Page 16 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 16
Ideology in the 20th Century: studies of literary and social discourses and practices
Orscik’s contribution shifts the focus from Slovenia and—in his case
Yugoslavia—to the countries of the Warsaw Pact. Irma Ratiani thus pre-
sents the situation in the Georgian literary system. After World War II,
political changes occurred in the Soviet Union. In 1953 Joseph Stalin,
originally Georgian,—the materialised symbol of the country—died; the
much-talked-about XX Assembly of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union headed by Nikita Khrushchev followed soon (1956). In Georgia,
Khrushchev’s speech against Stalin was followed by a serious political un-
rest which ended with the tragic events of March 9 1956. It is still unclear
whether these resulted primarily from a political position or insulted na-
tional pride. The so-called Otteppel (‘The Thaw’) was established in the
entire territory of the Soviet Union soon afterwards. The literary process
16 of the period of the Ottepel yielded a quite different picture compared to
the previous decades of Soviet life. In the conditions of political liberal-
isation, different tendencies were noticed in Georgian literary space: on
the one hand the obvious nostalgia for Stalin, on the other the growth of
a specific model of neo-realism and the rise of women’s writing.
The second Georgian contributor Maka Elbakidze introduces the
discussion of the ‘meta-literary’ discourse focusing on the dissident re-
searcher of Georgian literature Viktor Nozadze. The time of creative ma-
turity of the émigré writer and scholar Nozadze coincided with the pe-
riod when the communist-ruled Georgia blocked the way for all those
who could not adapt to the new political system. During his thirty-year
immigrant period in France, Germany, Austria, Argentina, Chile, Bra-
zil, Spain and finally France again, Nozadze created six monumental vol-
umes devoted to Vepkhistqaosani (The Knight in the Panther’s Skin) by
Shota Rustaveli, analysing its ideology and worldview, ethical and aes-
thetic ideals. Like all Georgians living in emigration, Nozadze was defi-
nitely perceived as an ‘enemy of the people’ and, naturally, the totali-
tarian regime could not place him beside Soviet scholars. In the Soviet
Union of the period before Perestroika, research methods in any field of
science were supposed to be based on Marxist-Leninist philosophy. No-
zadze could not fit into the ideological context governing Georgian sci-
ence at the time when he studied Vepkhistqaosani. After becoming fa-
miliar with the existing scholarly works at his disposal, the researcher
realised that Rustaveli’s personality, world outlook and artistic-aesthet-
ic thinking were all reduced by Soviet scholars to superficiality and ideol-
ogy. This was especially true of interpretations of Rustaveli’s religious be-
liefs and world outlook. Consequently, mentioning and citing Nozadze
Orscik’s contribution shifts the focus from Slovenia and—in his case
Yugoslavia—to the countries of the Warsaw Pact. Irma Ratiani thus pre-
sents the situation in the Georgian literary system. After World War II,
political changes occurred in the Soviet Union. In 1953 Joseph Stalin,
originally Georgian,—the materialised symbol of the country—died; the
much-talked-about XX Assembly of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union headed by Nikita Khrushchev followed soon (1956). In Georgia,
Khrushchev’s speech against Stalin was followed by a serious political un-
rest which ended with the tragic events of March 9 1956. It is still unclear
whether these resulted primarily from a political position or insulted na-
tional pride. The so-called Otteppel (‘The Thaw’) was established in the
entire territory of the Soviet Union soon afterwards. The literary process
16 of the period of the Ottepel yielded a quite different picture compared to
the previous decades of Soviet life. In the conditions of political liberal-
isation, different tendencies were noticed in Georgian literary space: on
the one hand the obvious nostalgia for Stalin, on the other the growth of
a specific model of neo-realism and the rise of women’s writing.
The second Georgian contributor Maka Elbakidze introduces the
discussion of the ‘meta-literary’ discourse focusing on the dissident re-
searcher of Georgian literature Viktor Nozadze. The time of creative ma-
turity of the émigré writer and scholar Nozadze coincided with the pe-
riod when the communist-ruled Georgia blocked the way for all those
who could not adapt to the new political system. During his thirty-year
immigrant period in France, Germany, Austria, Argentina, Chile, Bra-
zil, Spain and finally France again, Nozadze created six monumental vol-
umes devoted to Vepkhistqaosani (The Knight in the Panther’s Skin) by
Shota Rustaveli, analysing its ideology and worldview, ethical and aes-
thetic ideals. Like all Georgians living in emigration, Nozadze was defi-
nitely perceived as an ‘enemy of the people’ and, naturally, the totali-
tarian regime could not place him beside Soviet scholars. In the Soviet
Union of the period before Perestroika, research methods in any field of
science were supposed to be based on Marxist-Leninist philosophy. No-
zadze could not fit into the ideological context governing Georgian sci-
ence at the time when he studied Vepkhistqaosani. After becoming fa-
miliar with the existing scholarly works at his disposal, the researcher
realised that Rustaveli’s personality, world outlook and artistic-aesthet-
ic thinking were all reduced by Soviet scholars to superficiality and ideol-
ogy. This was especially true of interpretations of Rustaveli’s religious be-
liefs and world outlook. Consequently, mentioning and citing Nozadze
