OVERCOMING IDEOLOGICAL PRESSURE: PRIVATE VS. PROFESSIONAL LIFE OF VERA BARDAVELIDZE DURING THE SOVIET ERA

Abstract

This article discusses the correlation between private and public life of scientists in the Soviet Union by focusing on the case of prominent Georgian ethnographer Vera Bardavelidze. This research seeks to clarify one of the aspects of social life of the Soviet Georgia: when Soviet ideology tightly controlled and implemented policies of high surveillance over peoples’ lives. Exploring the relationship between one’s private and public life during the Soviet period in the context of the theory of social/public spaces is a relatively new branch of study in Georgia. The subject of this research provides an opportunity to clearly follow the “bottom-up” perspective rather than the “top-down” approach, which is generally utilized in the context of the Soviet era’s official policy. The aforementioned perspective enables scholars to fill existing gaps in this field. This research presents exterior loyalty as an opportunity of preserving internal freedom.