"evropuli qartia saqarTvelo "European Charter for Regional or ...

In 1941, in the most difficult period of the country, George Chitaia,
a prominent scientist and a public figure published the article titled
"The motif of the tree of life in the Laz ornament" (Chitaia, 1941). The
work deserves attention in multiple ways and belongs to the most remarkable
works of global ethnological literature, though, in this case,
the social important of the article is urgent, It is well-known that this period
extremely tragic, when many representatives of scientific and public
elite was, in fact, physically destroyed; the soviet dogmas are declared
as the only guidance and as scientific theories, the most of which
is still not overcome yet 451
; exactly at that moment, George Chitaia published
the work which proved the unity of the Georgian worldview in
the entire nation since its birth, it was an act of ignorig imperial ideology
("divide and rule") and the soviet instructions, and presented the Laz
and Svan materials as an apparent evidence in terms of vitality of the
Georgian elements (Chitaia, 1941).
Currently Russia’s attemts to implement imperial goals is more
active: even today the part of the Georgian territory is occupied. At the
same time the ethnic scientific diversions are carried out against the unified
ethnic Georgian consciousness. Georgan reality is inadequately reflected
by the Russian ethnologists and linguists in the most part of the
modern ethnolinguistic maps spread worldwide – they still consider the
most part of the Georgians as groups of other ethnic origin. For instance,
this is true of the ethnolinguistic qualifications by the famous
Russian scientist Y. Koryakov. According to his conclusion, the Georgian
ethnos is divided in several ethnoses: the Georgian, the Megrel, the
Laz, the upper Svan, the upper Svan and the lower Svan (Putkaradze,
2009).
Obviously, when the occupant is so active and when Georgia faces
tremendous amount of problems, we need to be more careful as representatives
of scientific fields that go beyond the specific research area
and become socially vulnerable. At least now, though quite late, it is essential
to keep Kartvelology free from the Soviet dogmas. Though certain
return to that sinister soviet ideology is apparent in some part of the
scientists. Naturally, there could be traced some social orders on the part
of the occupant state.
451
For instance, Stalin’s theory on formation of Georgians as a nation in XIX
century, etc.
372