Concrete Culture
Clothes
Traditional Uzbek male clothes consist of warm quilted robes made out of cotton tied up with a shawl or shawls, national hat, and high boots made of thin leather. Traditional Uzbek female clothes consist of a traditional robe, functional dress made of satin, and wide, light trousers narrowing in the lower part and decorated with an embroidered braid. Textile patterns often included up to six or seven different colors in the typical geometrical or stylized floral design. The color of the costume was an important signal of a person's age or social status. |
Food
Bread and noodles holds a special place in Uzbek culture and are of artisanal quality. Traditional Uzbek bread, tandir non, is flat and round. It is always torn by hand, never placed upside down, and never thrown out. Meals begin with small dishes of nuts and raisins, progressing through soups, salads, and meat dishes and ending with palov, a rice-and-meat dish; it is the only dish often cooked by men. Other common dishes, though not strictly Uzbek, include monti (steamed dumplings of lamb meat and fat, onions, and pumpkin) and kabob.. Uzbeks favor mutton due to their abundance of sheep. Because of their climate, Uzbeks enjoy many types of fruits, eaten fresh in summer and dried in winter, and vegetables. Dairy products such as katyk, a liquid yogurt, and suzma, similar to cottage cheese, are eaten plain or used as ingredients. Tea, usually green, is drunk throughout the day, accompanied by snacks, and is always offered to guests. |
Celebrations
Uzbeks celebrate the New Year in a celebration called Yangi Yil. They decorate a New Year tree and give each other gifts. They sing and listen to traditional Uzbek music.
Another widely celebrated holiday is Navruz, which has been going on for at least two thousand years. It is the day that marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. In preparation for the holiday, people tidy their homes and mahallas (neighborhoods), and buy new clothes. Before, during, and after Navruz, it is customary to prepare sumalak, the main ceremonial dish of the holiday; it is a special soup of milk and seven grains. To prepare sumalak friends, relatives, and neighbors – usually women – gather around the kazan, all taking a turn to stir the mixture. When ready, sumalak is distributed among neighbors, relatives, and friends. At Navruz, people also visit relatives and friends and give presents to children.
Uzbeks celebrate the New Year in a celebration called Yangi Yil. They decorate a New Year tree and give each other gifts. They sing and listen to traditional Uzbek music.
Another widely celebrated holiday is Navruz, which has been going on for at least two thousand years. It is the day that marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. In preparation for the holiday, people tidy their homes and mahallas (neighborhoods), and buy new clothes. Before, during, and after Navruz, it is customary to prepare sumalak, the main ceremonial dish of the holiday; it is a special soup of milk and seven grains. To prepare sumalak friends, relatives, and neighbors – usually women – gather around the kazan, all taking a turn to stir the mixture. When ready, sumalak is distributed among neighbors, relatives, and friends. At Navruz, people also visit relatives and friends and give presents to children.
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Music
The music of Uzbekistan has reflected the diverse influences that have shaped the country. It is very similar to the music of the Middle East and is characterized by complicated rhythms and meters. Because of the long history of music in the country and the large variety of music styles and musical instruments, Uzbekistan is often regarded as one of the most musically diverse countries in Central Asia. Central Asian classical music is called Shashmaqam, which arose in the late 16th century. It is characterized by reedy, haunting instruments and throaty, nasal singing. It is played on long-necked lutes (dotars), flutes, tambourines, and small drums. The most highly regarded compositions are cycles called maqoms. In the 1920s, Uzbek composers were encouraged, leading to a classical music tradition that continues today. Modern Uzbek pop often combines elements of folk music with electric instruments to create dance music. |
Games
Kopkari (Horse polo) is a national horseback sport of Central Asian peoples, an exciting game of a large number of riders fighting for possession of a goat carcass. These games were often organized by military leaders to strengthen their cavalry (Uzbekistan has the largest military in Central Asia).
Kurash (wrestling) refers to a number of folk wrestling styles practiced in Central Asia. Players use towels to hold their opponents, and their goal is to throw their opponents off their feet. Kurash is the main competition at the summer folk festival Sabantuy.
Kopkari (Horse polo) is a national horseback sport of Central Asian peoples, an exciting game of a large number of riders fighting for possession of a goat carcass. These games were often organized by military leaders to strengthen their cavalry (Uzbekistan has the largest military in Central Asia).
Kurash (wrestling) refers to a number of folk wrestling styles practiced in Central Asia. Players use towels to hold their opponents, and their goal is to throw their opponents off their feet. Kurash is the main competition at the summer folk festival Sabantuy.
