Abstract
The colonial policy of the Russian Empire of the 19th century was based on intense control mechanisms and strategy towards the nations under its rule (the Caucasus region in particular). One of the aspects of the identification of such political-ideological control mechanisms is a special approach to literature imported from abroad and to any type of printed products, their verification for a certain purpose – to what extent these materials involved the Information irrelevant to imperial/dictatorial politics. This extremely important position for imperial rule was subject to centralized administration; in St. Petersburg, the then capital of Russia created the department of “Foreign Censorship”. The mentioned censorship committee compiled lists of permitted and prohibited foreign literature entering the empire and sent them to provincial censorship offices. Any material of the printed word entering the Caucasus region was translated, checked and then sent to the addressee. If the material by its essence and idea was unacceptable for the totalitarian political model, then it was “enclosed”, i.e. They forbade handing it over to the addressee. Accordingly, similar literature was destroyed. The materials of the Caucasus Censorship Committee perfectly represent the colonial character of the cultural and educational policy of Imperial Russia and its management systems. These facts reveal the history of the Georgian people’s struggle for freedom of expression. Along with this, they present the principles and trends of the Russian Empire’s influence and manipulation of public opinion at the time, which acquires special importance in the context of modern “information wars”.
Presenters
Tamar PaichadzeProfessor, History of Modern and Medieval Literature and Literary Theory, Tbilisi State University of Ivane Javakhisvili, Tbilisi, Georgia Anna Dolidze
Researcher, Lecturer, Human Studies, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Civic, Political, and Community Studies
KEYWORDS
Literature, History, Colonial Policy, Archive Materials
