Personally, I believe the term “national
identity” refers to a single nation’s unique characteristics derived from its
culture that define who they are. Perhaps a specific traditional music,
language, dance, or cooking dish gives them a sense of pride in themselves as a
nation compared to other countries across the world. National identity also
tends to be alongside a comparison of a separate country, usually bordering the
nation. This “other” country is a very important part in distinguishing a
country’s national identity.
The country of Georgia has built an
extremely strong national identity, as they are one of the oldest countries in
the world, starting their creation in the year 300 B.C (CIA World Factbook, 2017a). Although the country of Georgia
can at times be confused with the country in the United States, or just
completely forgotten about, Georgians are loud and proud of where they come
from.
Language is a very prevalent and unique
characteristic in the country of Georgia. The official language of Georgia is
Georgian, which 87.6% of the population speak (CIA World Factbook, 2017b). An incredible feature of Georgian is
that it is one of the only languages in the world to have no influence by any
European or Asian language. This very complicated and complex language has 3
alphabets including: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. This language has
stood through centuries upon centuries of intruders coming in and out of the
country, and the fact that the language has stayed the same through all those
years proves the strength and pride Georgia has for its history.
Another example of Georgians’ national
identity is their religion. 83.4% of Georgians are Orthodox, which happens to
be the official religion of the country (CIA World Factbook, 2017b). This
follows with 10.7% Muslims, which can be traced back to the Azerbaijanian
community in the country (CIA World Factbook, 2017b). Being religious is an
extremely important moral throughout the country of Georgia. Georgia was one of
the first countries in the world to adopt the religion of Christianity in 327
C.E., as it is known that Jesus has
done his workings around this area of the world (CIA World Factbook, 2017b).
A final example of Georgia’s national
identity is their traditional musical culture. Through the art of singing,
Georgians showcase their exquisite talent. The traditional music genre is known
as polyphonic singing. Although polyphonic singing can be heard all over the
world, the country of Georgia was one of the first to adopt this genre of music
(Ivane Javakhishvili, 2010). The polyphonic genre of music is defined as, “a
style of musical composition employing two or more simultaneous but relatively
independent melodic lines” (Merriam-Webster's
collegiate dictionary, 1993).
In terms of the “other” nation that has
heavily influenced Georgian culture, the answer is a bit complicated. Although
many people know about the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, many are not very
knowledgeable of the invasion of Russia into Georgia or the history between
these two countries. In 1991, Georgia declared independence from the Soviet
Union, but two regions in Georgia, known as South Ossetia and Abkhazia, were
not in favor of this decision (BBC Monitoring, 2017a). In 1992 South Ossetia, along
with Abkhazia in 1999, declared independence from the country of Georgia
because of said disagreement (BBC Monitoring, 2017b, 2017c). Although these
regions both declared themselves independent in the late 1990s, only a few
countries around the world, including Russia, see them as separate from Georgia
(BBC Monitoring, 2017c). Therefore, when referring to these areas, the term
“autonomous breakaway regions of Georgia” is usually preferred. In August of 2008, Russia sent many explosives
and soldiers into Georgia wanting to “protect” South Ossetia due to Russia’s
accusation of Georgia’s “aggression
against South Ossetia” (Peter
Roudik, 2015). For five days in August 2008, there were incredible amounts of
war and violence throughout the region of South Ossetia and the Georgian
borders surrounding it (BBC Monitoring, 2017c). Although the UN tried to investigate
this attack, they were removed from the area due to Russia’s veto (CNN Library,
2017). Today, people are still trying to find out what caused Russia’s attack
and why the war really started in the
first place.
In Anna Triandafyllidou’s work, National Identity and the ‘Other’, she brings
up the idea of two types of “others” known as the significant internal and
external “others”. Triandafyllidou (1998), defines an external “other” as,
“those that form a separate political system” (p. 600). Later she states how an
external significant other can also be defined as another threating or
non-threatening nation. The internal significant “other” is one who “belong to
the same political entity with the ingroup” (Triandafyllidou, 1998). Further
on, Triandafyllidou (1998), describes that an internal significant other can be
as simple as a group with different cultural beliefs including “language,
traditions and myths from origin” (p.601).
Triandafyllidou’s idea on significant
external and internal “others” directly correlates to the two autonomous
breakaway regions of Georgia: South Ossetia and Abkhazia. I believe these two
breakaway regions would be classified underneath the internal significant other
who is a, “small nation existing within a larger multinational state” or in
more simpler terms, a nation within a larger nation (Triandafyllidou, 602). What’s
a bit strange about the situation is that most of the world doesn’t see these
two regions as their own country, therefore still placing them underneath the
internal significant ‘other’ category instead of an external significant ‘other’.
The country of Russia could also be
placed under the category of external significant ‘other’, but personally, I
would not consider them an “other” that heavily influenced the cultural community.
Although Georgia did break away from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the
two countries did have a war in 2008, Russia has had no direct influence into
Georgian’s culture. Yes, Russia did fight for the South Ossetian people, but
the official boundary hasn’t changed to the rest of the world. Therefore, in my
opinion, Russia did not profoundly affect Georgia.
Although Georgia has recently been at
war, surprisingly there haven’t been any influences through linguistic,
musical, or religious traditions to the country of Georgia from both internal
significant others: South Ossetia and Abkhazia or external significant other:
Russia. Georgia has once again stuck to its roots, even through hardship, and
kept the people and their customs sacred. Even though Georgia might have some disagreements
with each significant other, Georgia’s national identity has never been
influenced or wavered by any country, and that
is something to be proud of.
Word
Count (1082)
Works
cited:
BBC
Monitoring, (2017a). Georgia Country Profile. BBC News. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17301647
BBC
Monitoring, (2017c). South Ossetia Profile. BBC
News. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18269210
CIA
World Factbook (2017a). Introduction. Georgia.
CIA
World Factbook (2017b). People and Society.
Georgia.
CNN
Library (2017). 2008 Georgia Russia Conflict Fast Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/13/world/europe/2008-georgia-russia-conflict/index.html
Ivane
Javakhishvili (2010). The views and theories of Georgian authors. In:
Rusudan Tsurtsumua and Joseph Jordania (editors), Echoes from Georgia:
Seventeen Arguments on Georgian Polyphony (collection of essays). New York:
Nova Science, pg 19-34.
Merriam-Webster's
collegiate dictionary (10th
ed.).(1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. Definition: Polyphony
Peter
Roudik (2015). “Russian Federation: Legal Aspects of War in Georgia. Library of Congress. Retrieved from
https://www.loc.gov/law/help/legal-aspects-of-war/russian-georgia-war.php
Triandafyllidou, Anna (1998). National identity and the 'other'. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 593-612. Retrived from http://login.proxy.seattleu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy.seattleu.edu/docview/210167159?accountid=28598
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