Caucasus Studies Portal

Release of the book “We witnessed the break-up”, where a group of Swedish and Danish researchers recount their experiences in the Caucasus region during the final years of the Soviet Union. Find the book here : http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-49064 (download or print). Published in the series Caucasus Studies at Malmö University, 2021.

The Caucasus, like the Baltic region, was on the outskirts of the Soviet Union, but these two regions were to play an important role in the reform process that Gorbachev initiated in 1985 and that six years later led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

In their contributions the authors write about the new movements for independence in the Caucasus and increasing tensions with Moscow, how the Soviet structures at different levels were breaking down and the national cultures became increasingly important. They describe how premodern traditions still play a role, despite Soviet modernization, account for specific cultural features and similarities and also witness deepening ethnic antagonism.

The authors are political scientist Ib Faurby, cultural geographer Lars Funch Hansen, researcher on minority issues Helen Krag, slavicist Märta-Lisa Magnusson, historian and Iranologist Søren Theisen and general linguist Karina Vamling.

Editors of the book are Märta-Lisa Magnusson and Karina Vamling.

“Vi såg sammanbrottet” – Svenska och danska forskares berättelser från Kaukasus under Sovjetväldets sista år

“We witnessed the break-up.” – Six Swedish and Danish researchers on the final years of the USSR seen from the Caucasus, edited by Märta-Lisa Magnusson and Karina Vamling (In Swedish and Danish).

When: December 8, 10.15–11.00. Where: Zoom https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/66199315527?pwd=MXNpemgwVEgxMTVmNVJZTi84TkJOQT09

On Christmas Day 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union. The country that he had been the leader of, as General Secretary of the Communist party since 1985 and as President since 1990, had ceased to exist. The crucial event that led up to the final collapse was the meeting in Minsk on December 8 1991, when the leaders of the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine decided to establish an  interstate organization, CIS, the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In the anthology “We witnessed the break-up” a group of Swedish and Danish researchers recount their experiences in the Caucasus region during the final years of the Soviet Union and the period shortly after. The authors are political scientist Ib Faurby, cultural geographer Lars Funch Hansen, researcher on minority issues Helen Krag, slavicist Märta-Lisa Magnusson, historian and Iranologist Søren Theisen and general linguist Karina Vamling.

The Caucasus, like the Baltic region, was on the outskirts of the Soviet Union, but these two regions were to play an important role in the reform process that Gorbachev initiated in 1985 and that six years later led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

In their contributions the authors write about the new movements for independence in the Caucasus and increasing tensions with Moscow, how the Soviet structures at different levels were breaking down and the national cultures became increasingly important. They describe how premodern traditions still play a role, despite Soviet modernization, account for specific cultural features and similarities and also witness deepening ethnic antagonism.

The book is published by Malmö University in the series Caucasus Studies and is available as an ebook (download link) and will shortly appear as print-on-demand.

Join us for a Roundtable: Georgian literature in Sweden – Swedish literature in Georgia. Poetry and children’s literature are in focus, as well as challenges in translating culture specific features. Participants are Kristian Carlsson, publisher, writer and translator; Tamara Tchikovani, translator, Manana Kock Kobaidze, lecturer, translator and writer and Hanna Sandborgh, PhD Candidate at Tbilisi State University with a special interest in translation theory.
October 22, 3.15-5.00 pm (Sign-up here) (in Swedish).
The event is part of series of seminars and events “Meet Georgian Culture at Malmö University” (program). This year the Georgian capital Tbilisi has been appointed “World book capital“.

Kristian Carlsson is a Swedish writer and translator. His publishing house Smockadoll has contributed to the translation of a number of Georgian books into Swedish. His poetry is also translated into Georgian.

Tamara Tchikovani, born in Georgia, moved to Sweden in 1992 and has translated several books by Astrid Lindgren into Georgian: Ronja Rövardotter (Diogene 2002, Bakur Sulakauri Publishing 2019); Bröderna Lejonhjärta (Diogene 2005, Bakur Sulakauri Pablishong 2020) och Lotta på Bråkmakargatan (Bakur Sulakauri Publishing, 2012) 

Manana Kobaidze was born in Georgia and moved to Sweden in 1996. She is a lecturer in Georgian at Malmö University, and also a writer and translator. Her recent collection of poetry is Akhali agvisto (Den nya augusti) gavs ut i Tbilisi 2018. She has translated poetry from Swedish into Georgian (bl.a. Tomas Tranströmmer 2012, Karin Boye 2013) and Georgian into Swedish (Lia Liqokeli 2015, Den Kaukasiska fallenheten, 2018 (28 Georgian poets).