CC BY
0IRSTI 17.82 UDC 821.352.2
DOI:10.56032/2523-4684.2023.3.7.103
T. Koberidze1, N. Mindiashvili2 1 2 Sokhumi State University (Tbilisi, Georgia)
ABKHAZIA IN MODERN GEORGIAN WRITING Annotation
The article analyzes samples of modern Georgian writing from traumatic and post-traumatic literature. In particular, it is about the war in Abkhazia and the plight of refugees according to Guram Odisharia's novel «Return to Sokhumi»; also on the «merits» of the communist regime concerning the inspiration for the war. Nodar Dumbadze's story «Helados» and Jemal Topuridze's essay «Dioskuria is a city submerged in the sea» are clear confirmations of this. Nugzar Shataidze's work «Travel to Africa» is from the so-called post-war period. Regarding the war in the time of peace; How the people who survived the war have to live in a difficult situation, and how the children and women fleeing the enemy's bullets die in their homeland as refugees due to unbearable conditions.
Key words: literature, Abkhazia, Georgia, IDP, Post-trauma.
Т. Коберидзе1, Н. Миндиашвили2
12 Сухумский государственный университет (Тбилиси, Грузия)
АБХАЗИЯ В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ГРУЗИНСКОЙ ПИСЬМЕННОСТИ
Аннотация
В статье анализируются образцы современного грузинского письма из травматической и посттравматической литературы. В частности, речь идет о войне в Абхазии и бедственном положении беженцев согласно роману Гурама Одишарии «Возвращение в Сухуми». О войне как последствии коммунистического режима повествуют Нодар Думбадзе в рассказе «Геладос» и Джемал Топуридзе в эссе «Диоскурия -город, погруженный в море». Работа Нугзара Шатаидзе «Путешествие в Африку» относится к так называемому послевоенному периоду. В литературных текстах о войне в мирное время автор обращает внимание на то, как как дети и женщины, спасающиеся от вражеских пуль, умирают на своей родине в статусе беженцев, умирают от невыносимых условий жизни.
Ключевые слова: литература, Абхазия, Грузия, вынужденный переселенец, посттравматический период.
Т. Коберидзе1, Н. Миндиашвили2 12 Сухум мемлекетт1куниверситетi (Тбилиси, Грузия)
КАЗ1РГ1 ГРУЗИН ЖАЗУЫНДАРЫ АБХАЗИЯ Аннотация
Макалада травматикалык жэне посттравматикалык эдебиеттерден алынFан казiргi грузин жазуынын Yлгiлерi талданады. Атап айтканда, бул Гурам Одишариянын «Сухумиге оралу» романына сэйкес АбхазиядаFы coFbic жэне боскындардын жаFдайы туралы; сонымен катар коммунис^к режимнiн coFыcка Шабыт берудеп «енбеп» туралы. Нодар Думбадзен'!н «Геладос» энгiмеci жэне Джемал Тoпуридзенiн «Диоскурия - тенiзге баткан кала» эccеci мунын айкын дэлелi болып табылады. Нугзар Шатайдзенiн «АфрикаFа саяхат» жумысы coFыcтан кей'1нп кезенiне жатады. Бейбт уакыттаFы coFыcка катысты; coFыcтан аман калFан адамдар киын жаFдайда калай ем'!р cYPуi керекжэне жау октарынан кашкан балалар мен эйелдердiн ез Отанында боскын ре^нде тезгiciз жаFдайларFа байланысты калай елетiнi туралы жазылFан.
ТYЙ¡нд¡ сездер: эдебиет, Абхазия, Грузия, мэжбYрлi коныс аударушы, жаракаттан кей'1нп кезен.
Introduction. Abkhazia - has been the cradle of Georgian unity since time immemorial; The titles of the kings of Georgia also started with it - «King of Abkhazians and Georgians, Rants and Kakhts...»; The first king of united Georgia, Bagrat III, buried in the land of Abkhazia. Since Vakhtang Gorgasli, the efforts of kings and nobles have not been reduced to this side. As we know, the apostle Matata, St. Basilisk rests here, the corner distinguished by the beauty of nature is also prominent by beautiful churches-monasteries: the temples of Bedi, New Athos, Bichvinti, Ilori, Mokvi, and Likhni with their architecture combined with nature make this site even more attractive. The Catholico-Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II presided over the diocese of Tskhum-Abkhazia for many years.
