MODELS OF THE NATIONAL FUTURE IN COLONIAL PERIOD (19TH CENTURY) GEORGIAN POETRY

Abstract

This study examines the poetic models of national futurity in nineteenth-century Georgian literature, focusing specifically on representations of the future articulated within the colonial context of the Russian Empire. The research object comprises lyrical
texts produced during two major phases: the first generation that directly experienced the trauma of annexation—princess-poets of the Bagrationi dynasty and Romantic authors—and the subsequent generation of Realist writers, with particular emphasis
on the extensive poetic corpus of Akaki Tsereteli. The aim of the article is to trace how Georgian poets imagined the national future during a period marked by political subjugation, cultural disruption, and the transformation of national consciousness.
The theoretical framework integrates key concepts from nationalism studies, imagology, cultural memory, and intergenerational trauma theory. The study conceptualizes national identity as a discursively constructed and historically modifiable model
that retains certain stable core elements across time. Within this frame, Georgian literature is approached as a medium of collective/National memory that not only reflects socio-political realities but also shapes cultural perceptions of the self and the Other. Methodologically, the research combines close reading with digital-humanities-oriented text annotation and visualization. While the relatively small corpus of early nineteenth-century lyrical texts allows for manual identification, contextualization, and comparison of future-oriented motifs, the large volume of Akaki Tsereteli’s three-volume poetic output required the application of digital tools. For this purpose, CATMA was used for systematic annotation of future-related semantic markers, and the visAvis tool was employed for their graphical visualization. The annotated material was categorized into three tagsets—allegorical models, hope, and hopelessness—each comprising specific subcategories such as biblical, mythological, and historical allegories; unconditional hope; generational and educational hope; nihilism; and the impossibility of change. The analysis demonstrates that poetic representations of the national future during the first, trauma generation are heterogeneous, fragmented, and often emotionally contradictory. While some Romantic authors express messianic optimism or conditional hopes linked to the Russian Empire as a potential protector, others portray uncertainty, skepticism, or outright despair. Notably, even the most optimistic visions frequently remain passive, abstract, or unfulfilled. By contrast, the post-trauma/post-memory generation—the „Tergdaleulebi”—introduces an entirely new model of futurity grounded in active national responsibility, cultural modernization, civic awakening, and heroic resistance. Akaki Tsereteli’s corpus reveals a dynamic evolution: whereas early poems contain pronounced nihilistic tendencies, later works increasingly privilege unconditional and theologically informed hope, biblical allegorical frameworks, and faith in historical continuity. Over time, the future is imagined less as dependent on imperial structures and more as aligned with global socio-political
processes and the moral agency of the Georgian nation itself. The study concludes that nineteenth-century Georgian poetic discourse constructs three principal types of national future: (1) futures mediated through Russia—thematised as expectations largely destined to remain unrealized; (2) futures rooted in Georgia’s own heroic past, independent of external actors; and (3) futures embedded within broader global developments, envisaging Georgia as a free and self-determining nation. These findings illuminate the diachronic emergence of future-oriented national rhetoric as a central component of Georgian literary nation-building
discourse under colonial rule.