Collective Memory and Reputational Politics of National Heroes and Villains (original) (raw)

2017, Nationalities Papers

The politics of memory plays an important role in the ways certain figures are evaluated and remembered, as they can be rehabilitated or vilified, or both, as these processes are contested. We explore these issues using a transition society, Georgia, as a case study. Who are the heroes and villains in Georgian collective memory? What factors influence who is seen as hero or villain and why? How do these selections correlate with Georgian national identity? We attempt to answer these research questions using a newly generated dataset on contemporary Georgian perspectives on the recent history. Our survey results show that according to the representative sample of the Georgian population from the beginning of the 20th century the main heroes include Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Ilia Chavchavadze, and the Patriarch Ilia II; Eduard Shevardnadze, Sergo Ordzhonikidze, and Vladimir Putin represent main villains; and those that appear on both lists are Mikheil Saakashvili and Joseph Stalin. We highlight two clusters of attitudes that are indicative of how people think about Georgian national identity, mirroring civic and ethnic conceptions of nationalism. How Georgians understand national identity impacts not only who they choose as heroes or villains, but whether they provide an answer at all.

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact