'Ideal Scheme' or 'Passing over the Rainbow': Transmission of the Georgian Cultural Identity among the Fereydani Gorjīs

Author: Khalvashi, Tamta

Source: Iran and the Caucasus, Volume 12, Number 1, 2008 , pp. 35-43(9)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

Conceptualising Fereydani Georgians, who have lived in Iran for almost 400 years, I have always found myself asking how such groups manage to survive as groups at all and why these kinds of people strive to maintain their sense of identity or retain their cultural memory? I place the concept of identity at the heart of the analysis. Therefore, this article explores the main aspects of identity maintenance and transmission through the presentation of a number of ethnographic materials based on my own research among Fereydani repatriates now living in Tbilisi.

I try to show how certain traditions, rituals, customs, etc. are transmitted from generation to generation in the place where the environment is not native, and how such cultural artefacts express the elements of identity.

Keywords: FEREYDANI GEORGIANS; GEORGIANS IN IRAN; CULTURAL IDENTITY

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157338408X326181

Affiliations: 1: Tbilisi State University

Publication date: 2008-07-01