Characteristics of the Cultural Identity of the Representatives of the Princely House of Abkhazia

Abstract

National cultural identity develops and is formed over a long period of time, based on various factors. According to the discourse of identity theorists, it can be considered as a collective cultural identity, which combines various spectrums of collective cultural creativity of nations. Among them, the leading place is occupied by written cultural heritage, which, together with other markers of identity, has a fundamental influence on the formation of the worldview and values of nations and individuals. The written cultural heritage of the past is a set of leading historical narratives that form the basic content of collective historical memory. Throughout the Middle Ages, the national and cultural identity of the Abkhazian population was associated with the Georgian historical narrative and collective historical unity, since the existing historical and source knowledge base about the history of Abkhazia is based entirely on historical narratives created in the Georgian language. These are historical works preserved in the collection of ancient Georgian historical works - "Life of Kartli" ("Kartvelt Tskkovreba"), in family chronicles ("Divan of the Kings", etc.), in the works of Vakhushti Bagrationi and other Georgian chroniclers, in small chronicles, historical poetry and travel literature. In addition, interesting historical content is contained in official historical documents, epigraphic monuments of Egri-Abkhazian (Abkhazian) kings, eristavi, and major feudal lords - inscriptions, epistolary heritage, numismatic items, etc., which are preserved in the Georgian language. Medieval traditions continued into the 19th century. In this regard, the written cultural heritage of the Abkhazian princely family - the Sharvashidzes - is noteworthy - documents, epistolary material, grave epitaphs, etc. The work analyzes the problem of the cultural identity of the Sharvashidzes in the context of the written cultural heritage of the 19th century.

Keywords

• Cultural identity
• Written heritage
• Historical memory of Georgians and Abkhazians

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