Popular women's representations in Uzbek contemporary cinema MECACS Seminar Series Event - MS Teams

Popular women's representations in Uzbek contemporary cinema

Since independence in 1991, the transformation of gender and sexuality throughout ‘re-traditionalization' processes had a significant impact on Uzbek women, both in real life and cinema, simultaneously influenced by the nation-building of a young state and the course of generating a favorable image of the country. Given the political and social upheavals that Uzbek society has experienced, women's bodies have always been seen as the site of intense debates. Female images in popular cinema are constructed as a result of modernization processes but in accordance with national mentality, influenced by such concepts as uyat (shame), Uzbekchilik (Uzbekness), governmental policies, and long-standing traditions. Due to prevailing norms and stereotypes, women's representations in films of the second and third decades of independence (2000-2020) are mainly reduced to three categories: “daughter-in-law,” “mother,” and “woman in trouble.” Nevertheless, the portrayals of women remain complex and controversial—despite the entrenchment of retrogressive female images in mass culture—reflecting public discourse on women's emancipation, education, and social activities.
Olga Khan is a visiting fellow at Seoul National University Asia Center. She obtained a PhD in Film Studies at Chung-Ang University. Her main research focus is modern Uzbek cinema, female images, diaspora cinema and cultural anthropology. Since 2023, has served as CESS (Central Eurasian Studies Society) board member.

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