Abkhazia is part of the ethnic, political, and cultural integrity of Georgia. A clear proof of this is our writing, both ancient and modern. Over the centuries, this corner has undergone many changes in terms of territory, ethnos, different conquerors, or linguistic-religious point of view, which is manifested in the toponymy in Abkhazia.
In modern Georgian writing, this angle appears mainly in the form of traumatic and post-traumatic literature. This direction of literature became relevant in Georgian writing precisely after the wars of Abkhazia and Samachablo. Thus, the works discussed in our letter are under the attention of a wide range of people interested in literature and scientists.
The topic of Abkhazia has long been a subject of scientific study. Like other parts of Georgia, Abkhazia has always been at the center of attention and care for our writers and public figures (since ancient times). Moreover, during the centuries-old history of the country, there were periods when the Kingdom of Abkhazia was the only independent Georgian political entity.
The article aims to introduce the general public to how modern Georgian writing presents Abkhazia as an integral part of the Georgian state. In particular, the new Georgian writing reflects and transforms the artistic faces, concepts, and motifs of Abkhazia's inhabitants. What is the post-war, post-traumatic literature about Abkhazia? Traumatic concepts are abundantly found in the works of modern writers, as much as we are the generation that has been responsible for more than one civil or patriotic war against our homeland at the end of the 20th century and the dawn of the 21st century. At the same time, this letter is an attempt to find and connect points of intersection in literary works.
Methods. There are methods of problem, selective and semiotic analysis of literary text in the article.
Literature Review. The study is based on the works of Gvantseladze T. [1], Gaprindashvili N. [2], Vakhania N. [3], aimed at studying the colonial history of peoples and eliminating the postcolonial syndrome through literary texts. The object of the study are Nodar Dum badze's story
«Helados» [4], Guram Odisharia's novel «Return to Sokhumi» [5], Jemal Topuridze's story «The Sunken City of Dioskuria» [6] and Nugzar Shataidze's story «Travel to Africa» [7].
Main discussion.
With this short story by Nodar Dumbadze, at first glance, not very important, but loaded with great problems, the reader first of all understands how diverse the population of Abkhazia was from an ethnic point of view; Against the background of the unusual relationship of the characters of the story, we get to know the amazing attitude towards each other that existed between them and which was imbued with such great love that only people love their real homeland. Yes, the author begins the story with his characteristic simplicity about «Christo Alexandridis, a Greek from Sokhumi» and his son Yanguli, «as thin as a wood grain, broad-shouldered... fourteen years old», who was «fast as a cat... cool as flint and healthy...». At first, after describing Yanguli's «robbery and idleness», the reader seems to have a negative view of the main character, but as the plot of the story develops, he soon realizes that he is dealing with an unusual person (despite his age).
Eladeli from Sukhum and Jemal, another main character of the story - a musician from Tbilisi - have to fight with each other for recognition. Before this fight, Yanguli addresses the fans. In this speech, through the mouth of the main character, the mood in Abkhazia about the rest of Georgia was presented and exposed by the writer in such a skillful way that no one could object to anything.
«Instead of taking advantage of our hospitality, generosity, and long-suffering, this pale-faced traveler wants to possess our blessed land, sea, river, gold, silver, pasture, and lawns...» [4]. These words of Yangul are so inconsistent with the real reason for the boys' fight and the context of the story that the reader clearly understands that the writer is dealing with a very important, painful, sensitive topic and skillfully says it through the mouths of thirteen-fourteen-year-old teenagers, as if with «buffoonery».
It was the Abkhaz who had turned into a «mob» that the extremists convinced they were supposedly restoring «historical justice» by war with the Georgians; They were convinced that Tbilisi and the rest of Georgia with it was a «stranger» for them, and whoever supported this passerby was a «tribe seller and traitor to the motherland», that we, Georgians, were «guests» in Abkhazia and were trying to own this «blessed land and sea». In this way, jokingly, with «childish slang» and not from Apsu's mouth, but from the mouth of a Greek, so that no one doubts anything, he wants to say, the writer informs us that the explosion of the gunpowder that Russia has been keeping between us and the Apsus since the day it entered the Caucasus, between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, in this case Tbilisi, is near, and which it would certainly explode as soon as it was needed.
