Politics of Memory in Independent Georgia. Selected Aspects

• Authors: Wojciech Górecki

Abstracts

EN

This article outlines the question of politics of memory in independent Georgia (since the collapse of the USSR). The author argues that Georgia is not yet conducting such a policy, but we may nevertheless discuss a sum of activities which during the rules of Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1990–1992) and Eduard Shevardnadze (1992–2003) were sporadic and intuitive, but since the Rose Revolution and the government of Mikheil Saakashvili (2004–2013) have become more thoughtful and methodical (the Museum of Soviet Occupation was opened in Tbilisi during this time). The actions taken were influenced by the political situation – the civil war, the wars in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the 1990s, and the Russian-Georgian war of 2008 – as well as the regional diversity of the country, its multi-ethnicity, and its position in the South Caucasus (which in Soviet times was known as Transcaucasia). This article discusses the most important topics that appear in Georgian narratives about the past, highlighting the historical ties between it and the West (the aim is to prove that in cultural-axiological terms Georgia belongs to Europe, and thus to justify Tbilisi’s aspirations to integration with the EU and NATO), and depicting Georgia as the victim of the Russian and Soviet empires (and whose successor is contemporary Russia). However, the Georgian message is hindered by the existence of the Joseph Stalin State Museum, which glorifies the Soviet dictator.

Keywords

EN

Georgia; Abkhazia; South Ossetia; Gori; Tbilisi; Joseph Stalin; USSR; Russia; Zviad Gamsakhurdia; Eduard Shevardnadze; Rose Revolution; Mikheil Saakashvili; politics of memory; Transcaucasia; Southern Caucasus

• Publisher: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu
• Journal: Institute of National Remembrance Review
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 1
• Pages: 283-309

Contributors

author

Wojciech Górecki

• Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich

Identifiers

DOI

10.48261/INRR190109

Biblioteka Nauki

1956293