Research

Dr Koplatadze is one of the first proponents and leading theorists of Russian and Post-Soviet Postcolonial Studies. Her specialism covers the literature and culture of Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia from the 19th century to the present day. 

Dr Koplatadze's forthcoming monograph Postcolonial Identities in Central Asian and Caucasian Literature (OUP) is the first book to examine post-Soviet literature from the Caucasus and Central Asia, and to employ postcolonial methodology for this enquiry. Her current book project, Post-Soviet Ecopoetics, is the first comparative study of post-Soviet ecocritical literature and film, including from Siberia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Her other interventions connecting Russian Studies with postcolonial theory include the award-winning article ‘Theorising Russian Postcolonial Studies’, and a special issue on 'Post-Soviet Postcolonial Studies' which she has been invited to guest-edit for The Journal of Global Postcolonial Studies.

Dr Koplatadze has shared her research findings at many international conferences, as well as public engagement platforms, among them The Calvert Journal and the BBC.

 

Selected Publications

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Postcolonial Identities in Central Asian and Caucasian Literature (OUP, 27 November 2025)

'Theorising Russian Postcolonial Studies’, Postcolonial Studies, 22.4 (2019), 469-489

'NGOs and Neocolonialism in Postcolonial Literature: The Case of Central Asia', Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies 24.8 (2021), 1263-1887

'Salon de Variété’ (1881), English translation of Anton Chekhov’s short story,  in Anton Chekhov. Earliest Stories. Stories, Novellas, Humoresques, 1880–1882 (Academic Studies Press, 2025)

‘Mother Country: Meet the Women at The Forefront of New Georgian Cinema’, The Calvert Journal (March 2018)

 

Supervision

Dr Koplatadze welcomes interests of research supervision of projects, especially those exploring any of the following areas:

• Postcolonial Studies
• Ecofiction and Ecocriticism
• Post-Soviet Russophone Literature, Film and Art
• Literatures and Cultures of Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia (19^thC. – present day)

Topics supervised by Dr Koplatadze include the role of 19th century literary anthologies in shaping Russian national and imperial identity,  early 20th century Russian emigré women's writing, and the discourse of homosexuality in the Caucasian 'periphery' of the Russian Empire.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to get in touch with her as they develop their research proposals for submission to Oxford, at tamar.koplatadze@chch.ox.ac.uk

 

Teaching

Dr Koplatadze is a Fellow of Christ Church, and a Lecturer at St John's and Magdalen colleges. She is in charge of all undergraduate students reading Russian at these colleges. Dr Koplatadze teaches all core undergraduate literature papers, Russian to English translation, and an MSt option 'Late-Soviet and Post-Soviet Literature'.

 

In the Media

BBC interview,  Arts and Ideas, 'Russia and Fear' , on whether the Soviet Union was a colonial empire, from the perspective of post-Soviet authors from the Caucasus and Central Asia (from 24:42 min.)

BBC Interview, Free Thinking, 'Sesame Street and Soviet Culture' , on how literature from across the former republics of the USSR is processing the Soviet past (from 17:20 min.) 

Interview with Oriente Medio on 'Decentring Post-Soviet Literature' (in Spanish and English)