by Dr. Rebecca Mitchell, Assistant Professor, Middlebury College, and ARISC Junior Research Fellowship awardee
Key words: Georgia; liturgical chanting; sacred polyphony; national identity; intangible cultural heritage; Georgian Orthodox Church.
Module description: The module explores the questions of how and why polyphonic sound became deeply entangled with Georgian national identity. Students will gain understanding of the ways distinct “national” traditions such as sacred chants, serve as a way of claiming the unique status of a people. The module probes certain contradictions, revealing how and when Georgian sacred polyphony emerged as a space of nation-building in the late nineteenth century. As students examine aspects of Georgian history and the specific case of the revival of Georgian sacred chants, they will also see the complexities involved in the meanings of such “intangible” cultural artifacts.