Georgia Literature
The beginnings of Georgian literature, dating back to the 5th century. AD, they consist of translations, from Armenian and Greek, of the Bible and of works by Church Fathers. But they are 12th and 13th century. the most original period of secular literature, reflecting a brilliant knightly culture accompanied by the unification of the country and its political expansion. Christian and Muslim elements converge in this culture, especially from nearby Persia. The greatest artistic fruit of that period is the national chivalric poem Vep‛khis Tqaosani (“The Man in the Panther Skin”), composed around 1200 by Š. Rustaveli, and narrating the adventures of the hero Tariel. After a period of decline following the Mongol invasion, Georgia’s intellectual life revived in the 18th century. thanks also to the enlightened work of King Vachtang VI, who had the chronicle K‛art‛lis ckhovreba (“The life of Georgia”) drawn up and the first Georgian books printed. The best known operas of this period are D. Guramišvili and V. Gabašvili.
At the beginning of the 19th century. Georgia opened up to the influence of Russian and Western European poetry: we remember the romantic poets A. Čavčavadze, Georgia Orbeliani, N. Baratašvili, the realist and creator of the Georgian drama Georgia Eristavi, and the master of the novella I. Čavčavadze. The Bolshevik revolution followed after the Symbolist period (group of the Blue Horn, animated by P. Jašvili and T. Tabidze), which gave birth to proletarian literature.
According to animalerts, the liveliness of Georgian literature in the second half of the 20th century is notable. It is. Amireǧibi, who had achieved notoriety with the novel Data Tutašxia (1973-75), in the novel Gora mborgali (“Il Gora furioso”, 1996), including autobiographical episodes, tells the story of a Georgian recluse who escaped from a Siberian concentration camp during the Soviet regime. Georgia Gegečkori, with the collections of poems (Sauk’une tavdeba ” The century ends”, 1994; Erttomeuli «Opere in un volume», 1995), enriched and matured his verse. A. Kalandadze, author of several collections of poems in which philosophical reflections are combined with patriotic themes, published two volumes of selected works in 1996. E. Kvitaišvili, in the collections of poems Sismari vnaxe (“I had a dream”, 1986), Cis kalaki (“The city of heaven”, 1987) and Tavšesapari (“Refuge”, 1990), confirms his lyrical inspiration, imbued with of sadness and nourished by a solid philosophical culture. M. Lebanidze in Rčeuli txzulebani or t’omad (“Selected works in two volumes”, 1989) takes up the best of his poetic production starting from the years of the Second World War, in which he had participated. Š.G. Nišnianidze published in 1993 the collection entitled 100 leksebi (“100 poems”), in which he continues to show his formal refinement. L. Sturua employs, starting at least from the 1970s, the free verse, which is not very frequent in Georgian poetry (Leksebi, p’oemebi «Poesie, poemetti », 1991; Šuks nu čamikrobt «Don’t put out my light», 1995). A. Sulakauri, poet and writer, has published Tbilisuri čanaxatebi (“Tbilisian sketches”, 1996). Georgia Pangikidze in the novel Ešmak’is borbali (“The Devil’s Wheel”, 1996) deals with the most important events that have marked Georgian history since the 1930s. Ǧ. Čarkviani, member of the Georgian Parliament, in the collection of poems Mze tixasi (“The sun in the clay”, 1986) addresses civil and national issues. O. Čxeidze is a prolific writer of short stories, dramas, literary essays and novels related to contemporary Georgian reality. T. Čanturia has collected his best production in Txzulebata or t’omad (“Works in two volumes”, 1992), which shows his path as a poet, and the volume of literary criticism Dinozavridan dinaizamde (“From dinosaur to design”, 1989). R. Čeišvili has published novels (Kalakši dinozavrebi dadian “Dinosaurs walk in the city”, 1976; Musik’a karši «Music in the wind», 1978; Qačayebi «Banditi», 1995), short stories and short stories and he is also the author of film scripts. T. Čiladze achieved notoriety with his prose works and the novel Aha, miic’ura zamtari! (“Ah, winter is over!”, 1967), in which he delves into very complex ethical-moral issues, and some theatrical works, which deal with highly topical issues. O. Čiladze, who established himself as an original poet already in the 1950s and 1960s, owes his fortune to the novels, which he began publishing at the beginning of the 1970s, among which Rk’inis teat’ri (“The theater of ferro », 1981), set in Georgia of the years 1910 and 1920. In his novel Avelumi (which in the Sumerian language means “free citizen”, 1995), the protagonist, due to his characteristic as an indomitable fighter, embodies the spirit of the Georgian people and seems to live in today’s Georgia troubled by serious conflicts against the backdrop of a continuous struggle for survival.
