THE SEARCH FOR A NEW GENRE FORM IN CONTEMPORARY GEORGIAN LITERATURE

Summary

Researchers of literary processes are always cautious when discussing contemporary authors, especially when the author is distinguished and his activity must be evaluated responsibly. Even the smallest mistake, even a single question mark, must be excluded. This is a sensitive subject and, accordingly, a highly responsible one for the critic.

The creative activity of an author requires long-term observation. We expect the creative process to ferment and mature like a brew, since the fear of error is not less than any other fear for a conscientious critic. And yet, sometimes we become overly cautious, and the position of “caution never hurts” forces us into certain frames, making us deliberately avert our gaze from realities that unfold clearly before us. Sometimes it is so, sometimes otherwise. But if, out of fear of responsibility, we call only the bad “bad” and refuse to name the good “good,” then this too resembles irresponsibility.

This introduction was written to emphasize that the author whose work we examine here is indeed an outstanding figure in contemporary Georgian literature. However, our focus will be on one unusual tendency in his work, which may prove interesting for the literature of the future in general, though it would be inappropriate to assert this probability with certainty.

As already mentioned, in the present paper we will offer the reader a general analysis of one important part of the work of Georgian writer and scholar Rostom Chkheidze, and we will also present our own conclusions.