Improvisations on Two Samples of Folk Wisdom in Georgian Literary Works
Authors
Manana Turiashvili
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Annotation
The Surami Fortress by Daniel Chonkadze, a novella based on The Legend of the Surami Fortress, was quite popular among Georgian readers in the 19th century and subsequent years. More than one Georgian literary work offers a story about a youth, Zurab, buried alive within the walls of a fortress, reflecting in various social or political contexts the fate of mothers and their sons, one that leaves its peculiar mark on their present and future. Georgia’s fight against external and internal enemies alike defined the lives of mothers and their children, repeating itself throughout the centuries all the while—fathers constantly maintaining combat readiness, many dying in war, and their sons raised mostly by mothers. They were the ones imbuing their sons with patriotism, chivalry, and the values of masculinity. How is The Surami Fortress by Daniel Chonkadze—written in the 19th century—perceived today? And why does one of the characters in Niko Lortkipanidze’s Diehards—a work created in the 20th century—read this novella? What does the term “mother’s heart” or “son’s heart” mean? The following matters are under consideration: Zurab as a sacrifice, the youth’s love and a woman, the motivations behind Zurab’s self-sacrifice, and the mother’s unchanging image, which remains immutable in defiance of sociopolitical shifts.
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Authors
Manana Turiashvili
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