Georgian Literature before the Weltliteratur

The history of Georgian writing starts much earlier than when Goethe introduced the term “Weltliteratur.” It starts from the era of Christianity from the 4th century. Due to the fast spread of Christianity in the Early Medieval period, Georgia was already included in the European net of Christian writing. All branches of Christian spiritual literature were presented. Georgian culture and literature naturally were developing in the frame of the Western European tradition. The period of the 11th-12th centuries was a Golden Era for Georgia, and the heyday of fame for Georgian culture and literature as well. Precisely during this period, “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” was created by Shota Rustaveli. Apart from its aesthetic, philosophical, and worldview depth, it is a first text in Georgian literature as well as in European literature which reflects the clashing of two huge universes in Georgian culture—the West and the East. The Western principles are revealed in the Christian worldview of the text, in the way of thinking of the author and in its genre; however, the 12th century is already a period of strengthening of the influence of Eastern culture and literature in the European part of the Caucasus, and Rustaveli regards with obvious favor the Oriental poetic motifs. Unfortunately, at this stage of European literary history, Georgian literature was separated from the Western European literary process due to tragic political events. As for literature, it was a period of almost three centuries of silence. After the fall of Constantinople, Georgian literature had to move closer to the Eastern area as an historically offered alternative. From the 17th century, the process of the returning of Georgian political and cultural life back within the European frame had been started. Genuine Georgian writers were able to tie Georgian literature to the cultural models of European Classicism and the Enlightenment.