Life Story in Dialogue with History and Society -Religious Transformation of a Georgian Muslim Women in Adjara

Exploring religion through the practices and narratives of Georgian Muslims allows me to observe how stories are shaped by the religious and secular contexts in which people live. One of my main findings, that Islam here is invisible is caused by socially constructed stories. In a country where Christianity is the dominant religion and a marker of national identity, the adherence to Islam by Adjarans is often seen by society as a betrayal of the "traditional religion." Following Georgia's independence and during the resurgence of religious sentiments, some Adjarans converted to Christianity. This process of religious transformation is closely tied to issues of nationalism, historical trauma, and collective memory. From the beginning of my research on religion in Adjara, it became clear that this study could not solely reflect on Islamic identity. A personal tale was a story of a whole people and a history of political and religious changes in Georgia. When Leila shared her story—how her daughter was baptized as a Christian, how she was also urged to convert, how she grappled with this decision while thinking of her Muslim father, her religious experience, and the prevalent societal attitudes—I realized that this was a life story in dialogue with history. Leila’s narrative convinced me that the biographical method was the most effective approach for understanding her lived religious practice - a commitment to both Christian and Islamic traditions, interwoven with elements of folk beliefs. This method allowed us to see her story as a dialectical process between structure and agency. The presentation will feature the life story of a woman, vividly illustrating how people "produce" a biography within particular cultural contexts and social situations. Studying Muslims and their life stories in Adjara highlights how powerful biographical approaches can be in understanding everyday lives.