The Face of Stalin in the Georgian “Soviet National” Narrative

Abstract

A great many works of fiction, prose or poetry, paintings and sculptures have been created about Joseph Stalin, many films have been made, and a number of historical works have been written. The vast majority of them were created during his own lifetime and, most likely, with Stalin's own interpretation.

For Stalin, promoting himself from a national perspective became a means of legitimization (for the benefit of Georgians. Author), which somehow suppressed the people's resistance to the occupation regime, of course, against the backdrop of repression. Stalin's name is associated with Ilia Chavchavadze, Iakob Gogebashvili and the mother tongue, as well as the Georgian language, Shota Rustaveli, the church, historical memory and the future (in general, communism is the future paradise that the leader promises to the people). Of course, all this is mythologized, and the narratives that make it uniquely Georgian are far from reality. In this process, both fiction and cinema, as well as painting, play a particularly active role.

The Georgian national narrative was connected to Stalin, and Stalin to the narratives of Russian Soviet identity, thus creating a kind of magical circle that played a negative role in the post-Soviet era. Georgian nationalism and identity, which originated in the 19th century, was founded by Ilia Chavchavadze. And during the Soviet period, it was transformed in accordance with the existing regime and leader. Shota Rustaveli is the pinnacle of Georgian thought and the face of the great Georgian past, which Stalin revived in a new way. The creator of the new environment, the integration figure who sets the tone and direction is a Georgian - Joseph Stalin, whose personal role is mainly passive, that is, Stalin himself is the subject of projections, whose personal greatness in the imagination of Georgians is transferred to the whole of Georgia. However, his direct participation should not be forgotten either, which, as everywhere, gives directions and contours in this area as well. Stalin becomes a factor of Georgian national identity.