A classic example of Orientalism. Memoirs of K. K. Palen as a view of a high-ranking official on the mission of Russia in the Turkestan region
The article analyzes a fragment of Senator K. K. Palen’s memoirs “Mission to Turkestan”. In this fragment Count Palen described his first impressions of the visit to Tashkent, gave a general description of the Russian administration and noted the nature of changes that occurred in Central Asia as a result of Russian civilizational influence. Palen’s memoirs are a spectacular example of Russian Orientalism, which manifested itself not only in different estimations of West and East on the example of Russia and Turkestan, but also in fundamentally different approaches to perception and cognition of the manifestations of the two civilizations.