Rustvelology

Rustaveliology is a field of Kartvelology that explores the problems associated with Shota Rustaveli's poem
“The Knight in the Panther’s skin” and the author.

Works on various problems of Rustvelology were published by

Ivane Javakhishvili, Korneli Kekelidze, Akaki Shanidze, Justine
Abuladze, Pavle Ingorokva, Nikolai Marr, Sargis Kakabadze,
Shalva Nutsubidze, Aleksandre Baramidze, Vukol Beridze,
Solomon Iordinishvili, Giorgi Tsereteli, Ilia Abuladze, Ivane
Gigineishvili, Davit Chubinashvili, Platon Ioseliani, Alexander
Khakhanashvili and others. Rustvelological issues were explored
in the works of the foreign Rustvelologists: Marie-Félicité Brosset,
"The Knight in the panther's skin"
Mykola Hulak, Eugene Stalinsky et al.
XVII c.

Contents
Overview
History
Stages of the research
Study of poem
Study of content
The question of the origin of the story
References

Overview
The research of the manuscript heritage of the poem is the basis for "The Knight in the Panther's Skin"
study and the establishment of its text. In the field of Rustvelology, at different times, a certain concept was
formed about the history of the text of "The Knight in the Panther's skin", about the issues of the
composition and size of the poem;numerous historical and literary issues related to Rustaveli and his poem
were raised in a new way (date of writing the poem, the identity of the author, the originality of the poem,
Rustaveli's relation to the early Georgian literature, his connection with Eastern poetry, the influence of
"The Knight on the Panther's Skin" on the further development of Georgian literature) and so on.

In the field of Rustvelology, special works were written about the era of "The Knight on the Panther's
Skin", in which the inseparable connection of the social environment of the poem with the reality of the
Georgian history of the XII century is presented.Notable works were published about the vocabulary,
language, poetics and artistic construction of the poem, about the typological relation of the poem to the
Eastern and Western literature of the Middle Ages.

Works dedicated to the problems of Rustvelology were published by: Akaki Gatserelia, Shota Dzidziguri,
G. Jibladze, Solomon Kubaneishvili, G. Nadiradze, I. Lolashvili, V. Norakidze, M. Chikovani, Sh. Glont,
I. Megrelidze, L. Menabde, M. Gugushvili, M. Karbelashvili, E. Khintibidze, G. Sharadze, M.
 Gigineishvili, L. Andghuladze, B. Darchia, S. Serebryakov, G.
Kartozia, R . Pataridze, A. Chincharauli, M. Makhatadze, A.
Kumsiashvili et al.[1]

History
The critical study of "The Knight on the Panther's Skin" dates
back to the time of Vakhtang VI. He was one of the first critics of
the poem and the first Rustvelological work also belongs to him.
"The Knight on the Panther's Skin"("Shota Rustaveli, The knight
in the Panther's skin,Newly published during the reign of the ruler
of Georgia, the lord of lords, the Great Vakhtang. By his own
labor and expense."),published in 1712, became a bibliographic
rarity as far back as the eighties of the eighteenth century.The 1712
edition is together with the "translation," i.e. commentary of "this
book The Knight in the Panther's skin: told by Vakhtang
Batonishvili"[2]

From the same period, foreign researchers also became interested

Fresco of Shota Rustaveli in the in “The Knight in the Panther’s skin". In the book of the first
Monastery of the Cross, Jerusalem, Russian Rustvelologist, Yevgeny Bolkhovitinov, "Historical
Israel picture of Georgia in terms of the political, ecclesiastical and
educational situation", the poem and his author are given a proper
place, which contributed to the rise of interest in Rustaveli's poem
in Russian and Western European scientific cliques.

The second half of the 19th century turned out to be prolific in the history of Rustvelology, when a special
interest in the poem was connected with the national liberation movement. Should be noted Ilia
Chavchavadze's, Akaki Tsereteli's, Iakob Gogebashvili's and Vazha-Pshavela's letters, in which among
drawing artistic peculiarities, there weren't neglected poem's abiding values.

At the next stage of Rustvelology, the works of Niko Marr are important. Their merits are determined by
strict dilological(?) methods, a high level of textual search. In addition, N. Marr, one of the first, presented
the multiplex problems of the poem in the light of both Eastern and Western literature.From the beginning
of the XX century Alexander Sarajishvili, Ekvtime Takaishvili, Davit Karichashvili, Iustine Abuladze,
Sargis Kakabadze, Ivane Javakhishvili and others worked intensively on the issues of Rustvelology.

During the Soviet period, Rustvelology was formed as a multiple field, which considered the achievements
of philological, historical and other related sciences. The work acquired a purposeful style, organizational
forms were changed, special Rustvelological centers were formed(Rustavelological Department of the
"Rustaveli Institute of the History of Georgian Literature", "The Scientific Commission of the determining
the text of The Knight in the Panther's skin" " associated with the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of
the Georgian SSR, TSU "Rustaveli Cabinet" and others.)

