The Death of Caucasus Philology: Towards a Discipline Beyond Areal Divides

Gould, Rebecca Ruth

Abstract

This essay investigates the challenges facing Caucasus philology, by which I mean the institutional capacity to conduct deep research into the literary cultures of Azerbaijan Republic, Georgia, Daghestan, and Chechnya. I argue that the philological approach to the literary cultures of the Caucasus has been a casualty of the rise of areas studies in the North American academy during the Cold War, and that Cold War legacies continue to shape Caucasus Studies to this day. I conclude by offering three proposals for opening exchanges between the humanities and the social sciences within Caucasus Studies. More broadly, this essay argues for a rapprochement between the social sciences and philological inquiry vis-à-vis the Caucasus.

Citation

Gould, R. R. (2013). The Death of Caucasus Philology: Towards a Discipline Beyond Areal Divides. Iran and the Caucasus, 17(3), 275-293. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573384x-20130304

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Oct 11, 2023
• Journal: Iran and the Caucasus
• Print ISSN: 1609-8498
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-384X
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 275-293
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/1573384x-20130304