International Workshop Jewishness in Georgian and European Literatures

Ilia State University, Institute of Comparative Literature

Vrije Universiteit Brussel
International Workshop

Jewishness in Georgian and European Literatures

Friday, 28 November 2025

Book Store Ligamus
Ilia State University

Ilia Chavcahvadze av. 32, Tbilisi, Georgia

The objective of the workshop is to examine the literary representations of Jewishness in Georgian and European literatures from 1850 until the present. Drawing upon a transnational and intermedial perspective, the aim is to explore artistic, literary, musical and cinematographic examples in the context of the politico-racial anti-Semitism that emerged during the 19^th century: the Dreyfus Affair and its resonance in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, followed by the rise of fascisms, Nazism and the rupture introduced by the Shoah, as well as the state anti-Semitism of the Soviet Stalinist regime.

The fundamental question that this workshop seeks to address pertains to the manner in which literature, in its broadest sense, encompassing its manifold forms of representation, portrays Jewishness within diverse social and national contexts. This raises the question of the response or capability of writing to respond to the rise of anti-Semitism through diverse historical circumstances, including our contemporary world. The objective of this workshop is to (re)examine questions on a vast subject that is still very under-explored in certain areas and from particular perspectives, such as minor literature and forgotten writers.

The primary research topics encompass, but are not limited to, the following:

• Jewishness in literary history: an examination of both national and transnational contexts;
• The body in the marginalised space;
• Spaces of exclusion;
• Representation of Jewishness in an intermedial perspective;
• (Co)inhabiting common spaces;
• Examination of alternative forms of exclusion and marginalisation (for example, racial, social and gender-based) and their literary and artistic manifestations.

To participate in the workshop

You are invited to submit your proposal by October 20, 2025. The proposal should include: Title, Abstract of the paper (250 words) and short biography (250 words).

The proposal should be sent: tina_mamatsashvili@iliauni.edu.ge,bela_tsipuria@iliauni.edu.ge

Working Languages: Georgian, English, French

Format: Hybrid

Organising committee

• Ilia State University: Atinati Mamatsashvili, Bela Tsipuria
• Vrije Universiteit Brussel: Arvi Sepp

Scientific committee

• Mzaro Dokhtourishvili (Ilia State University)
• Atinati Mamatsashvili (Ilia State University)
• Arvi Sepp (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
• Nino Pirtskhalava (Ilia State University)
• Bela Tsipuria (Ilia State University)

2025