Civilized, Victorious, or Tragic? A Comparative Study of the Georgian, Ukrainian, and Azerbaijani Interwar Exiles

• In Event: Memory Beyond Borders: Exile, Environment, and Law in the Former Soviet Space

Abstract

This paper explores a peculiar case of exiled communities that not only actively engaged in the process of defining their own futures, but also challenged the principles and virtues of Western countries. This is a story of Georgian, Ukrainian, and Azerbaijani postcolonial intellectuals—all of whom experienced exile to 1920s France from their home democratic republics owing to occupation by the Red Army. Using mainly historical archives, and supplemental interviews my research findings discerned four distinct, yet interconnected, narratives: a Memory of Occupation and Independence, "the Civilized," the Victorious Nation, and the Politics of Differentiation. I explain the nature of émigré memory through a description of the kinds of narratives put forward by all three groups, discussing the four most prominent narratives found in the journals and historical documents of each sample. In considering these communities of exile, my research examines how national memory is created, stored, safeguarded, and utilized both in exile and beyond.

Author

• Elene Kekelia, George Washington U