Page 19 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 19
There and back: Circassians in Anatolia
Jim Samson
Royal Holloway, Univerza v Londonu
Royal Holloway, University of London
This paper is about Circassians, whose ancestral homeland lies north of
the Greater Caucasus mountain range, but many of whom were exiled to
Anatolia and beyond in the 1860s. I will get to that story shortly. However,
I want to begin with Georgia, which lies south of the mountain range, and
specifically with the Georgian borderlands. Everyone knows that Georgia
is proud of its traditional polyphony. It has become something of a nation-
al symbol. As such it helped preserve a sense of Georgian identity during
Soviet times, and it has been worn as a badge of pride since the declaration
of independence in 1991. Indeed, following its recognition by UNESCO in
2001, Georgian polyphony has been all but fetishized in its homeland.1 The
scholarly emblem of this is the Centre for Traditional Polyphony at Tbilisi
Conservatory, with its biennial published symposia produced by an ener-
getic team of scholars under the direction of Rusudan Tsurtsumia.2 Yet all
this needs a little scrutiny. Georgia comprises regions that have their own
languages, their own histories, and their own strongly developed sense of
cultural identity. So we should, I think, be a little cautious of the tenden-
cy of Georgian scholars to label their regional polyphonic practices as mu-
1 Anzor Erkamaishvili, Director of the Rustavi Ensemble and Head of the Internati-
onal Centre for Georgian Folk Song, was in large measure responsible for preparing
the ‘Chakrulo’ submission to UNESCO in 2001.
2 As of today there are seven volumes of proceedings, all published by the Centre for
Traditional Polyphony.
17
Jim Samson
Royal Holloway, Univerza v Londonu
Royal Holloway, University of London
This paper is about Circassians, whose ancestral homeland lies north of
the Greater Caucasus mountain range, but many of whom were exiled to
Anatolia and beyond in the 1860s. I will get to that story shortly. However,
I want to begin with Georgia, which lies south of the mountain range, and
specifically with the Georgian borderlands. Everyone knows that Georgia
is proud of its traditional polyphony. It has become something of a nation-
al symbol. As such it helped preserve a sense of Georgian identity during
Soviet times, and it has been worn as a badge of pride since the declaration
of independence in 1991. Indeed, following its recognition by UNESCO in
2001, Georgian polyphony has been all but fetishized in its homeland.1 The
scholarly emblem of this is the Centre for Traditional Polyphony at Tbilisi
Conservatory, with its biennial published symposia produced by an ener-
getic team of scholars under the direction of Rusudan Tsurtsumia.2 Yet all
this needs a little scrutiny. Georgia comprises regions that have their own
languages, their own histories, and their own strongly developed sense of
cultural identity. So we should, I think, be a little cautious of the tenden-
cy of Georgian scholars to label their regional polyphonic practices as mu-
1 Anzor Erkamaishvili, Director of the Rustavi Ensemble and Head of the Internati-
onal Centre for Georgian Folk Song, was in large measure responsible for preparing
the ‘Chakrulo’ submission to UNESCO in 2001.
2 As of today there are seven volumes of proceedings, all published by the Centre for
Traditional Polyphony.
17
