"Muhajir" and Fragments of Muhajirism from the 19th Century

Abstract

Jemal Jayeli’s novel “Muhajiri” portrays forced migration of Georgian population to the Ottoman Empire, driven by Russian and the Ottoman Empire imperials policies and religious and ethnic persecution. The Black Sea functions in the novel as both a physical and symbolic boundary, separating people from their homeland while highlighting the hardships of the journey, including disease, hunger, and death. Through the tragic experiences of its characters, the novel explores human resilience, the preservation of national identity, and the negotiation of cultural values in exile. This study examines how Muhajirism is represented in Georgian literature, particularly in Soviet and post-Soviet texts, and demonstrates how Muhajiri intertwines historical events with literary depiction to reflect the enduring impact of migration on collective memory and national consciousness.