The peculiar height and space of morality and unwritten laws are captured by the characters of the story. This idea is supported by the finale of the work, but before that, we should touch on one more detail of their relationship; This is the oath of mothers. One in Georgian and the other in Greek, they greeted each other in this manner for half a year, until one fine day Yanguli stood up like a monk and looked Jemal in the eyes. What happened to this disobedient headless, broad-breasted, and proud Eladel?! It was a tribute to the opponent's deceased mother. It is a very tender and expressive touch, which complements Yanguli's artistic face even more impressively since that day, he has grown tenfold in my eyes. The war between us has ended forever, says Jemal. As we can see, these «squirrels» win and lose the war among themselves with dignity, without confronting their elders or brothersIt is from honor and love that Yangul's self-sacrifice for the homeland, yes for the homeland, because in his own words: «My Hellas, my homeland is Sukhumi, the highway of Venice, Chalbashi, Koka, Petya, Kurlika, Fema...Black Sea,...Mida and you too.» [Dumbadze, Elresources] He knows very well that his genetic homeland, «native land, is glorious Hellas...» It was his duty to go, that's why he had _HELLADOS_ tattooed on his chest, but the homeland is deeper, more
inside, and «more inside» is the heart, the highest religious organ, which, as the holy fathers teach us, has its hearing, its vision, and unforgettable memory; But thanks to that, Yanguli will not be able to suppress his heart, (he will be able to sacrifice himself though), and Yanguli's last words standing on the keel of the ship: «Jemalo, I love your mother», Jamali can't stand it anymore and goes back crying. Even Yangul can't bear to be separated from his homeland, and even though the boy standing on the ship's keel was holding his father's hand, he still jumps out and swims to the other homeland for the last time: "On the third day, at the confluence of the Kelasuri River, the sea washed away the body of a young boy; ...The boy's face was obliterated,...only I recognized him when I read HELLADOS in blue on his open chest» [4]. It's true, without a soul, but still, his body returned to his homeland: «Yangul is back.» With this example of self-sacrifice, Nodar Dumbadze makes the reader think about such an important problem and reality, without understanding and considering that we will not be able to restore the broken bridge with Apsu. In particular, this is the problem of two homelands. Yanguli's genetic homeland is «beautiful Hellas», but his real homeland is Sukhumi. If we observe the relationship of children living on the «Highway of Venice», we will see the same feeling and attitude on the part of children of all ethnicities, for all of them, the place where they were born is their homeland. There is no other homeland for Yanguli; There is no other homeland for the Apsu people living in Abkhazia, for the Armenians, the Russians and for us, moreover, Abkhazia is the space and area where it becomes the homeland for the people who have been there since time immemorial. Such a homeland, which even at the cost of its life, one will not lose, maybe dead, but one will still return.
Guram Odisharia's novel is a different and special part of Georgian traumatic literature of the 90s. The novel is dedicated to the theme of the war in Abkhazia. The novel is characterized by great emotion and amazing expression; In it, separate episodes of the tragedy of the
war in Abkhazia and the persecution of refugees are described in an artistic and documentary manner. Very tragic events developed during the war.
The writer talks about «how the war destroyed, piece by piece, killed, looted, burned, tortured» the beloved city, but they, the Georgians, could not do anything to stop it. «I couldn't help you, Sokhum! Forgive me for my weakness!» Unfortunately, at the end of the century, Georgia was in the same state as it was in that fateful year in 1918 when the Red Cruiser approached its coast. Since then, not only the author of the novel but also no one could have imagined the war in your «great celebration, blood in your streets, corpses in your sea,... burning sky...». When you read these words, you can see the tragedy that happened in August-September 1993 in this small, beautiful, cozy town.
The pain felt by the writer when he was separated from his native city for two years (now three decades) is incredibly burning. He is interested in everything related to Sukhumi: «What is the state of his father's house..., our cemetery... I grew up in your rains, but elsewhere I only get wet.» [5, p.3]. How much longing and pain is involved in this small section makes it impossible for any representative of any other nation living in Sukhumi to have such love even for its rains. «You are part of my soul, my only oasis, my state, my planet galaxy» [5, p.4]. The writer conveyed to us the words of many «heartbroken patriots» in this text. Who knows how many more people you are «part of the soul» of Sokhumo and Abkhazia as a whole?!, Tskhinvali and Samachablo?! Tao and Klarjeti?!, Saingilo?!...
