TRADITION OR SPORT? GEORGIAN MARTIAL ARTS FEDERATION AS CONSTRUCTIVIST AND RESEARCH LABORATORY

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32653/CH154800-810

Keywords:

traditionalism, sportisation, heritagisation, wrestling, Georgian martial arts, chidaoba.

Abstract

In the wake of interest in martial arts and the nationalist upsurge in 1970-1990s in Georgia, the first attempt to appeal to the local martial arts practices, which did not receive state support in the Soviet period, arises. The first efforts towards the reconstruction of the Georgian martial arts tradition were already made in the late 1980s, which in turn in 1993 led to the creation of a specific federation, and later to the creation of the martial arts known as “khridoli”.

Inspired by the national pride, the founders and ideologists of the Federation see in local martial practices not only the basis for creating a national sport, but also means of educating Georgian identity and instilling patterns of behavior and moral standards that are considered appropriate for the Georgian people.

Based on the author’s field materials, collected in 2018-2019 in Tbilisi, as well as on publications and discussions on the topic in the media and the Internet, the article analyzes, within the framework of the Georgian martial arts federation (khridoli) project, the way its ideologists conceptualized the Georgian tradition of fighting techniques and the scenarios of its adoption as active practices.

The enthusiasts of tradition combine the desire to create a competitive sports training system within the Federation with the unconditional recognition of the importance of maintaining the “historicity” and “authenticity” of the reconstructed practices. The need to resolve the contradictions that arise and the search for balance determine the nature of organizational work with tradition in the Federation.

On the case of the projects of work with tradition considered in the article, we contend that using the perspective of “sportization” / heritagization makes the relationships between the forms of reinterpretation and construction of cultural practices on the one hand and social movements on the other more obvious.

The Federation of Georgian Martial Arts (hridoli) can be seen as a living laboratory or a workshop for the study, reinterpretation, construction of traditions, but also for the creation and popularization of new viable practices.

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Author Biography

  • Evgenia Ur'evna Zaharova, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera)
    PhD (in History), junior researcher

References

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Published

2019-12-30

Issue

Section

Ethnography

How to Cite

1.
Zaharova EU. TRADITION OR SPORT? GEORGIAN MARTIAL ARTS FEDERATION AS CONSTRUCTIVIST AND RESEARCH LABORATORY. ИАЭК. 2019;15(4):800-810. doi:10.32653/CH154800-810