Reconstructing a National Hero in the Post-colonial Memory Politics of Abkhazia: Debates over Kelesh Bey Shervashidze

Abstract

This article analyzes the reconstruction of the image of Prince Kelesh Bey Shervashidze (b. 1747) in the memory politics of Abkhazia through the prism of cultural resistance, from the perestroika period up to the present day. It argues that Abkhaz politicians use a dual approach to constructing the figure of Kelesh Bey. On the one hand, an anti-colonial narrative of the prince in opposition to the Russian and Soviet colonial system is created, and on the other hand, a more traditional colonial narrative aligned with Russia’s patronage of Abkhazia’s unrecognised statehood is also encouraged. However, the controversy over these discourses is formal in nature. The only real purpose of reviving the Russian and Soviet readings of Kelesh Bey is to hide Abkhaz cultural resistance from Russia, owing to the latter’s own dualistic status as embodying both Abkhazia’s former imperial center and its modern patron.