I think that Georgia was not defeated in this war - it died!» - says writer Beka Kurkhuli. [Kurkhuli. Elresours] It is the process of death that the compassionate writer conveys to us in the most important part of the novel -«Refugee Pass», where he meets the defeated soldiers. How pitiful the bearers of those terrible battles look after a defeat which was entirely through no fault of theirs, and of which they, along with their slain soldiers and countrymen, were the victims.
For the writer, «the image of war is the corpse of a child who died on Pushkin Street in Sukhumi», which reminds me of the words of Galaktion: «The street was crying like a madman»... «But no, the street was not crying and it didn't have a mad face either... it had no face at all» [5, p.162]. Faceless and nameless «the war took away the joy of the feeling of beauty and greatness - the sea» [5, p.163]. For the writer, the war «turned the sea into a Salvador Dali monster... The sea of war brought waves of dead bodies to the door». In my opinion, we will not find a similar prose work in Georgian literature, which conveys such a tragedy in prose raised to the height of poetry. War does not choose between Georgian and Abkhazian, Russian and Armenian, crazy and intelligent, child and woman, poet and warrior, guilty and innocent... «War is like a prodigal vampire» it kills some, it examines the head of some, it breaks the heart of some in their own home, some leave the house for twenty minutes and can't come back, it takes away leg from some, wife from some, mother from some, life from some. Some have a guardian angel, like our writer, who avoids the area that is bombed five minutes later. You read about so much disaster, and the question arises - where is «God, forgiver of the weak» in this whirlwind? Does anything happen in this world without his will and permission? The writer gives an amazing answer when he sees the face of «Jesus, tired of the stupidity and cruelty of men, looking sad», when «the mind of nature» «establishes a connection with him with the help of the sea» tries [5, p.164-165].
Professor Nino Mindiashvili in his article «Desacralization of the author in traumatic literature» writes: «It should be noted that researchers focus on several aspects of the reflection of traumatic memory in literary discourse» [8] and lists nine directions, of which three are interesting for us:
❖ Women's traumatic stories in literature (sexual violence, incest, cruel treatment);
❖ Postcolonial trauma in literature;
❖ The trauma of displacement in literature;
❖ In the literary works discussed in our article, women's traumatic stories, post-colonial traumas, and displacement trauma are revealed.
The best example of women's traumatic stories is the character of Guram Odishariya's novel - Diana. Wars in general destroy and ruin the way of life of many, many people. Diana with her unearthly beauty is very similar to Gogla Leonidze's Marita. The writer describes her with amazing epithets [5, p.102]. This external beauty is amazingly complemented by spiritual strength: «...there are women who raise you, give you a different look, make you like a knight. Women - wings...» [5, p.102]. I don't understand why society kills people with divine spirit and beauty!? The writer saw him several times in the church, he had such eyes as if he was looking at angels, he recalls. When the writer sees Diana in the smoky subway of Tbilisi, «the warmth of the sea pours out» from her eyes, but these eyes also say to her - «You see my condition, but what further path do I have». How should it be «Woman - Immortality», «Woman - Watcher of Angels», or «Woman - Wings»? For some reason, the writer did not like the look, for some reason the smile, and finally the walk - «it somehow resembled the women of porn movies...» Even thinking about it hurts the author - «God forbid! If this is true, then it will be impossible to return Sukhumi - it is a part of Sukhumi» [5, p.104]. «The sea is missing her - Diana leaving the monastery». In this small section of the novel, the writer conveys the drama leading up to the tragedy.