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Behavioral Culture
Language
Uzbek, Russian, Tajik.
Uzbek, Russian, Tajik.
Family Structure
Uzbek women usually marry by twenty-one; men not much later. Marriage is an imperative for all, as families are the basic structure in society. A family's honor depends on their daughters' virginity; this often leads families to encourage early marriage.
In traditional Uzbek families, marriages are often still arranged between families; in more cosmopolitan ones it is the bride and groom's choice. Either way, it is subject to parental approval, with the mother in practice having the final word. There is particular family say in the youngest son's choice, as he and his bride will take care of his parents. Weddings often last for days, with the expense borne by the bride's family. The husband's family may pay a bride price. Polygamy is illegal and rare, but it is not unknown.
Following independence, divorce has become more common, though it is still rare outside of major cities. It is easier for a man to initiate divorce. Uzbek families are patriarchal, though the mother runs the household. The average family size is five or six members, but families of ten or more are not uncommon.
Children are cherished as the reason for life. The mother is the primary caretaker, and in case of divorce, she will virtually always take the children. The extended family and the community at large, however, also take an interest in the child's upbringing. When children are young, they have great freedom to play and act out. But as they get older, particularly in school, discipline increases. A good child becomes one who is quiet and attentive, and all must help in the family's labor. All children go to school for nine years, with some going on to eleventh grade; the government is increasing mandatory education to twelve years.
Uzbek women usually marry by twenty-one; men not much later. Marriage is an imperative for all, as families are the basic structure in society. A family's honor depends on their daughters' virginity; this often leads families to encourage early marriage.
In traditional Uzbek families, marriages are often still arranged between families; in more cosmopolitan ones it is the bride and groom's choice. Either way, it is subject to parental approval, with the mother in practice having the final word. There is particular family say in the youngest son's choice, as he and his bride will take care of his parents. Weddings often last for days, with the expense borne by the bride's family. The husband's family may pay a bride price. Polygamy is illegal and rare, but it is not unknown.
Following independence, divorce has become more common, though it is still rare outside of major cities. It is easier for a man to initiate divorce. Uzbek families are patriarchal, though the mother runs the household. The average family size is five or six members, but families of ten or more are not uncommon.
Children are cherished as the reason for life. The mother is the primary caretaker, and in case of divorce, she will virtually always take the children. The extended family and the community at large, however, also take an interest in the child's upbringing. When children are young, they have great freedom to play and act out. But as they get older, particularly in school, discipline increases. A good child becomes one who is quiet and attentive, and all must help in the family's labor. All children go to school for nine years, with some going on to eleventh grade; the government is increasing mandatory education to twelve years.
Gender Roles
Uzbekistan is a male-dominated society. Nevertheless, women make up nearly half the workforce. Women run the households and traditionally control the family budgets. When guests are present they are expected to cloister themselves from view. In public, women are expected to cover their bodies completely. Women often view this as an expression of their faith and culture rather than as an oppressive measure.
Before the Soviet period, men worked outside the house while women did basic domestic work, or supplemented the family income by spinning, weaving, and embroidering with silk or cotton. From the 1920s on, women entered the workforce, at textile factories and in the cotton fields, but also in professional jobs opened to them by the Soviet education system. They came to make up the great majority of teachers, nurses, and doctors. Family pressure, however, sometimes kept women from attaining higher education, or working outside the home. With independence, some women have held onto positions of power. Men in modern Uzbekistan, though, hold the vast majority of managerial positions, as well as the most labor-intensive jobs. It is common now for men to travel north to other former Soviet republics to work in temporary jobs. Both sexes work in bazaars.
Uzbekistan is a male-dominated society. Nevertheless, women make up nearly half the workforce. Women run the households and traditionally control the family budgets. When guests are present they are expected to cloister themselves from view. In public, women are expected to cover their bodies completely. Women often view this as an expression of their faith and culture rather than as an oppressive measure.
Before the Soviet period, men worked outside the house while women did basic domestic work, or supplemented the family income by spinning, weaving, and embroidering with silk or cotton. From the 1920s on, women entered the workforce, at textile factories and in the cotton fields, but also in professional jobs opened to them by the Soviet education system. They came to make up the great majority of teachers, nurses, and doctors. Family pressure, however, sometimes kept women from attaining higher education, or working outside the home. With independence, some women have held onto positions of power. Men in modern Uzbekistan, though, hold the vast majority of managerial positions, as well as the most labor-intensive jobs. It is common now for men to travel north to other former Soviet republics to work in temporary jobs. Both sexes work in bazaars.