Stages of the research

According to the history of the research, four stages can be distinguished in Rustvelology. The first stage
lasts from Vakhtang VI to Niko Marr. At this point, Marie Brose and Davit Chubinashvili developed a
theory of allegories, although they shared Vakhtang VI's views on the origin of the poem's story. Alexander
Khakhanashvili expressed the point of view of taking the story of the poem from the Georgian oral lore, but
according to the methodology, it also refers to the first stage Rustvelologists.

The second stage of Rustvelology begins with the works of Niko Mari. At this stage, the scientific research
of the problems of that field, the discussion of the life of Shota Rustaveli and poetry in the context of
Georgian and world literature of the previous epoch, deep textological and lexical research begins.

The third phase includes 1930-1960. During this period, the achievements and methods of various fields of
Kartvelology began to be actively used. The fourth stage includes the period from 1960 to the present.

The stages of development of Rustvelology are related to the editions of the text of the poem, of which the
editions of 1712, 1841, 1937 and 1966 are remarkable.The editions of so-called Kartvelishvili 1888, Justine
Abuladze, Sargis Kakabadze, Pavle Ingorokva and Konstantine Chichinadze are peculiar.

Study of poem
Any issue related to the poem and its author is included in the study of Rustvelology. The main object of
research in Rustvelology is "The Knight in the Panther's skin".Consequently, Rustvelologists study the
history of more than 160 manuscripts of the poem, research the problems related to the origin of the story of
the poem, Rustaveli strophes, characters' faces, artistic methods, extensions and translations.

Study of content
Among the research problems of Rustvelology the most important are: the authenticity and interrelationship
of the prologue, the main part and the epilogue of the poem.

Some scholars believe that the introduction and end of the poem do not belong to Shota Rustaveli and were
written in a later epoch, some believe that several strophes have been added to them, and for some, they are
organic parts of the poem.

Regarding the composition of the poem, Davit Karichashvili noted that it consisted of "three unusual parts"
and that the epilogue and prologue were not associated with the main part of the poem. This opinion was
shared by Korneli Kekelidze for a while. [6] Alexander Svanidze later supported the Pseudorustvelological
view, but Niko Marr and Aleksandre Baramidze strongly criticized this wrong position.

In 1895-1901, Alexander Sarajishvili published the monograph "False Places of the Panther" in the form of
letters in "Moambe", in which he considered a number of strophes of the prologue and epilogue to be false.
He was criticized for shortening the poem, as he considered a number of Rustaveli strophes to be false and
often mistook in lexical topics, although he was one of the first to see an organic connection between the
prologue and the poem, and even clarified that the poem and the preface were Rustaveli's own.

Different opinions have been expressed on the issue of the end of the poem. This issue will be discussed in
detail by Alexander Sarajishvili, Iustine Abuladze, Vukol Beridze, Konstantine Chichinadze, Sargis
Kakabadze, M. Gogiberidze and et al.

Some Rustvelologists consider love to be the main theme of the poem (Alexander Baramidze, Vladimer
Shishmariov), while others (Niko Marr, Ivane Javakhishvili) consider friendship. According to Zurab
Avalishvili, the main theme of the poem is both.

The question of the origin of the story

In the 80s of the XIX century, the issue of the origin of the story of the poem was escalated in the Georgian
and mainly Russian press. Part of the scholars supported the originality of the story of the poem, another
part believed that it was translated from Persian, and according to Alexander Khakhanashvili, the story of
the poem was taken by Rustaveli from Georgian oral lore.

Vakhtang VI believed that the poem was an original work. Teimuraz Bagrationi agreed with him and had
similar comments on the text. The comments with Vakhtang are called "translation", and with Teimuraz -
"explanation", among which the "explanation of the poem" Vepkhistkaosni "stick out. Davit Karichashvili
also defended the idea of originality. Iustine Abuladze considered the work to be original, and the story to
be borrowed.

Niko Marr defended the idea of the excessive influence of classical Persian literature on Georgian literature,
arguing that the story of the poem was a direct translation of a Persian prose piece or borrowed from
Persian oral lore. In his opinion, Rustaveli's work contains not only elements of Christian Georgia, but also
elements of Georgian culture of pagan times; Therefore the poem's story is based on Georgian reality and
the author's worldview was formed on the border of the Christian and Muslim literature, on Georgian basis.

References
1. S. Tsaishvili, Georgian Sovier Encyclopedia, vol. 8, Tbilisi, 1984, p. 512
2. I.Megrelidze,"Rustvelologians",Tbilisi,"Soviet Georgia", 1970 - 4-21 pp.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rustvelology&oldid=1057921673"

This page was last edited on 30 November 2021, at 12:39 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.