Borderlands Orientalism or How the Savage Lost his Nobility

In Russia's cultural memory, the Caucasus is a potent point of reference, to which many emotions, images, and stereotypes are attached. The book gives a new reading of the development of Russia's perception of its borderlands and presents a complex picture of the encounter between the Russians and the indigenous population of the Caucasus. The study outlines the history of a region standing in between Russian reveries and Russian imperialism.

Dominik Gutmeyr is historian at the Department for Southeast European History and Anthropology at the University of Graz, Austria.