Social Structure
During the Soviet Union, Uzbekistani society was stratified not by wealth but by access to products, housing, and services. The nomenklatura (wealthy) could find high-quality consumer goods, cars, and homes that simply were unattainable by others.
The new rich tend to buy and show off expensive cars and limousines, apartments, and clothes and to go to nightclubs. Foreign foods and goods also are signs of wealth, as is a disdain for shopping in bazaars.
Many members of the former Soviet intelligentsia—teachers, artists, doctors, and other skilled service providers—have been forced to move into relatively unskilled jobs, such as bazaar vendors and construction workers, where they could earn more money. Urban residents tend to earn twice the salaries of rural people.
During the Soviet period, cities became filled with concrete-slab apartment blocks of four to nine stories, similar to those found across the USSR. In villages and suburbs, residents were able to live in more traditional one-story houses built around a courtyard. These houses, regardless of whether they belong to rich or poor, present a drab exterior, with the family's wealth and taste displayed only for guests. Khivan houses have a second-story room for entertaining guests. Since independence, separate houses have become much more popular, supporting something of a building boom in suburbs of major cities. One estimate puts two-thirds of the population now living in detached houses.
The main room of the house is centered around the dusterhon, or tablecloth, whether it is spread on the floor or on a table. Although there are no separate areas for women and children, women tend to gather in the kitchen when male guests are present.
Each town has a large square, where festivals and public events are held.
During the Soviet Union, Uzbekistani society was stratified not by wealth but by access to products, housing, and services. The nomenklatura (wealthy) could find high-quality consumer goods, cars, and homes that simply were unattainable by others.
The new rich tend to buy and show off expensive cars and limousines, apartments, and clothes and to go to nightclubs. Foreign foods and goods also are signs of wealth, as is a disdain for shopping in bazaars.
Many members of the former Soviet intelligentsia—teachers, artists, doctors, and other skilled service providers—have been forced to move into relatively unskilled jobs, such as bazaar vendors and construction workers, where they could earn more money. Urban residents tend to earn twice the salaries of rural people.
During the Soviet period, cities became filled with concrete-slab apartment blocks of four to nine stories, similar to those found across the USSR. In villages and suburbs, residents were able to live in more traditional one-story houses built around a courtyard. These houses, regardless of whether they belong to rich or poor, present a drab exterior, with the family's wealth and taste displayed only for guests. Khivan houses have a second-story room for entertaining guests. Since independence, separate houses have become much more popular, supporting something of a building boom in suburbs of major cities. One estimate puts two-thirds of the population now living in detached houses.
The main room of the house is centered around the dusterhon, or tablecloth, whether it is spread on the floor or on a table. Although there are no separate areas for women and children, women tend to gather in the kitchen when male guests are present.
Each town has a large square, where festivals and public events are held.
Symbolic Culture
Values
Support for the Arts. During the Soviet period, the government gave extensive support to the arts, building cultural centers in every city and paying the salaries of professional artists. Many dance, theater, and music groups continue to rely on the state, which gives emphasis to large productions and extravaganzas, controls major venues, and often has an agenda for the artists to follow.
Other artists have joined private companies who perform for audiences of wealthy business-people and tourists. Some money comes in from corporate sponsorship and international charitable organizations—for example UNESCO. Yet many artists have simply been forced to find other work.
Uzbekistan has begun a revival of traditional crafts, which suffered from the Soviet view that factory-produced goods were superior to handicrafts. Now master craftsmen are reappearing in cities, supported largely by foreign tourists. Miniature painting is narrative in character, using a wide palette of symbols to tell their stories. They can be read from right to left as a book, and often accompany works of literature. Wood carving, of architectural features such as doors and pillars and of items such as the sonduq, a box given to a bride by her parents, also is regaining a place in Uzbek crafts. Ikat is a method of cloth dying. Silk threads are tie-dyed, then woven on a loom to create soft-edged designs for curtains, clothing, and other uses.
Support for the Arts. During the Soviet period, the government gave extensive support to the arts, building cultural centers in every city and paying the salaries of professional artists. Many dance, theater, and music groups continue to rely on the state, which gives emphasis to large productions and extravaganzas, controls major venues, and often has an agenda for the artists to follow.
Other artists have joined private companies who perform for audiences of wealthy business-people and tourists. Some money comes in from corporate sponsorship and international charitable organizations—for example UNESCO. Yet many artists have simply been forced to find other work.
