By Oleg Kusov, exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Russian media seem to be following the rule of either telling nothing about the Caucasus or badmouthing it. Just 15-20 years ago, not a single newspaper release or newsfeed could omit the Caucasus theme. The topic is gone now. On the one hand, consumers just do not want that product on the information market. They have been overfed. Absence of the materials in mass media means that there is no such social problem either. On the other hand, its nuances need checking, they are more peculiar for the Caucasus than other regions.
Some may object that Russians are more worried about other ordeals because journalism is hot news, not 15-year-old news. The falling ruble and oil prices, developments in Donbass, terrorist attacks in France... What does the Caucasus have to do with any of that? It was bleeding, exploding and had a collateral effect on other territories, everything has luckily ended, forget about it. Even after so many wars, reading lyrics of Pushkin and Lermontov is unexciting, "A hero of Our Time" misbecomes, not to mention the Hadji Murad novel. Good thing nationalities of criminals are no longer mentioned in crime news, though the phrase "natives of the Caucasus" remains.
Overall, an ordinary Russian reader and viewer has calmed down lately, Caucasians stay in the country, but they have taken "their" place, or on the market, or in crime, or somewhere in their foothills. Sometimes, only Ramzan Kadyrov gets attention by his clarion statements. It is all certainly the same harmful and primitive stereotype, just like the one liberal press of Boris Yeltsin's times was saying that Caucasians could not live in peace and were discomforting the whole country.
Starting with the fall of the USSR, the Caucasus theme has been dominated by a chaotic outlook: everything was confused in the Caucasus, everyone fought everyone, Muslims clashed with Christians, pro-Russian Caucasians with pro-Western and so on. In the mid 1990s, the Chechen wars somehow structured opponents in the conscience of other Russians: federals against separatists who were also terrorists and Islamists. Russias were still unfully understanding: Gantamirov was on our side at first, then he was too close with us, just as Kadyrovs, Yamadayevs and many others. Basayev was a different story: he was sort of fighting against militants of Kitovani and Iosseliani together with us in Abkhazia, then he was almost demonized to an image of world terrorist hell. By the way, Tengiz Kirovani himself joined us, he lived in Moscow long after the Abkhaz war. Distrust of Russians to all Caucasians that could be clearly identified as ours and alien remained. To make matters worse, there was the scandal around the Lezginka dance on the Manezhnaya Square, shooting by a wedding cortege, Vostochnoye Biryulyovo...
Actually, Russians have not got tired of the Caucasus. Odious presentation of the topic is what bores them. Stereotypes imposed in the years of reforms, when the most agile of us were fighting for their pieces of Soviet industry behind the noise and blood of fratricidal wars, provoke distrust. Yeltsin's government came up with horror stories for the reluctant population in those years. Caucasians Valery Gergiev, Oleg Basilashvili, Fazil Iskander, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Valery Gazzaev (fans may call the latter a disputable example) give Russians a sense of disdain too. The problem is that professionals wrote about the life of Gergiev and Gazzayev, while processes in the Caucasus described by Moscow media were depicted by any one, though deep writers made their contributions too. Amateurs foment hysteria instead of giving an impartial outlook on the processes. Provocateurs are cynically making money.
Writing good and interesting articles about the Caucasus requires proper understanding. The way Russian classic writers understood it in the 19th century. The way Yuri Vizbor, Vladimir Vysotsky (he spent his last years of life as a soloist at the North Ossetian State Philharmonic) and money others understood it. Authorial interest in the topic will doubtlessly be passed to readers, viewers and listeners. Then, the Russian writer will know that Azerbaijan gave the world many brilliant musicians, not just bazaar traders, Armenia gave excellent physicists and mathematicians, Gerogia gave great actors, Ossetia gave talented military, Chechnya gave hard-working builders.
Russian mass media must not forget about the Caucasus now. It is not a toy that can be kept as dead weight in a cupboard for years. The Caucasus is populated by overactive people. They need occupation. They refuse to stay idle. In a few years, Chechens, for instance, have revived their republic from ashes in front of our eyes. I am confident that tourists will flood it in a few years. At the same time, the Caucasus is not very eclectic, it has no independent fate. The Caucasus reached its glory only in the 20th century, consolidating as a part of a single state. The North Caucasus today needs Moscow's attention to its problems.
The region is comparable with mountain peaks. Caucasian peaks grow a thick layer of snow and ice every day. Some of them are very dangerous for people below. For example, the Kolka Glacier at the mountains of the Kazbek-Jimaraymountains. Glacialists gave them great attention in the Soviet years. Slopes were shot to force snow masses down, snowing was monitored. The efforts ended in the post-Soviet times. The Kolka Glacier had its vengeance for neglect by crashing down on the Karmadon Canyon, killing over 120 people, including Sergey Bodrov Jr.'s film group. The Caucasus is having vengeance for neglect and lack of attention.
The Caucasus theme is unique and diverse. Authors need to break free from the conviction of stereotypes and delusions, so that Russian readers, viewers and listeners could open the region for themselves, with all its uniqueness, controversy and matchlessness. The Caucasus is a bright territory. So, people should write about its problems and uniqueness only brightly.
