Toponymy and the issues of memory and identity on the post-Soviet Tbilisi cityscape

Abstract

The present thesis deals with the renaming of the toponymy of Tbilisi, Georgia, from as early as the final years of Soviet rule in the country on the light of recently translated data from Georgian to English. It discusses the changes in the cityscape in relation to the national discourse that was built in the post-Soviet times, assessing how this discourse relates to the city history and the broader national context, which aspects were commemorated and which were left out, intentionally or not. Moreover, it brings conclusions to how the national discourse is imprinted in the toponymy of the capital and its possible implications for the geopolitical context.