Uzbekistan has begun a revival of traditional crafts, which suffered from the Soviet view that factory-produced goods were superior to handicrafts. Now master craftsmen are reappearing in cities, supported largely by foreign tourists. Miniature painting is narrative in character, using a wide palette of symbols to tell their stories. They can be read from right to left as a book, and often accompany works of literature. Wood carving, of architectural features such as doors and pillars and of items such as the sonduq, a box given to a bride by her parents, also is regaining a place in Uzbek crafts. Ikat is a method of cloth dying. Silk threads are tie-dyed, then woven on a loom to create soft-edged designs for curtains, clothing, and other uses.
Customs
Elders are respected in Uzbek culture. At the dusterhon, younger guests will not make themselves more comfortable than their elders. The younger person should always greet the older first.
Men typically greet each other with a handshake, the left hand held over the heart. Women place their right hand on the other's elbow. If they are close friends or relatives, they may kiss each other on the cheeks.
If two acquaintances meet on the street, they will usually ask each other how their affairs are. If the two don't know each other well, the greeting will be shorter, or could involve just a nod.
As mentioned, women are expected to be modest in dress and demeanor, with clothing covering their entire body. In public they may walk with their head tilted down to avoid unwanted attention. In traditional households, women will not enter the room if male guests are present. Likewise, it is considered forward to ask how a man's wife is doing.
Women generally sit with legs together, their hands in their laps. When men aren't present, however, women act much more casually.
People try to carry themselves with dignity and patience, traits associated with royalty, though young men can be boisterous in public. People tend to dress up when going out of the house. Once home they change, thus extending the life of their street clothes.
Elders are respected in Uzbek culture. At the dusterhon, younger guests will not make themselves more comfortable than their elders. The younger person should always greet the older first.
Men typically greet each other with a handshake, the left hand held over the heart. Women place their right hand on the other's elbow. If they are close friends or relatives, they may kiss each other on the cheeks.
If two acquaintances meet on the street, they will usually ask each other how their affairs are. If the two don't know each other well, the greeting will be shorter, or could involve just a nod.
As mentioned, women are expected to be modest in dress and demeanor, with clothing covering their entire body. In public they may walk with their head tilted down to avoid unwanted attention. In traditional households, women will not enter the room if male guests are present. Likewise, it is considered forward to ask how a man's wife is doing.
Women generally sit with legs together, their hands in their laps. When men aren't present, however, women act much more casually.
People try to carry themselves with dignity and patience, traits associated with royalty, though young men can be boisterous in public. People tend to dress up when going out of the house. Once home they change, thus extending the life of their street clothes.
Religion
Freedom of religion is protected by the Constitution of Uzbekistan; it is a secular country meaning there is a separation between religion and the state. The government, however, does not uphold this right in practice, and has made even efforts to restrict certain religious practices. The law prohibits proselytizing, printing and disbursing religious works, and establishing private religious schools.
Islam is the most widely practiced religion within Uzbekistan, a faith followed by 92.2% of the country's population. This religion has a long history in the country that began in the 8th Century. Majority Sunni Islams. There is a small minority of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and other faiths like Buddhism.
In the early 1990s with the end of Soviet power, large groups of Islamic missionaries, mostly from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, came to Uzbekistan to propagate Sufi and Wahhabi interpretations of Islam. The regime was eventually struck down hard on the Islamic militant groups, leaders of which later fled to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
After the Russian invasion of 1867, Christian Orthodoxy arrived in the region, with churches built in large cities, to serve Russian and European settlers and officers. Today most of the Christians in Uzbekistan are ethnic Russians.
There are also communities of Roman Catholics, mostly ethnic Poles.
Freedom of religion is protected by the Constitution of Uzbekistan; it is a secular country meaning there is a separation between religion and the state. The government, however, does not uphold this right in practice, and has made even efforts to restrict certain religious practices. The law prohibits proselytizing, printing and disbursing religious works, and establishing private religious schools.
Islam is the most widely practiced religion within Uzbekistan, a faith followed by 92.2% of the country's population. This religion has a long history in the country that began in the 8th Century. Majority Sunni Islams. There is a small minority of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and other faiths like Buddhism.
In the early 1990s with the end of Soviet power, large groups of Islamic missionaries, mostly from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, came to Uzbekistan to propagate Sufi and Wahhabi interpretations of Islam. The regime was eventually struck down hard on the Islamic militant groups, leaders of which later fled to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
After the Russian invasion of 1867, Christian Orthodoxy arrived in the region, with churches built in large cities, to serve Russian and European settlers and officers. Today most of the Christians in Uzbekistan are ethnic Russians.
There are also communities of Roman Catholics, mostly ethnic Poles.
Website Creator - Christina Ballew - [email protected]