Georgian National Identity

 Georgian National Identity - Revised

What makes Georgia Georgia? Surrounded by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, and Russia having been held by the Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Turks, Russians, and most recently part of the Soviet Union, what makes Georgia separate and different? National identity is difficult to define. It's often thought that national identity comes from common ancestry, the people are brought together as they are all of the same ethnicity. And while this is sometimes a factor in the grouping of people to form a country, travel has always caused mixing of ethnicities that make that impossible. The common aspects cited to create national identity -- language, religion, ethnicity, and location (Triandafyllidou, 1998)-- are all part of what makes a nation a nation, but all change so much that they are not enough to unite a nation on their own. People outside of the nation often share many of the same attributes, especially concerning small nations such as Georgia and its neighbors. The identity of a nation is created by the difference it has from outsiders. As Triandafyllidou (1998) calls them, the “significant others” of a nation are what allows the nation itself to be distinguished, not only from those outside the country, exterior others, but also minorities and those within the country that don’t fit the national identity, interior others. The Georgian culture we see today is defined by Russia as its most significant other, making South Ossetia an interior other for their association with Russia and their position as a minority in ethnicity and language. The Georgian language, alphabet, wine culture, and polyphonic singing have all been made important by their ability to differentiate Georgia from Russia. 

Maybe the most significant difference between Georgia and other nations is its language. There are no other languages like it, it is only spoken in Georgia. The Georgian language differentiates Georgia from surrounding countries, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and most importantly Russia all have their own languages and alphabets(Amirejibi-Mullen, 2012). The language barrier also differentiates within Georgia, with language defining Georgia as different from exterior others, language minorities in Georgia that do not share the language are outcast as others as well, interior others. During Soviet times, a strategy of the communist regime was to separate nationalities by, “not political, but historical and cultural”(Amirejibi-Mullen, 2012, 215) differences. In this separation Georgia was made a nation by the USSR, different from Armenia or other large groups with different languages, with South Ossetia as the Ossetian Autonomous District, within but still distinct from Georgia. The Georgian language was greatly strengthened by the Soviet regime, being made the official language of Georgia (Amirejibi-Mullen, 2012). The USSR knew that Georgia was not in support of overthrowing the previous Russian government, which made the Soviets the Georgian enemy, the significant other. So the USSR encouraged the use of the Georgian language to promote national identity on the USSR’s terms, for communism’s sake. The Georgian language became important to Georgians as it was a way in which they were separate from the Soviet Union at large, and also neighboring countries. Even if it was encouraged by the USSR, the Soviets spoke Russian, so it was a difference from the other that made it important to national identity. However, for South Ossetia and other minorities in Georgia, this made them even more clearly outsiders. Georgians became defined by their language, but South Ossetians didn’t speak Georgian. For South Ossetians, without schools set up for their language, Russian was taught and has become their official language today. The Soviets sectioning off of language minorities “made it easier to assimilate and russify the minorities” (Amirejibi-Mullen, 2012, 226). Even today, “Ossetians are unwanted guests” (Amirejibi-Mullen, 2012, 220) in Georgia according to the president in 1991. The Georgian language is what separated Georgia from Russia and the Soviet Union for so long, so a community within Georgia that speaks Russian and not Georgian, makes them an other to the Georgian people. South Ossetians today are backed by Russia in their bid for their sovereignty. Georgia's most significant internal and external others come together in the commonality of a different language, which only makes language more important to the Georgian national identity.

Georgia's wine culture is largely defined by its difference from Russia. Georgia has long been recognized for its wine, it is considered a cradle of wine (McGovern 2003, 2009), while Russia has a history very separate from wine, with 90% of Russian alcohol being spirits such as vodka (McKee, 1999, 2). Even so, under Russian rule and in the USSR, the majority of wine from Georgia went to Russia. Georgia was given a “monopoly on the supply of wine to the USSR” (Harvey & Jordania, 2014, 3) by Stalin, differentiating them from other winemaking neighbors like Armenia. However, in recent years, wine has become much more important to Georgian identity. Russia banned Georgian wine imports in 2006, losing 96% of its market after its war with Russia in 2008(Granik, 2019). With Russia as their clear most significant other, Russia made wine in Georgia much more unique to Georgia by banning it. Banning it was a statement that Georgian wine was distinctly Georgia, that Russia did not accept or want their wine as part of Russia. So for Georgians, wine became even more important, their national identity was separated from Russia because of their wine. Georgian interest in winemaking has increased significantly, “2006 there were roughly 80 registered wineries, but by 2018, the number had ballooned to 961” (Granik, 2019). Wine became a larger part of Georgian identity as it was defined as not being Russian. The importance of wine to Georgians has increased, making it an even more main part of Georgian culture due to its most significant other’s rejection of it.

One of the most unique forms of Georgian traditional music is polyphonic singing. Being an old tradition in Georgia, coming from even before Christianity, the Soviet Union put effort into studying the tradition and popularising it(Bithell, 2014). The Soviet Union helped bring polyphonic singing to prominence in Georgian national identity, by both popularising it and then leaving it completely to Georgians. The Soviet Union was a market and promoter of polyphony, studying and standardizing the singing(Bithell, 2014). Similar to their practices with unique language, the USSR encouraged the national identity of Georgia in certain ways that fit with communist aspirations, and polyphony served their purposes well(Bithell, 2014). Georgians used this acknowledgment of polyphony as uniquely Georgian to set themselves apart from Russia and other neighboring countries. Once Georgia gained independence in 1991 and polyphony was no longer an interest of Russia, the uniqueness of polyphonic singing only increased as it was no longer even pushed by Russia as a piece of culture, making it an even more important distinction between Georgia and Russia. Polyphonic singing was brought to importance by the Soviet Union, the other of Georgia, because Georgia took advantage of the opportunity to differentiate itself.

References

Amirejibi-Mullen, R. (2012). Language policy and national identity in Georgia (Doctoral dissertation, Queen Mary, University of London).

Bithell, C. (2014). Georgian polyphony and its journeys from national revival to global heritage. In The Oxford handbook of music revival (pp. 573-597). Oxford University Press.

Granik, L. (2019, July 30). Understanding the GEORGIAN Wine boom. Retrieved February 11, 2021, from https://daily.sevenfifty.com/understanding-the-georgian-wine-boom/

Harvey, M., & Jordania, J. (2014). Where wine was born? Wine and identity in Georgia. Wine and identity: Branding, heritage, terroir, 160-188.

McGovern, P. E. (2019). Ancient wine: the search for the origins of viniculture. Princeton University Press.

McKee, M. (1999). Alcohol in Russia. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 34(6), 824-829.

Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the “Other.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 593–612. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/014198798329784