The Cultural Semantics of Georgia between the Caucasus and the Black Sea

Both the Caucasus and the Black Sea have acquired roles as antagonistic cultural centers of gravity within the current process of Georgia’s (geopolitical) reorientation after the fall of the Soviet Union. From the Georgian perspective, orientation to the West goes hand in hand with an increased openness towards the Black Sea region along with questions about interpretational sovereignty over the Caucasus. From this point of view on Georgia’s reorientation, the project examined symbolic and affective reinterpretations of this geographical space. Special emphasis was put on the dialogue between Russian (imperial), Georgian (national) and Abkhazian (minority) perspectives. Georgia’s geographical position as a border space between Asia and Europe, or Orient and Occident, contributes to the fact that the study of its cultural semantics holds strong ties with the cultural awareness of Europe as a whole.

From 2016–2019, the research has been continued in the project Batumi, Odessa, Trabzon. The Cultural Semantics of the Black Sea from the Perspective of Eastern Port Cities (funded by the Volkswagen Foundation 2016–2018).