Scientific-Reporting Conference: Memory Places and the Symbolic Environment of Georgian National Identity

On November 5, at 18:00 p.m. , Ilia State University will host an online scientific-reporting conference “Places of Memory and the Symbolic Environment of Georgian National Identity“.

The conference will present the research results of the scientific project for fundamental researches conducted within the framework of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia State Science Grant (N FR17_624).

The title of the project is “Georgian National Identity and ’’Places of Memory “: Dominant and Alternative Perspectives on the Construction of the Past”.

The representatives of various disciplines of humanities and social sciences (history, political science, sociology, cultural studies, comparative literature), Ilia State University (leading organization) and professors and young researchers of Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (co-participant organization) worked on this scientific project during 2018-2021.

Based on the research, a special issue of the international peer-reviewed journal Caucasus Survey was published this year – Rethinking Memory Sites and Symbolic Realms of Georgian National Identity. Also, a Georgian language collection of the same works is being prepared for publication at Ilia State University Publishing House.

Each work included in the special issue and collection is placed in a common interdisciplinary framework and complements each other. The authors consider the memory places discussed by them as integral and interconnected structural elements of the Georgian complex symbolic environment. Consequently, there are many points of contact and intersection between separate works in terms of research issues, concepts and theoretical approaches, which presented an interesting picture of the relationship between Georgian historical knowledge, collective memory and national identity.

The conference program is available at: https://bit.ly/3nUDY2B

The meeting will be held remotely, in an online format, through the program Zoom and you can attend it at the address: https://bit.ly/3BA4Tp8

Also, live broadcast will be provided on the official Facebook page of Ilia State University, at the address: https:www.facebook.com/Iliauni

About Researches

The research highlights the turning points of the emergence and dynamics of modern Georgian nationalism from the second half of the 19th century to the present day. The genealogical perspective allows us to observe the stages of formation of the collective memory of the Georgian society, in the context of different political conjunctures:

• During the period of Russian Imperial rule in Georgia, at the same time during the Georgian nationalism (from the second half of the 19th century);
• In the short period of construction of the First Republic, the Nation State ( 1918-1921);
• In the area of radical and often traumatic transformations of the Soviet period (1921-1991) and finally,
• In the post-Soviet era, when a comprehensive process of collective memory, another, fundamental reconfiguration began.

Specifically, the authors and speakers focused on the most important places of the memory that contribute to the historical consciousness and collective memory of the Georgian society, including: Ilia Chavchavadze as a symbolic figure and place of memory;

• Mtatsminda Pantheon of Georgian writers and public figures;
• Stalin monuments as places of conflicting memory;
• Symbolic area of Tbilisi as a Georgian national identity and cultural memory;
• Narrative between David IV the builder and battle of Didgori, as a source of historical ideas about the territorial integrity of Georgia;
• Construction of the national identity and memory places for Georgian Migrants in the United States and Germany.

Time: November 5, 18:00 – 20:30 p.m.

Format: Remote, Zoom platform at https://bit.ly/3BA4Tp8

2021

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