A Visual Presentation of the Russian-Caucasian Conflict in the Political French Magazine Le Charivari

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Kuş A., Atmaca H.

Quaestio Rossica, cilt.14, sa.2, ss.523-537, 2026 (AHCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 14 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.15826/qr.2026.2.1071
  • Dergi Adı: Quaestio Rossica
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.523-537
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: anti-imperial resistance, Caucasus, French press, Imam Shamil, Le Charivari, Muridism, Russian Empire
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The Caucasus has long occupied a position of exceptional geo-strategic significance, functioning as a contested frontier for political, cultural, and military domination. Throughout the nineteenth century, the North Caucasus became a focal point of European attention as the scene of a prolonged and struggle against Russian conquest. At the ideological core of this resistance stood the Naqshbandi Sufi order, which evolved into a dynamic socio-religious and political movement known as Muridism. Its most prominent leader, Imam Shamil (1797–1871), combined with religious authority, strategic acumen, and charismatic leadership managed to unify diverse mountain communities under a common vision of autonomy and faith-based legitimacy. This research gains topicality from the growing scholarly interest in representations of non-Western resistance movements in the nineteenth-century European press. It examines a corpus of satirical articles and caricatures published between 1852 and 1866 in the French periodical Le Charivari, situating these depictions within the broader context of Franco-Russian political relations and Orientalist imagery. The study contributes to existing scholarship by revealing how satire mediated perceptions of Russia’s imperial policies and reframed the Caucasian struggle for Western audiences. The findings demonstrate that Le Charivari simultaneously humanized and exoticized Imam Shamil admiring his heroism while transforming his cause into a spectacle. Ultimately, this ambivalent portrayal not only reflects France’s geopolitical rivalries but also illuminates the complex interplay between journalism, ideology, and empire in shaping the European understanding of resistance and colonial power in the nineteenth century.