Individual Democratic Institutions Research Fellowships 1994-1996

The research reports reproduced here are the responsibility of the individual authors. Their reproduction does not imply any form of official or unofficial endorsement by NATO. The reports are offered in unedited form, as presented by their authors, with a view to make their findings available to a wide audience. Georgian Literature in European Scholarship Prof. Elguja Khintibidze [Back to Index] Chapter Four: Conclusion. Kartvelology is an important branch of the modern Humanities. Part of the problems discussed in it are closely linked with Byzantinism, general linguistics, Oriental Studies, European Renaissance culture, study of art, and in general, many essential spheres of modern European civilization. Hence, failure to take into account the achievements of Kartvelological scholarship generally points to a low, non-modern level of research. European researchers have made a significant contribution to the creation of the modern scholarly level of Kartvelology. This, I believe, has come to light in the present monograph, as exemplified by the study of Georgian literature in Europe. The present monograph, too, is primarily designed to assist Western scholars working on problems of Kartvelology, in particular to give them correct orientation on questions of Georgian literature. At the same time, it will be a significant gain for Georgian scholars to whom studies on various problems of Georgian literature, carried out in Europe from the 17th century to the 1990s in various languages, are not readily available.

This monograph is the first attempt at writing a history of the research on Georgian literature carried out in Europe. It also contains a critique of the studies of European scholars. In this analysis the indication of the novelties introduced by European Kartvelology into the study of Georgian literature will be of special value. The highlighting of typical errors, done here for the first time, and indication of the causes of these errors and their discussion at the level of modern Kartvelology will, it is hoped, be highly instructive for European researchers interested in Georgian culture and literature. The present monograph brings European Kartvelology close to the research carried out in Georgia on Georgian literature. Hence the necessity of writing it for the further development of Kartvelological scholarship. The special value of the bibliographies, forming part of the monograph, should be stressed. A bibliography has been compiled for the first time on all works written and published in Western Europe on questions of Georgian literature, according to the languages in which the studies were written: English, German, French and Italian. Bibliographies of the translations of Georgian literary pieces into English, German, French and Italian have been compiled for the first time, with indication of the author, the title of the work, the translator, and place and date of publication. These bibliographies will doubtless serve as a manual for both European and Georgian researchers interested in questions of Georgian culture. Thus, the monograph: "Georgian Literature in European Scholarship", which has recently been completed and on which the present Final Report is being written, is an important achievement of both Georgian and European literary criticism. I and the team that worked with me at the Kartvelological Centre on this monograph are faced with several tasks regarding the future of this work a) finding funds for high-quality printing of the monograph; b) the monograph is written in Georgian. Funds should be sought for having it translated into English, German, and French in order to render it available as soon as possible to European researchers interested in Georgian culture; c) constant care must be taken towards the improvement of the monograph: correction of the errors made in it; detection of facts omitted and entering them in the bibliographies; systematic supplementation of the monograph with the fresh Kartvelological literature written in Europe in recent years, is being written at present, or will be written in future. For the present I wish to extend once again my cordial thanks to the Press and Information Department of NATO whose grant proved the principal financial support in the compilation of this much needed work. Prof. Elguja Khintibidze, IOM