REFLECTION OF POLITICAL REPRESSION IN GEORGIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY
Abstract
The study of political repressions has become one of the main challenges of contemporary historiography. The availability of secret archival material or memoirs in the post-Soviet period has contributed to research in this direction. Recently, the study of Soviet repression in the context of political and cultural memories has acquired particular importance.
Despite a certain abundance of research, historiography is full of narratives proposed by the rulers of the Soviet system, the functioning of the party and the "Soviet intellectuals" associated with it.
The article aims to demonstrate the trends that still exist both in the scientific literature and in society, based on a study of the scientific literature existing in this area, which, in turn, is due to various factors. This is the relevance of the study.
The relevance of the issue is also due to the fact that the post-Soviet countries have not yet overcome the Soviet legacy, which often manifests itself in the actions of both the political elite and the public.
Proper knowledge cannot be created due to a number of factors such as a problem with access to archival material, ignoring negative examples, the formality of rehabilitation or less memorization, which are important in the process of overcoming the Soviet past.
The fact that a certain part of society today does not perceive the scale and severity of repressions and even justifies crimes by the “request of the time” may be due to low awareness and lack of reliable information about individual stories. Expansion of research oral histories as an alternative memory would contribute to the restoration of the actual image of that period, would reveal the influence of political repression on the entire Georgian society.
In addition, the study of scientific literature on political repression, analysis of available works and publications provide an opportunity to discuss political repression in the context of memory.
Keywords: History, historiography, political repression, Soviet legacy, Ajara
