In 2009, information started to circulate around Tbilisi about the closure of the old Mtatsminda ... more In 2009, information started to circulate around Tbilisi about the closure of the old Mtatsminda Pantheon (MP from now on) and the opening of a new one near the Trinity Church. Tbilisi City Hall announced that there was no more space at the old Pantheon and that consultations about the creation of a new one were ongoing with the Patriarch of Georgia. In October of 2009, Mamuka Akhvlediani (Itv.ge, 2009), the vice-mayor of Tbilisi declared that: “a new place has to be selected, where a church can be erected and public funerals can be held. It is important to build the new pantheon at an especially good location, accessible for society and approved by society”(my translation. All subsequent translations are also mine). Despite the official closure of the old MP, in 2010, the City Hall made an exception and another recently deceased writer (Mukhran Machavariani) was buried at Mtatsminda. Additionally, in 2013, the newly elected government decided to reopen the MP for another writer (Ch...
From the early 1990s through the 2008 “Russo-Georgian war,” waves of armed conflicts in the Abkha... more From the early 1990s through the 2008 “Russo-Georgian war,” waves of armed conflicts in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali regions of Georgia forced thousands of residents, mainly ethnic Georgians, to leave their homes. More than two decades of protracted internal displacement, marked by tough economic and social problems, led this vulnerable community to a common trap in reckoning with the past: an overwhelming sense of the fundamental ruptures between the idealized past and current, miserable reality. Failures of the displacement policy and “side effects” of numerous humanitarian aid projects hinder internally displaced persons’ social integration and leave them on the margins of Georgian society with almost a singular option: to constantly recall meaningful life in the lost homeland, which they remember as free of ethnic phobias and economic problems. In this article, we suggest that for persons who are internally displaced, memories are defined not only by their past live...
Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected”... more Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected” quantitative surveys, rather than “collective” memory on Stalin in Georgia. This paper approaches the Stalin puzzle differently by introducing specific social frameworks and by going beyond a generational analysis. This study illustrates a case of contested memory around Stalin monuments. Drawing on fieldwork (ethnography and interviews) conducted in the Kakheti region and the city of Gori, we analyse how the Stalin cult developed into a memory site. This transformation happened by applying a specific narrative template, which was adapted to different political environments, from the Stalin era until today. We conclude that two opposing interpretations of the narrative template for Stalin as a memory site rely on the same forms, while containing totally different content that we label as an affirmative “golden” variant and an unfavourable “pink” one.
Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected”... more Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected” quantitative surveys, rather than “collective” memory on Stalin in Georgia. This paper approaches the Stalin puzzle differently by introducing specific social frameworks and by going beyond a generational analysis. This study illustrates a case of contested memory around Stalin monuments. Drawing on fieldwork (ethnography and interviews) conducted in the Kakheti region and the city of Gori, we analyse how the Stalin cult developed into a memory site. This transformation happened by applying a specific narrative template, which was adapted to different political environments, from the Stalin era until today. We conclude that two opposing interpretations of the narrative template for Stalin as a memory site rely on the same forms, while containing totally different content that we label as an affirmative “golden” variant and an unfavourable “pink” one.
Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected”... more Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected” quantitative surveys, rather than “collective” memory on Stalin in Georgia. This paper approaches the Stalin puzzle differently by introducing specific social frameworks and by going beyond a generational analysis. This study illustrates a case of contested memory around Stalin monuments. Drawing on fieldwork (ethnography and interviews) conducted in the Kakheti region and the city of Gori, we analyse how the Stalin cult developed into a memory site. This transformation happened by applying a specific narrative template, which was adapted to different political environments, from the Stalin era until today. We conclude that two opposing interpretations of the narrative template for Stalin as a memory site rely on the same forms, while containing totally different content that we label as an affirmative “golden” variant and an unfavourable “pink” one.
From the early 1990s through the 2008 “Russo-Georgian war,” waves of armed conflicts in the Abkha... more From the early 1990s through the 2008 “Russo-Georgian war,” waves of armed conflicts in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali regions of Georgia forced thousands of residents, mainly ethnic Georgians, to leave their homes. More than two decades of protracted internal displacement, marked by tough economic and social problems, led this vulnerable community to a common trap in reckoning with the past: an overwhelming sense of the fundamental ruptures between the idealized past and current, miserable reality. Failures of the displacement policy and “side effects” of numerous humanitarian aid projects hinder internally displaced persons’ social integration and leave them on the margins of Georgian society with almost a singular option: to constantly recall meaningful life in the lost homeland, which they remember as free of ethnic phobias and economic problems. In this article, we suggest that for persons who are internally displaced, memories are defined not only by their past lived experiences and present hardships, but also by the official historical narratives that argue that Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian “endemic” unity and cohabitation was destroyed by Russian imperial politics. Living in constant pain also narrows the future expectations of the internally displaced persons. However, it is the past and the memories that are supposed to be useful in achieving the utopian dream of a return.
