Bridging Divided Communities through the “Chosen Traumas” of the Wars: A Nation-Building Project in de facto Abkhazia

Abstract This paper studies a nation-building project through the lens of memory politics in the de facto state of Abkhazia. It explores the strategies employed by the Abkhaz elite to bridge the divided Abkhaz communities - descendants of the Muhajirs The term “muhajir” refers to individuals who were expelled from the Caucasus in the 19 th century following the Russian-Caucasian War. Derived from the Arabic word for “exile,” it referred to those who fled to the Ottoman Empire, particularly to Turkey, before dispersing to various parts of the world. Today, a large portion of their descendants reside in Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and Russia. These individuals largely make up the Abkhaz diaspora abroad, and in this text, the terms ‘diaspora’ and ‘descendants of the Muhajirs’ are used interchangeably. with the population of Abkhazia, and forge a unified national identity between these groups. The paper argues that, in order to overcome the divide, the Abkhaz elite utilizes the trauma of the Russian-Caucasian War (1817–1864), intertwining it with the memories of the Georgian-Abkhaz War (1992–1993), and frames both events within a broader context of heroism, courage and resistance to colonial powers, in this narrative represented by Russia and Georgia. By drawing an analogy between these two historical events, the elite fosters sharing chosen traumas , which encourages solidarity and supports the development of a renewed sense of national unity. However, the slow pace of repatriation and its limited impact on the demographic transformation of Abkhazia raise questions about the long-term success of the Abkhaz elite’s national project beyond the realm of memory and symbolism.