If we forgot God, as a result, we lost the divine grace and even then we fought each other with weapons, when the people of Sukhumi and Gulrifsheli started the «Hellish Parade» route through the «Deportees' Pass». Perhaps we cannot attribute it to mere coincidence that Sukhum fell on September 27, the feast of the raising of the resuscitating cross of the Lord. «Battalions of different numbers and names failed to break the Kodor bridge.» People «stood on the only path to salvation, to Svaneti». [5, p.63]. «The way of salvation» says the writer, but unfortunately, no one remembered the savior: «They are coming... but neither Moses nor the Good Shepherd led
them... Crucified people will walk, weighed down by the weight of the cross!» [5, p.78]. It is the hardest to read, and no one can imagine the hell that those people went through, nor can we blame someone for forgetting God, but the writer clearly understands that someone was punishing us, but the same omniscient being was also protecting us. In the novel, the trauma of the displaced person is conveyed with all intensity. An analog of the «Refugee Pass» cannot be found in the history of Georgia; But the mountain is still its own, says the writer, because the mountain is like a temple. Those who believe in God at least a little and love people at least a little will be purified here, and it is this faith and love that makes the path easier. I get the impression that the writer writes these words primarily about himself, as much as he thinks that «if it was the Lord who brought him to this pass, his path could not be turned elsewhere, it should not become a comfortable path» [5, p.74]. In my opinion, these words convey the flawless love of the «native city» and the country. I became more convinced of this when I read the following passage: «If our estate survives destruction, it will be saved only by the power of love, wisdom, and kindness, a power invincible by any weapon» [5, p.75]. The author of these words can be freely called a writer of love; As John the Evangelist is called the apostle of love.
«Feeling the sins of one's» which St. Ephraim the Assyrian prayed so fervently to God, is impossible without spirituality. We have already said that the writer compares the temple to the mountain, that «the Lord brought him to this pass», but it is not all! For him, «the mountain is like great love... the mountain is like war - it exposes everyone with X-rays...» [5, p.74].
In Jemal Topuridze's excellent story «Dioskuria, a city submerged in the Sea», the author interestingly reviews the tragic history of the main character from his childhood, connected with the city of Sukhumi. The story clearly outlines the social problems created by the communist regime in Abkhazia and at the same time in the entire country; Of course, problems do not appear without a reason and do not disappear without a trace,
they end up with personal and then national tragedies. Talking about this story is an attempt to show that it can be considered the best example of post-colonial trauma.
Konstantine Gamsakhurdia used to say: «The title is a half-victory of the writer», this is exactly the kind of victory, the title of this story is «Dioskuria, a city submerged in the sea». Sinking into the sea is not only the tragedy of this old city, but the adventure of the story's heroes is tragic. The story can be considered the best example of traumatic prose. The writer develops the story mainly in two time periods - the present and the past. Significantly, the future tense is only associated with death - «I am called Temur, the boy's bed is empty, Marina is gone, Kotika will die», this ghost, emptiness, abandonment, and death are the leitmotifs of the entire story.
The writer's language is distinguished by amazing brevity, he conveys a great, family tragedy in the simplest, two-three word sentences. As we said, in this work, it can be said, epochal events are conveyed, which develop by presenting the inner, deep, psycho-emotional background of the main characters.
The story of Nugzar Shataidze reflects the tragedy of life after the war, which turns out to be no less cruel than the war for Georgian refugees. From the angles of traumatic memory in this work, we can distinguish both the traumatic stories of women and the trauma of displacement. The story tells the tragedy of one family living in Ochamchire and depicts the great calamity, with its terrible consequences, which is called the War of Abkhazia. The work can be considered a sample of traumatic and post-traumatic prose at the same time. To the extent that it describes the life of the main character after the war, but the boy at the same time remembers the sad time when the family lived together and the horrors of the war separated husband and wife and father and son from each other.
The work's main character is a ten-to-twelve-year-old boy who crossed the mountain pass with his mother; In this short story, the writer makes the boy tell only one thing: «Then we were walking with others. Snow fell on
the pass. People were falling and dying on the way. We survived and now we are here, but separately, she for herself, I for me» [7, p.178]. It is clear that the author has other ideas - he is more interested in the lives of people who have gone through this hell than the road to hell itself. Thus, the story belongs to a more post-traumatic narrative. These children, women, old people, and men survived frost, hunger, and bullets, but here on this side of the country, how did they continue their lives, or if they continued at all? What sacrificed these people; everyone knows that the war in Abkhazia did not end only with the sacrifices made by Georgians in Abkhazia, but the war continued even during the «peaceful» period; It was already a fight for survival. The writer wants to convey exactly this - how families left without a husband, fatherless fight for existence and what is the result of their struggle?!
