XXIII Congress of the ICLA: ‘Identity and Otherness: A Comparative Overview of Basque and Georgian Literatures’

Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is currently hosting the 23rd Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA). The event, which is being held both in person and online until 29 July, brings together more than 2,000 delegates from around the world, including literary experts, academics, critics, writers, translators, publishers and editors.

Founded in 1955, the ICLA encourages exchange and cooperation between comparative writers, both individually and through partnerships with national comparative literature associations. Since its creation, ICLA has held an international congress every three years, the latest edition in Macao, China, in 2019. The theme of the 2022 congress is ‘Re-Imagining Literatures of the World: Global and Local, Mainstreams and Margins.

The event is divided into 55 panels covering a wide range of topics. One of the panels, ‘Identity and Otherness: A Comparative Overview of Basque and Georgian Literatures’, will discuss key issues revolving around identity and otherness in Basque and Georgian literature with the aim of stimulating a dialogue.

Organised by the Basque Language and Culture lecturer at Tiblisi State University (TSU), Martin Artola, and Director for the Promotion and Dissemination of the Basque Language at the Etxepare Basque Institute, Garbiñe Iztueta, the panel will include three main lectures by Izaro Arroita (UPV/EHU), Paulo Kortazar (UPV/EHU) and Dato Turashvili (TSU), and seven other papers previously submitted and selected by the organising committee.

The panel aims to identify and compare the most relevant milestones in both bodies of literature regarding the literary conceptualisation of identity and, where relevant, the renegotiation of Basque and Georgian identity. Moreover, it seeks to spark debate on the contributions made by Basque and Georgian writers to the different critical visions of Basque and Georgian identity.

Identity and Otherness: A Comparative Overview of Basque and Georgian Literatures

Chairs: Martin Artola (TSU University) & Garbiñe Iztueta (University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU-Etxepare Euskal Institutua)

Key speakers

Izaro Arroita Azkarate: Conflicting memories and families in conflict: Identity and otherness in contemporary Basque literature. University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Paulo Kortazar: "National identity in a global world; otherness in a country without a state. The case of Basque Contemporary Literature". University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Dato Turashvili: "If the sky in Basque Country looks like the sky in Georgia?" Writer and TSU University

Abstracts

Aitzpea Leizaola: Basques, Mi’kMaqs and Inuits: Transoceanic First Nations encounters in comic and graphic novels. University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Monika Madinabeitia: Frank Bergon´s Fiction: From Black To White. Mondragon Unibertsitatea / Universidad de Mondragón.

Eneko Bidegain: Laxalt family’s Basque American correspondence after Sweet Promised Land. Mondragon Unibertsitatea / Universidad de Mondragón.

Kepa Matxain: Transformation of Identity in the ‘Bertso-Event’: Three Experiences of Crisis. University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU

Marian Chkhartishvili: Process of National Identity Forging: We vs Others in Nineteenth Century Georgian Literary Fiction TSU University

Zurab Targamadze: Process of National Identity Forging: We vs Others in Nineteenth Century Georgian Literary Fiction TSU University

Sopio Kadagishvili: Process of National Identity Forging: We vs Others in Nineteenth Century Georgian Literary Fiction TSU University