A Reflection on the April 9 Tragedy and the Civil War of 1991–1993 on Monumental and Symbolic Sites of Memory in Post-Soviet Georgia

Abstract

This article examines the reflection of the April 9 Tragedy and the Civil War of 1991–1993 in the sites of memory chosen by the presidents of the Republic of Georgia. In Georgian cultural memory, the April 9 Tragedy was changed into an idea of heroic struggle. It also became a part of a memory narrative that legitimized Georgian independence and symbolized the April 9 Tragedy as the beginning of a new future for post-Soviet Georgia. The controversy over the perception of the 1991–1993 Georgian Civil War was equated with the fratricidal struggle in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and regions of the country, which were linked with a memory narrative that was aimed at reconciling opposing social groups.