Young Scholar: From the Caucasus to Europe

On Thursday, 25 September 2025, at 7:00 PM, Yunus Emre Enstitüsü – London will host the 39th session of its Young Scholar Seminar Series, featuring a talk by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gül Mükerrem Öztürk, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Georgian Language and Literature, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University (Rize, Türkiye), and Academic Visitor in Russian and East European Studies at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford.

In this presentation, Dr. Öztürk will explore how modernism and cultural encounters were reshaped in Georgian literature after independence, situating this transformation within the broader context of post-Soviet cultural change. Modernist aesthetics, long overshadowed during the Soviet period, reemerged in the post-1991 literary landscape alongside pressing questions of identity, nation, and cultural interaction.

By focusing on authors such as Guram Dochanashvili, Otar Chkheidze, and Aka Morchiladze, the talk will examine how literature mediated between tradition and modernity, and how it engaged with questions of memory, trauma, and cultural hybridity. Special attention will also be given to Georgian-language sources preserved at the University of Oxford, demonstrating how archival materials provide valuable insights into the continuities and ruptures of Georgian modernism.

The event will take place at Yunus Emre Enstitüsü – London, 10 Maple Street, W1T 5HA, and will be held in English. Admission is free, but registration is essential.

Associate Professor Dr Gül Mükerrem Öztürk is currently an Academic Visitor at the University of Oxford, Russian and East European Studies. She is the Head of the Department of Georgian Language and Literature at Rize Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University in Turkey. Her TÜBİTAK-funded project, Modernism and Cultural Interactions in Post-Soviet Georgian Literature, explores the evolution of Georgian modernism, its role in shaping national identity, and its impact on cultural exchanges. She has published extensively on Georgian–Turkish literary relations, Soviet and post-Soviet translation practices, and cultural politics in the Caucasus, and actively participates in international conferences and collaborations.

This talk forms part of the Young Scholar Seminar Series organised by Yunus Emre Enstitüsü - London.

For more information on the event, please visit Yunus Emre Enstitüsü - London’s Website: https://yeelondon.org.uk/ or email us at londra@yee.org.tr

IMPORTANT NOTES

Please note that this event is first come first served and may be overbooked. To avoid disappointment, please arrive early and secure your seat. If you have registered but are unable to attend, please cancel your ticket to allow others to join. Thank you for your cooperation.

Please be advised that filming and/or photography will be taking place at the event for the purposes of archiving, marketing, and all other publications. By entering this event, you consent to the Yunus Emre Institute taking photographs and videos and using them.