ABKHAZ-ABAZIN DIASPORA IN EUROPE. SOME ISSUES OF PRESERVING THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF ABKHAZIANS AND ABAZINS ABROAD

Authors

  • Tamara Guramovna Ajba Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32653/CH11154-166

Keywords:

Abaza culture, apsua, diaspora, Europe, ethnos, self-preservation, identity.

Abstract

The paper examines the history of the formation of the Abkhaz-Abazin diaspora in Europe and its main settlements in European states. The Abkhazians (Apsua) and Abazins (Abaza) abroad identify themselves as a single Abkhaz-Abazin (Abaza) ethnos, therefore, we discuss these two ethnic groups as one. As a result of the study, we have identified that the labor migrants (natives of the Caucasus) experienced partial assimilation in the receiving states, thus we pay special attention on the instruments, allowing the Abkhazians and Abazins to retain their traditional and cultural identity. An inevitable process of adaptation led to the loss of important ethnic components. Observing the negative impact of this process, an initiative part of the community has been trying to preserve the traditional culture (Apsuara, Abazara, Adyghe Khabze) and national languages in the context of modern reality. A significant support in this issue has been provided by the creation of the public organization “World Abkhaz-Abazin Congress” (WAAC). Summarizing the results of the study, we have managed to demonstrate the role and importance of WAAC for the European diaspora of Abkhazians and Abazins, directed at preserving the original culture of these two related ethnic groups.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Tamara Guramovna Ajba, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera)
    Junior Researcher

References

Chirikba VA. Resettlement of Abkhazians and Abazins in Turkey [Rasselenie abhazov i abazin v Turcii]. Dzhigetsky collection. Moscow, 2012;(1):22-96. (In Russ)

Inal-Ipa Sh. Foreign Abkhazians [Zarubezhnye abhazy]. Sukhum: Alashara, 1990. (In Russ)

Ganich A. Circassians in Jordan [Cherkesy v Iordanii]. Moscow: ISAA MSU, 2007.

Dzidzaria GA. Makhadzhirstvo and problems of the history of Abkhazia in the 19th century [Mahadzhirstvo i problemy istorii Abhazii XIX stoletiya]. Sukhum: Alashara, 1982. (In Russ)

Chichinnadze ZI. Large migration of Mohammedan Georgians to Ottoman Turkey [Bol'shoe pereselenie gruzin-magometan v Osmanskuiu Turtsiiu]. Tiflis, 1915. (In Russ)

Anchabadze ZV. Essay on the ethnic history of the Abkhazians [Ocherk etnicheskoi istorii abkhazov]. Sukhum: Alashara, 1976. (In Russ)

Gurgulia E. Abkhazians in the structure of the North Caucasian diaspora in the Arab world (XVIII-XX centuries) [Abhazy v strukture severokavkazskoj diaspory v arabskom mire (XVIII-XX vv.)]. Abstract of thesis. Moscow: Reglet, 2014. (In Russ)

Ganich A. Circassian diaspora in Jordan: genesis and current state [Cherkesskaya diaspora v Iordanii: genezis i sovremennoe sostoyanie]. Abstract of thesis. Moscow: Gumanitary, 2003. (In Russ)

Babich IL. Politics and social circles of the North Caucasians in France in the 1920-1930s [Politika i krugi obshcheniia Severokavkaztsev vo Frantsii v 1920-1930 gody. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie]. Ethnographic Review. Moscow. 2020, 3: 105.

Kushkhabiev AV. History of the foreign Circassian diaspora [Istoriya zarubezhnoj cherkesskoj diaspory]. Nalchik: KBNTs RAS, 2018. (In Russ)

Tishkov VA. Requiem for an Ethnos: Studies in Socio-Cultural Anthropology [Rekviyem po etnosu: Issledovaniya po sotsial'no-kul'turnoy̆ antropologii]. Moscow, 2003. (In Russ)

Danchenko S. (ed.). Slavs and Russia: Slavic and Balkan peoples in the periodical press. To the 90th anniversary of A. A. Ulunyan: Collected articles [Slavyane i Rossiya: slavyanskie i balkanskie narody v periodicheskoj pechati. K 90-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya A. A. Ulunyana: Sb. statej]. Moscow: Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2014. (In Russ)

Masumova NR. Migration of the Turkish labor force to the countries of Western Europe. World and national economy [Migraciya tureckoj rabochej sily v strany Zapadnoj Evropy. Mirovoe i nacionalnoe hozyajstvo]. 2009, 2(9): 55-67. (In Russ)

Ayupova NI. The main directions and projects of cooperation between Turkey and Germany in the field of culture during the reign of the Justice and Development Party [Osnovnye napravleniya i proekty sotrudnichestva Turcii s FRG v oblasti kultury v period pravleniya Partii spravedlivosti i razvitiya. Bulletin of the Vyatka State University. 2017,(9):81-97. (In Russ)

Ksendzyk NN. Turkish labor immigration in the countries of Western Europe (70-80s) [Tureckaya trudovaya immigraciya v stranah Zapadnoj Evropy (70-80-e gg.)]. Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. I.F. Chernikov (ed.). Kyiv, 1991. (In Russ)

Ayba TG. The main provisions of the “Code of Honor” among the peoples of the Sovereign and Western Caucasus [Osnovnye polozheniia "Kodeksa chesti' u narodov Suverennogo i Zapadnogo Kavkaza. Vestnik SPbGU]. Bulletin of St. Petersburg State University. 2013, 2(4):167-173. (In Russ)

Downloads

Published

2022-03-31

Issue

Section

Ethnography

How to Cite

1.
Ajba TG. ABKHAZ-ABAZIN DIASPORA IN EUROPE. SOME ISSUES OF PRESERVING THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF ABKHAZIANS AND ABAZINS ABROAD. ИАЭК. 2022;18(1):154-166. doi:10.32653/CH11154-166