It is hard to find a fitting analogy for the place of the supra in Georgian life. Georgian supra is an event deeply rooted in Georgian culture and an elaborate art passed down through generations. However, a German researcher Dr. Florian Muehlfried discovered that Georgian supra in its present form is a product of a 19^th century Georgia rather than a century-long tradition.

In his new book called Post-Soviet Feasting – The Georgian Banquet in Transition Florian Muehlfried analyses Georgian supra from a contemporary perspective. As I learned from the author, instead of dealing with the traditional supra Florian Muehlfried studied how supra is practiced today, and what kind of ideas people have about it - what the supra is or what it should be.

Florian Muehlfried conducted the research in 2002-2003 aimed at exploring the supra in different social strata – among working class people, people from academia – and the differences in practice and understanding that come from the supra. Another important aspect analysed is the gender aspect of the supra; what kind of influence the Georgian supra has on gender relations and how it enforces and strengthens gender roles.

The book is available from Ibidem Publishing as part of its series ‘Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society’ [Postsowjetische Feiern: Das Georgische Bankett im Wandel].

Since the book is available only in German now and I could not read it, I additionally borrowed a portion of the foreword from Kevin Tuite to brief the readers about the book:

“By contextualizing the supra in recent debates on performance, embedding it in the historical process of nation building and combining in-depth case studies with quantitative methods, a complex picture can be drawn that  put to question taken-for-granted assumptions about the supra, ritualiziation and performance.

As illustrated in chapters 1 and 2, the supra works on two chronological levels simultaneously. First, it refreshes pre-coded actions in the course of its performance. This is where tradition and continuity emerge. Second, the supra marks a point in time and creates individual and social memory. The most important aspect, though, is that the formalized speech-acts and actions are modified – and intentionally so. The intentionalising of ritual processes knits individual and collective identities together so closely that they can no longer be kept apart. This, in turn, allows the participants to realize individual goals and strategies under the guise of disinterest.”

Before you obtain the book from on-line or off -line bookstores, here is an interview with Florian Muehlfried, author of this fascinating new study to learn more about his findings.

Q: Why did you decide to study the supra? Was your first experience with it particularly affecting?

A: I have had a long affair with the supra. When I first arrived in Georgia in 1996 – exactly ten years ago – I noticed that wherever I went there were supras. Everywhere that men gathered, there was always food and drink on the table. Even if there were just two people at the table they would still choose a tamada [toastmaster] and make toasts. I found it to be a very interesting phenomenon, since I knew that all of the people sitting at the table had heard those toasts many times before, but they were still [going through the ritual]. I thought they must have had some reason for this, and I wanted to find out what that reason was.

Q: And what was your discovery? I realise that I might have to read the whole book to understand fully, but could you single out just some focal points?

A: One of the emphases of the book is that Georgian supra was especially important in the Soviet times and in the 19th century. My argument is that the Georgian supra was a major way to provide secondary education. Official institutions and schools were dominated by Russian superstructures and Georgia’s oral history was suppressed. The supra was a very important vehicle that helped preserve this oral history. [In the supra] people talked about their history, recited poems, and powerfully evoked Georgia’s past, tradition and identity.

Q: Then you imply that in Soviet times Georgian identity was suppressed, but that the Georgian people’s natural instinct to survive used the supra to help balance this?

A: I would say that it was a cultural technique for coping with national suppression and maintaining national sovereignty. I think the Georgian supra as a tradition became stronger in the face of oppression: on an official level, national identity was suppressed. Thus, on a sub-cultural level, people reacted and paid more attention to practices like the supra, and these practices became more important. I think that culture should always be looked at in a certain context, and most cultural traits are reactions against something. Thus, culture can be viewed as something that is a reaction against one thing and in favour of some other thing. Georgian identity was against Russian identity and in favour of what was perceived as Georgian tradition.

Q: You assert that Georgian supra in its present form dates to the 19th century. Have you tried to explore what was Georgian supra like in the previous centuries?

