Culture

Transcaucasia And Its Culture: Straddling Europe And Asia

Transcaucasia, also known as the South Caucasus, is composed of three countries: Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It is part, with Ciscaucasia (Northern Caucasus), of the greater region of the Caucasus. The three are located at the fringes of our continent, straddling the geographical boundary between Asia and Europe. But there’s more to a country’s “Europeanness” than mere geography.

In 2005, the European Commission stated that the EU could be open to enlargement talks with these three countries in the future. But just how European is Transcaucasia? While making definite statements on the blurry concept of European identity can be complicated, this article explores the existing cultural links between European countries and these three countries.

Languages of Transcaucasia: the horsemen of distinctness

Despite their proximity, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan share nothing in terms of language. All three derived from three different primary languages. Georgian, the literary and common language of the Kartvelian languages, is not known to be linked to any other language. It is one of the world’s primary languages by itself and has evolved within the same region since then. It is the direct descendant of proto-Kartvelian, which show some similar patterns to Indo-European, which might indicate an early interaction. However, the language remained very closed to foreign influence, despite the various occupations of the region. Georgians even have their own alphabet, only used by them.

Armenian is an independent and distant branch of the Indo-European languages. It is, however, closer to Iranian than any other European language. They also possess their very own alphabet.

Azerbaijan, the only country of the region using the Latin script, speaks a language part of the Turkic family. Despite the proximity to Turkey, Azerbaijani is closer to the Turkmen language than to Turkish.

Being an Indo-European language is not a prerequisite to be European. Hindi or Iranian languages do not make their country any more European. In the same way, Estonia, Finland, or Hungary speak Uralic languages, yet the countries are indisputably European. So, in terms of language, Transcaucasia’s linguistic culture has little to no links to Europe, having their very own cultural heritage.

Ethnolinguistic groups in the Caucasus region, by Pmx, Wikimedia.

The religious bond

While Christianity is not a European religion per se, European culture and heritage are highly influenced by Christianity. Georgia’s main religion is under the influence of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which shares close links with Eastern Europe and most of the Balkans. It also brought Georgia closer to Europe during History, when Christian powers allied to fight the common Islamic “enemy”. Today’s Apostolic Autocephalous Church of Georgia is in entire agreement with the rest of the Eastern Orthodox world. But Christianity is not the only religious link Georgia shares with Europe. The Georgian mythology, which preceded Christianity, had important influences from Greek mythology.

While Armenia is part of the Eastern Orthodoxy as well, it follows a different orientation, being the Oriental Orthodoxy. Unlike the Georgian Patriarchy, the Armenian Apostolic Church is not in full agreement with the Orthodox world and developed specific customs. A similar church would be Coptic Orthodox Church.

Finally, Azerbaijan has an overwhelming part of the population following Islam, with 85% of the population being Shi’a. While European culture is strongly influenced by Christianity, it is not limited by it, as shown by Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania or Kosovo which are Muslim in the majority.

Traditions and culture based on religious practices are overall very similar to Europe within the region. The only exception being Azerbaijan which does not have strong historical ties or cultural and religious exchanges with the rest of Europe.

Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi.

Transcaucasia and its art

Another manifestation of culture, perhaps the most visible, is art. Religious buildings are, of course, influenced by Christianity in both Armenia and Georgia. Other building styles are distinctively Georgian or Armenian, but both are influenced in a way by Byzantine architecture, linking them to European culture. The Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi is distinctive for its Haussmann building style, showing that the country is turned towards Europe more than Asia or the Middle East.

The traditional music in Georgia is a unique mix of local polyphonic music inherited from Christianity, of middle eastern monophony and late European languages.

Persian culture, however, has greatly influenced the region as well. Not only it is the omnipresent influence in Azerbaijan, but it also influenced Georgia from the 12th to the 19th century. The ruling class was often raised in today’s Iran, and Jean Chardin noted in 1672 surprising similarities with the Persian world.

European heritage is visible in Transcaucasia and had an undeniable influence over the region. Despite how strong it may be in Georgia, or faint to non-existent in Azerbaijan, it remains a surprisingly unique region where local peculiarities mix with both European and Persian influences.

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  1. As a Spaniard, Islam is part of European culture no matter how much it clashes in central / northern Europe because Islam is in turn influenced by Mediterranean culture and Europe would not be understood without Mediterranean culture, the Iberian peninsula, the Balkans , Cyprus and Malta have Islamic heritage. On the other hand, the languages ​​may or may not resemble each other, such as Hungarian, Euskera or Finnish, so it is acceptable that languages ​​such as Georgian or Armenian are part of European culture. From my point of view as a Spaniard, all that culture, regardless of its creed or language, is European if: 1) It is in Europe 2) It is not in Europe but borders Europe and has cultural, historical and similar ideas. For example: Egypt is a Mediterranean country that is not in Europe, it is Mediterranean, it has cultural ties because it has been colonized but its ideas do not share European ideas and its history has a different trajectory from that of Europe.

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