Abstract:
The paper analyses an early stage of the formation of the Jewish
identity in Georgia with the aim to set the main peculiarities of this
process. It highlights the mode of perception of the Jewish community
in the second half of the 19th century, the vision of its role and
future perspectives in Georgia.
The second half of the 19th century is a period of formation of
ethnic, cultural and religious identities in imperial spaces. The same
processes took place in Georgia, which was one of the parts of the
Russian Empire at that time. The problem of determination of the
Georgian identity was actualized: how the in-group and out-group
could be differentiated, who should be included and excluded, how
the criteria of determination of these groups were defined?
The formation of identity is a complex process. In the case of
Georgia, the issue was even problematic due to the ethnic and religious
diversity of the country, as well as because ofa religious
multiplicity of the Georgian ethnic group in itself. Together with the
question of determination of the Georgian identity, the problem of
setting the identity of other ethnic and religious groups residing in
Georgia came to the forefront as well. In this context, the identity
of Georgian-speaking Jews living in Georgia and the problem of its
interrelation with the Georgian identity was actualized.
Through the prism of identity studies, various texts published
in the newspaper “Droeba” are analysed. These texts mainly contain
the Georgian perspective; the articles of Jewish authors are rarely
presented in the publications of the period.
