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Publications on the Circassian Genocide

Voyage Autour du Caucase, chez les Tcherkesses et les Abkhases

Author

Frédèric Dubois de Montpéreux

Type

Book

Publisher

Libr. de Gide

Location

Paris

Year

1839

Language

French

Voyage autour du Caucase, chez les Tcherkesses et les Abkhases is a major nineteenth-century travel account written by the Swiss naturalist and explorer Frédéric Dubois de Montpéreux following his journeys through the Caucasus in the 1830s. The work contains extensive observations on the geography, societies, and political conditions of Circassian and Abkhaz lands prior to the final stages of the Russian conquest of the region.

The book remains a valuable historical and ethnographic source, particularly for its detailed descriptions, maps, and illustrations. However, it must also be read critically. Dubois de Montpéreux conducted his travels with support from the Russian imperial authorities, and his narrative often reflects the assumptions and political outlook of the Russian Empire. At various points, the Russian expansion into the Caucasus is presented as a civilizing mission, while Circassians and other Caucasian peoples are portrayed through stereotypes common in nineteenth-century colonial and Orientalist literature, including depictions of them as “wild” or “uncivilized.” Modern scholars therefore regard the work as both an important documentary source and a text shaped by the imperial and intellectual context in which it was produced.

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