In 2009, information started to circulate around Tbilisi about the closure of the old Mtatsminda ... more In 2009, information started to circulate around Tbilisi about the closure of the old Mtatsminda Pantheon (MP from now on) and the opening of a new one near the Trinity Church. Tbilisi City Hall announced that there was no more space at the old Pantheon and that consultations about the creation of a new one were ongoing with the Patriarch of Georgia. In October of 2009, Mamuka Akhvlediani (Itv.ge, 2009), the vice-mayor of Tbilisi declared that: “a new place has to be selected, where a church can be erected and public funerals can be held. It is important to build the new pantheon at an especially good location, accessible for society and approved by society”(my translation. All subsequent translations are also mine). Despite the official closure of the old MP, in 2010, the City Hall made an exception and another recently deceased writer (Mukhran Machavariani) was buried at Mtatsminda. Additionally, in 2013, the newly elected government decided to reopen the MP for another writer (Ch...
From the early 1990s through the 2008 “Russo-Georgian war,” waves of armed conflicts in the Abkha... more From the early 1990s through the 2008 “Russo-Georgian war,” waves of armed conflicts in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali regions of Georgia forced thousands of residents, mainly ethnic Georgians, to leave their homes. More than two decades of protracted internal displacement, marked by tough economic and social problems, led this vulnerable community to a common trap in reckoning with the past: an overwhelming sense of the fundamental ruptures between the idealized past and current, miserable reality. Failures of the displacement policy and “side effects” of numerous humanitarian aid projects hinder internally displaced persons’ social integration and leave them on the margins of Georgian society with almost a singular option: to constantly recall meaningful life in the lost homeland, which they remember as free of ethnic phobias and economic problems. In this article, we suggest that for persons who are internally displaced, memories are defined not only by their past live...
Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected”... more Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected” quantitative surveys, rather than “collective” memory on Stalin in Georgia. This paper approaches the Stalin puzzle differently by introducing specific social frameworks and by going beyond a generational analysis. This study illustrates a case of contested memory around Stalin monuments. Drawing on fieldwork (ethnography and interviews) conducted in the Kakheti region and the city of Gori, we analyse how the Stalin cult developed into a memory site. This transformation happened by applying a specific narrative template, which was adapted to different political environments, from the Stalin era until today. We conclude that two opposing interpretations of the narrative template for Stalin as a memory site rely on the same forms, while containing totally different content that we label as an affirmative “golden” variant and an unfavourable “pink” one.
Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected”... more Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected” quantitative surveys, rather than “collective” memory on Stalin in Georgia. This paper approaches the Stalin puzzle differently by introducing specific social frameworks and by going beyond a generational analysis. This study illustrates a case of contested memory around Stalin monuments. Drawing on fieldwork (ethnography and interviews) conducted in the Kakheti region and the city of Gori, we analyse how the Stalin cult developed into a memory site. This transformation happened by applying a specific narrative template, which was adapted to different political environments, from the Stalin era until today. We conclude that two opposing interpretations of the narrative template for Stalin as a memory site rely on the same forms, while containing totally different content that we label as an affirmative “golden” variant and an unfavourable “pink” one.
Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected”... more Today, Stalin still haunts the Georgian public. Recent studies have focused solely on “collected” quantitative surveys, rather than “collective” memory on Stalin in Georgia. This paper approaches the Stalin puzzle differently by introducing specific social frameworks and by going beyond a generational analysis. This study illustrates a case of contested memory around Stalin monuments. Drawing on fieldwork (ethnography and interviews) conducted in the Kakheti region and the city of Gori, we analyse how the Stalin cult developed into a memory site. This transformation happened by applying a specific narrative template, which was adapted to different political environments, from the Stalin era until today. We conclude that two opposing interpretations of the narrative template for Stalin as a memory site rely on the same forms, while containing totally different content that we label as an affirmative “golden” variant and an unfavourable “pink” one.
From the early 1990s through the 2008 “Russo-Georgian war,” waves of armed conflicts in the Abkha... more From the early 1990s through the 2008 “Russo-Georgian war,” waves of armed conflicts in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali regions of Georgia forced thousands of residents, mainly ethnic Georgians, to leave their homes. More than two decades of protracted internal displacement, marked by tough economic and social problems, led this vulnerable community to a common trap in reckoning with the past: an overwhelming sense of the fundamental ruptures between the idealized past and current, miserable reality. Failures of the displacement policy and “side effects” of numerous humanitarian aid projects hinder internally displaced persons’ social integration and leave them on the margins of Georgian society with almost a singular option: to constantly recall meaningful life in the lost homeland, which they remember as free of ethnic phobias and economic problems. In this article, we suggest that for persons who are internally displaced, memories are defined not only by their past lived experiences and present hardships, but also by the official historical narratives that argue that Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian “endemic” unity and cohabitation was destroyed by Russian imperial politics. Living in constant pain also narrows the future expectations of the internally displaced persons. However, it is the past and the memories that are supposed to be useful in achieving the utopian dream of a return.
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