THE CULTURAL IDENTITY ISSUES OF THE 19TH CENTURY ABKHAZIA

The cultural values of the nation, traditions, symbols, folklore, myths and legends, constitute the collective memory of this society. These values, created by educational and cultural centers, express the leading aspirations of the nation that created them and play a special role in shaping the identity of nations. The cultural identity of the population of Abkhazia rested on centuries-old traditions of Georgian-Abkhaz historical coexistence. This determined the fact that Abkhazia had remained a part of the all-Georgian cultural and historical universe. Since the end of the 17th century, when local Christian cultural and educational centers were liquidated in Abkhazia, cultural life in Abkhazia was supported only by the church centers of the Principality of Samegrelo (Odishi). Throughout the 19th century, the House of the Abkhaz principals was the center of the cultural life of Abkhazia. Even after the abolition of the Abkhaz principality (1864), representatives of the former ruling dynasty and people close to them determined the main aspects of social and cultural life. Above this, the history of the cultural life of Abkhazia of the 19th and early 20th centuries knows many prominent Georgians and Abkhazians, who great contributed to the creation of the cultural identity. The history of the cultural life of Abkhazia in the 19th and early 20th centuries reflects the main aspirations and characteristics of the cultural identity of the Abkhazian population: the establishment of new educational and cultural centers, close ties and cooperation with the progressive society of Tbilisi.