A: First of all, I must say that I am no historian. The focus of my research was contemporary Georgia. However, in order to understand contemporary phenomena you need to understand the most important elements of its past. I have studied some sources and spoken with Georgian scholars like Levan Bregadze, who argued that the supra evolved into its present form in the 19th century. At first, I was sceptical [of this assertion], but then I found some sources and discovered that the Georgian word for ‘toast’, which is ‘sadghegrdzelo’, was first used by Georgian poet Grigol Orbeliani in the early 19th century. The word had not existed before that time. Later it became the golden rule that you should not drink alcohol without making a toast. That was not practiced before the 19th century, either. Many sources confirm that people would drink freely back then without making toasts. Some aspects of the Georgian supra are very old, and various types of wine vessels confirm this – there are many traces of the supra. However, the supra with its major characteristics, like the tamada, sadghegrdzelo, and the golden rule of making toasts, seems to have emerged in the 19th century.

Q: You mention a difference between tamadoba [the act of being a tamada, or toastmaster] and vazhkatsoba [being a ‘manly man’].  Are they separate concepts?

A: These concepts overlap quite strongly. It could be said that tamadoba is a manifestation of vazhkatsoba. However, one interesting thing here is that sometimes a woman may as act as tamada. In this case, my argument is that a woman may perform cultural role of the man at the table, and it is accepted by society. However, it is unthinkable for a man to perform the cultural role of a woman. This is one of the strong characteristics of Georgian gender relations.

Q: Is the connection between the supra and Georgian national identity too conspicuous?

A: It is very obvious. I have talked about the role of the Georgian supra as a vehicle to strengthen Georgian identity. The same thing is happening now in Georgia in the context of globalisation. For instance, when the Georgian Diaspora living abroad try to explain to others what it means to be a Georgian, they will refer to the supra. They will talk about it because it includes the idea of being hospitable people. It includes a certain tradition of drinking wine in communion, sharing wine, talking, and singing. It works once again as a vehicle for Georgian identity. Georgians now use it to explain their culture, and foreigners see the supra as something very special for Georgia. When they come to Georgia they see the supra as a distinct cultural feature for the nation.

Q: What role, if any, does the supra play in social cohesion in Georgia?

A: The Georgian supra contributes to social cohesion, but in certain instances it works against social cohesion because it differentiates among generations and classes. In many cases, fathers teach their sons how to drink and how to make toasts. In this way, the supra promotes cohesion within the family, and the transfer of the knowledge from older to younger generation. However, the process is not always smooth, and, of course, there are conflicts as well. Young people may disrespect the rules. In contemporary situations, some well-educated Georgians may disrespect the supra and regard it as something not quite suitable for Georgian life any more.

Q: Should these inter-generational conflicts be attributed to globalisation?

A:  They should definitely be looked at in the context of globalisation. I mentioned that the supra was a very important means of national survival in Soviet times. However, its role has changed now and it is no longer quite as important. The supra is important only for certain occasions, like for the Georgian Diaspora abroad, and for very important symbolic events like weddings and funerals. I think that in the future the supra will be very much centred on symbolic events.

Q: You probably had a preliminary hypothesis about supra traditions when you started your research. Did you discover anything unexpected during your fieldwork?

A: Yes, I remember one thing. I was in the mountains in Pshavi and I was attending khatoba, a religious festival. It was a two-day event. As you probably know, people drink a lot in the mountains. They started fighting and were about to engage in fisticuffs when one of the two took a watermelon and wine and made his opponent sit down at the table with him, forced him to take a glass, and started proposing a toast. This other person was really very angry, but finally he had to agree and follow the toast. That was something very interesting to me because [it showed that] the rules of the supra were powerful enough to establish consensus. That was an unexpected discovery: you cannot fight at a supra. Sometimes people do fight, but in most cases the conflicting parties usually leave the supra. The supra is a place where you have to agree with other people’s ideas. Thus, I think the supra can be called a secular ritual.

Q: How much does the book cost and where is it available?

A: It is available at the public library, which has four copies of the book. Unfortunately, it is not being sold here. The only way to purchase it [in Georgia] is by ordering online from Amazon. It is available in most bookstores in Europe. I would be happy if there were a Georgian translation of my book. Many Georgian people have really contributed to it, and I would like to thank those people who invited me to supras and shared their thoughts with me. They have really given me very much. Now I wish to share my ideas with the Georgians.