First Journey : Abkhazia

For this first journey, we head to Abkhazia. A state that declared independence from Georgia in 1992 and has been recognized by only nine other countries, its culture and history remain largely unknown in France. In short, an excellent first destination.

5/29/2025

This first stop perfectly illustrates the challenges one faces when trying to learn more about certain cultures around the world.

First, Abkhazia is a relatively small country, with a population of around 240,000 in 2022.

Second, the primary language spoken appears to be Abkhaz, which is almost exclusively used within Abkhazia and has just over 100,000 speakers worldwide, although Russian and Georgian also seem to be widely spoken.

Third, Abkhazia declared its independence from Georgia in 1992, just one year after Georgia regained its own independence following the collapse of the USSR in 1991. As a result, it’s possible that authors who lived geographically in Abkhazia may be classified as “Russian” or “Georgian.”

In short: authors are potentially few, hard to identify, and even harder to find in translation.

For a general introduction, I selected the following books:

Improbable Abkhazie (Improbable Abkhazia), by Léon Colm
Abkhazie (Géorgie), Histoire, politique, culture (Abkhazia (Georgia), History, politic, culture), by Jemal Gamakharia and Lia Akhaladzé

I supplemented these with a testimony, Mémoires d'un combattant abkhaze (Memoirs of an Abkhaz Fighter) by Bekir Ashuba.

When it comes to literature, whether in French or English, the options are extremely limited. I was only able to identify one author: Fazil Iskander.

Born in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, in 1929, and writing in Russian, Fazil Iskander gained recognition following the 1989 publication of his novel Sandro of Chegem, which earned him the USSR State Prize. His name was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, which may explain the numerous French and English editions of his work.

Since there was no competition, I selected three of his four works published in French:

Sandro of Chegem (original Russian publication date uncertain, likely between 1983 and 1989)
The Goatibex Constellation, published in 1966
Rabbits and Boas (original Russian publication date uncertain)

That wraps up the first itinerary.

If you know of any good books for this destination, feel free to reach out via the contact form. Otherwise, see you in a few weeks for the next reading journal.