The boy's mother starts working as a saleswoman in a small booth, but being there in winter is so unbearable that the woman becomes addicted to drinking. From this general story, it is not easy for the reader to imagine the psychological state of a woman who for ten years knows nothing about her sick husband, whom she left in the hands of the enemy, and who has to fight with a desolate environment every day to support her young son and herself. But poverty and alcohol win, and often, being in a drunken state, she throws the scum of this life on the boy - «But I didn't leave home for that, I left for something else...» - says the main character. What is the child supposed to mean by «something else?». The author does not seem to reveal. In my opinion, he sympathizes with the little one and that's why. However, it is hinted that Tsupaka, the boy's friend, hid the fact that he had a sister. The traumatic stories of women, such as the boy's mother on the one hand, and Tsupaka's sister on the other, are visible here: how the war made them slaves to prostitution, leaving them with no other way to support themselves and their families. This is why Tsupaka was hiding his sister's existence and why our hero does not reveal «something else». He also hid the existence of his mother from «Aunt Manana». But obviously, the boy loves
and respects his mother very much. This is most visible in the episode when he encounters «mother's eyes» in the eyes of an unknown woman - «I see, she has eyes like my mother?! One is green and the other is blue. I don't know what happened to me, something stuck in my throat, I pulled out her hand and kissed» [7, p.179]. The boy remembers her eyes, which were not of one color - one was blue, the other was green. They get monotonous gray in Tbilisi. For some reason, it seems to me that they change colour depending on a woman's life. While they were immersed in the turquoise and emerald of Abkhazia, had an owner who lacked nothing, and her eyes were also turquoise and emerald. And when, in the gray city like a scorpion («The city is like a scorpion», T. Granelli) she finds herself unprotected without a lord, her eyes also change color. According to the holy fathers -«the human eye is the mirror of the soul». If this is so, then it is easy to imagine the pain that was going through the soul of the boy's mother.
The writer, I think, completes the story logically. The «future» of a teenager doomed to the street and loneliness, in this cruel life, is doomed to the same tragic end as the lives of the boys from Sukhumi and Tkvarcheli ended in the capital of Georgia; But the director of the film made according to this story still cannot sacrifice the hero to such death and completes the film with the boy's self-absorbed dance, a dance in which the cry of the hero's doomed soul is heard. «My heart is screaming, you will never be silent, I will walk through bloody roads, but I will still come back».
Conclusion. According to the presented discourse, we can conclude that Abkhazia, as a paradigm, occupies a special place in modern Georgian writing. The Russian-inspired Georgian-Abkhazian conflict is well depicted in the Georgian literary narrative as a literary representation of fact. This allows us to say that the concepts of collective trauma reflected in the public consciousness are presented in artistic texts. The fiction texts I have reviewed are also characterized by chronotype models, which makes the research even more interesting. The events that took place in different times and spaces are
united by love, pain, and longing for the homeland, and there are also artistic interpretations of cultural trauma. I consider it necessary to restore the centuries-old relations based on mutual respect and love between Georgians and Apsus so that we can return to the abandoned estate.
References:
1. Gvantseladze T. Linguistic foundations of the ethnic history of Abkhazia. Main problems. - Tbilisi, 2008. (In Georg.).
2. Gaprindashvili N. Cultural problems of colonial and postcolonial studies. Theoretical foundations of comparative literary studies. - Tbilisi: Meridian, 2012. (In Georg.).
3. Vakhania N. The war is seen through the eyes of Georgian and Abkhaz writers. Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian relations: past, present, future. - Tbilisi: Universal, 2011. (In Georg.).
4. Dumbadze N. Helados / Internet resource: https://burusi.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/hellados/ (Date 09.08.2023). (In Georg.).
5. Odisharia G. Return to Sokhumi. - Tbilisi: Meran, 1999. (In Georg.).
6. Topuridze J. The Sunken City of Dioskuria // Bakradze A. For Abkhazia. Collection. - Tbilisi, 2002. (In Georg.).
7. Shataidze N. Vakhtang Rodonaya. Class IX Textbook. -Tbilisi: Learned, 2012. (In Georg.).
Mindiashvili N. Desacralization of the author in traumatic literature. / Internet resource:
https://bsu.edu.ge/text_files/ge_file_17092_6.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2xd (Date 09.08.2023) (In Georg.).
