Reconstructions of Identities and Looking for Alternatives in Georgian Intercultural-Migration Texts

Abstract

The challenges of the modern global world primarily are reflected on identities. Texts written under situations of migration while living abroad are especially significant in light of the diversity of identities that exist today.

 A survey of the last twenty years' European debate on migration literature reveals a wide range of definitions for this genre. It has been referred to as “New Weltliteratur" more and more recently.

 The primary justification for referring to migration literature as the “New Weltliteratur" is its relation to the realities of daily life in the globalized world, as evidenced by the actual contexts of intercultural and multilingual connections. At the same time, texts produced abroad are largely responsible for creating the central component of “New Weltliteratur"—the intercultural "third space."

 The works written by Georgian authors abroad or on migration-related subjects are referred to by our scholarly group as Georgian intercultural-migration literature. The third space of this writing, as a national expression of the “New Weltliteratur", creates a new reality every day, and it is important to start resear­ching it today.

 Comparative literary studies no longer adequately capture the caliber of Georgian intercultural-migration writing, particularly when it comes to the investi­gation of identity reconstructions and the quest for alternatives. A new field of study is emerging that uses an interdisciplinary research style, contemporary theories, and a contextual (systematic and empirical) methodology. We employ the "socio-literary study" methodology that we devised for this piece, which suggests activating several avenues such as ethnic, religious, linguistic, social, gender, profe­ssional, self-actuali­zation, and self-realization.

 Identity is constructed from the sum of its parts. Emotional issues such as love, partner selection, marriage, and sexual orientation are increasingly being open­ly debated in relation to identities, in addition to national, social, and professional elements.

 The feminine discourse and the family story, which have been reinforced by the "mobile" and migratory nature of today's world, are what particularly stimulate the processes of identity reconstruction and search for alternatives in the “New Weltliteratur". The majority of "Movement" writers and characters are female. The issue of women's self-identification as writers and characters is currently the most significant theme of “New Weltliteratur”, with the historical notion of "femininity" being enhanced by cross-cultural models.

 Georgian intercultural-migration literature reflects the realities of today: women became more active thinkers and began to battle for their own independence and self-identification as a result of nomadism and the "movement" environment. In today's world, women are more critical of their inherited and acquired identities than men are; they strive to make decisions quickly; if the identity she had previously chosen becomes less valuable, she will have to accept her new identity from people around her. With entirely distinct themes from the national ones, the family, biographical, and gender narratives in this literature were burdened by migrations and associated issues (such as the dissolution of the family institution).

 Therefore, the field that most realistically and actively presents the "moving" (complicated, double, triple, hybrid, new) identities of migration and the global world, as well as the identity seeking processes, is Georgian intercultural-migration writing. The "made-in-place" writing does not have the multitude of accents and circumstances (imagological narrative, dominant cultural memory, psychological, personal identities "tied" to the "movement") that are present in this writing.

 This writing captures the shifts that present new models and paradigms for perception of the contemporary world and other cultures. It also reflects the reasons for migration, which are associated with a personal identity crisis in the place of origin (negative emotions, a never-ending and hopeless search for alternatives), and which led to the perception that migration was preferable.

 The modern Georgian intercultural-migration writing is included in the “New Weltliteratur” by presenting this discourse from a complex, intercultural pers­pective while retaining very interesting national aspects – such as the 1990s para­digm, internal and external migration, post-Soviet events, and the distinctive charac­teristics of Georgian mentality (collectivist mentality).

This literature poses a number of queries:

– What alternatives are available to those who had gone abroad? Can they fully express themselves both creatively and professionally, as well as on a sense-emotional level?

– Is there a negative attitude against any symbols of national identity or Western values? What should we try to "forget" and what should we acknowledge as a fact of life and a challenge?

– How can "identity capital" be strengthened? In what areas of family dyna­mics – parenting styles, cultural norms and sociopolitical circumstances – is inter­vention necessary?

Georgian intercultural-migration writing reflects not only local problems, it includes a lot more tools to demonstrate the processes of reconstructing identities, redefining national and ethnic identities, defining new identities, and searching for alternatives. It also deconstructs national narratives and national stereotypes. Compa­red to "made-in-place" writing, this literature adapts to the difficulties of modernity far better.

We explore the texts of two authors in this article: Lela Lashkhi (2019), who lives in France, and Maya Tsitsishvili (2021), who lives in America.