov, a geneticist professor, confirms that “experiments have shown that, as far as parents are alien in their genera, the process of heterosis-potential of mental and physical growth of generations is developing as well.” (5)
At the end of this TV program, the leading journalist concluded: “In fact, the rejection of this negative traditional phenomenon, that is, a kindred marriage, is necessary. This is the happiness on which the flowers of life and real hopes rule today. It is this development of a person and family that ultimately leads to the emergence of a healthy society that has a positive effect on the development of the gene pool of a nation and national identity” (5). The essence of the program consists mainly in the discussion of such pressing problems of Tajik society as kinship marriages, forced marriages (only at the request of parents), propaganda of a distant marriage, nation unification, etc.
Unfortunately, such programs were shown only on “TVT”. As for the other channels, especially the youth TVS and the teenage TVB, there’s almost no propaganda of distant marriages. There has not yet been created on Tajik television, any social video or a series of programs to discuss the above problems, especially the negative effects of kinship marriages and the positive aspects of a distant marriage. The designers of the television films should also show the negative aspects of a kindred marriage to the Tajik audience, urging young people to build a family from different regions, since kinship between Tajiks will lead to the strengthening of national unity.
It should be noted that the concept of national self-consciousness, which will be distributed through television, should not be purely moralistic or technocratic in nature and content, but should cover the interests of all the peoples living in Tajikistan. Therefore, the authors of television programs based on political, economic, ethical, cultural and other knowledge should convince Tajiks that in the course of the development of globalization processes, political vigilance must be inherent in every citizen of the country. Thus, Tajik television must set itself the following tasks:
1. Each television program, first of all, should protect the interests of all regions of Tajikistan;
2. For the integrity of the nation, they must broadcast programs and develop short films about the life of past and present heroes, promoting and strengthening friendship and solidarity between the populations of different regions of the country;
3. To show on television the physical and mental impairment of a kinship for the future generation and the promotion of the positive aspects of marriage between different groups of the population;
4. It is necessary to examine the essence and update the content, because sometimes the audience does not understand the meaning of the words used by editors and journalists;
5. To expand the television audience, the nature and technical level of television must be at a sufficiently high modern level;
6. Improving the professional qualities and skills of journalists through internships, and passing training courses in the country (Academy of Media and Television of Tajikistan) and beyond;
7. Regularly conduct social surveys to determine the rating of television programs and networks;
8. Through social research, it is required to constantly determine what the Tajik viewer expects from television and what topic and genre he wants to see in television programs.
9. For the unification of the nation, it is necessary to conduct television competitions in various regions of the country;
The above suggestions and observations make it possible to summarize that the Tajik TV channels still cannot cover all aspects of the public life of the Tajik people. And in this area, despite the presence of decent working conditions, television programs are not genuine, effective, meaningful and constructive.

References

[1]  Dodihudoev Kh. Regionalism as a phenomenon of communal consciousness. - Dushanbe.: News of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan. Series: Philosophy and Law №1-4. 2001. - pp. 31-42.
[2]  Idiev Kh.U. Traditions and innovations in the context of changing the social life of modern Tajikistan. - Dushanbe: Irfon, 2006, 120 pp.
[3]  Quddusov H.S. The national idea and its specific features in the conditions of independence: dis. ... Cand. floor. Sciences / H.S. Quddus - Dushanbe, 2011. - 143 p.
[4]  Majmӯai “Sanados of the merit of ҳuқuқii Tokikiston the gift of soai and vositaҳ akhbori ohm”. - Dushanbe, 2012. -130s.
[5]  Program: Zan wa mona (Woman and the present) TVT - 2015. - March 5.
[6]  The Family Code of the Republic of Tajikistan of November 13, 1998. [Electron. resource]: Access mode: http://mmk.tj/ru/legislation/legislation-base/codecs/.
[7]  P. Shozimov Tajik identity and state building in Tajikistan. Dushanbe, 2003. 208 p.
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