ვაჟა-ფშაველას 1880-1890-იანი წლების პუბლიცისტიკა

Abstract

Journalism is an important part of Vazha-Pshavela’s Literary creativity, which clearly shows the depth of the writer’s thinking, his great erudition, ability to raise and solve issues on philosophical grounds. Vazha attached great importance to journalism as a field of literature: “Truth is expressed in literature in two ways,” - he wrote, - “it has two forms, one poetic-fictional and the other – journalistic.” The subject is the same - life, its events, the cause of these events and the result. They both tell the same truth, they follow the same path” (Vazha-Pshavela, 1964: 400). Vazha-Pshavela’s publicist ideas are organically related to his artistic work from an ideological-thematic point of view. Vaja’s journalistic interests are very broad and diverse. It can be said that not a single important issue of the public life of Georgia of that period was left out of the writer’s attention. Among Vazha-Pshavela’s journalistic letters is the cycle of epistolary letters printed in the 80s and 90s, “Letters to a Friend”, which is not included in any of the academic editions of the writer’s works, and which was identified by S. Lekishvili (Lekishvili, 1969: 174-177). In 1979, Levan Chrelashvili combined these texts into a single volume entitled “Essays” (Newly Discovered Works) prepared by Tbilisi University Press. The significance of these letters is conditioned by the fact that without their consideration it is impossible to form a complete idea of the literary beliefs and worldview of the young Vazha-Pshavela. In Vazha’s letters, a number of socially relevant issues are discussed. The relationship between the individual and society is a central problem in Vazha-Pshavela’s works. The writer addresses this issue not only in his epic poetry, but also in his journalistic letters. From this point of view, the study of Vazha-Pshavela’s “Letters” gives us a more complete picture of the writer’s ethical position. The analysis of Vazha’s letters once again reveals the unfoundedness of the views expressed in Georgian criticism about the individualism of the writer. One of the crucial topics in Vazha-Pshavela’s journalism of the 80s and 90s of the nineteenth century is the problem of education. Vazha-Pshavela does not consider the concept of education in a narrow sense, as only the development of intellectual skills and the acquisition of knowledge. Vazha-Pshavela raises the need not only for personal but also for national upbringing. The education system, from the writer’s point of view, should serve the honorable goal of national upbringing, the formation of national self-consciousness: he considers the European education system as an example, which promotes the formation and upbringing of a worthy person with a national spirit. The central theme of Vazha-Pshavela’s letters is the moral face and intellectual level of his modern youth. Vazha-Pshavela’s observations on the moral face of the Georgian youth are very remarkable and relevant from the point of view of modernity. Vazha cannot hide his heartache because his the youth of his time is poisoned by national nihilism, they no longer believe in the spiritual capabilities of their own nation, its culture and literature. A very interesting issue is the attitude of young Vazha-Pshavela towards social problems. Vazha’s “Letters to a Friend” is published at the very time when the “Third Group” is coming to the public arena. From the very beginning, the writer had a negative attitude towards the political groups that contributed to the confrontation of the social strata and, thus, to the disintegration of national integrity. The conclusions drawn by Vazha-Pshavela as a result of a multifaceted analysis of social problems, in many cases, still retain their guiding significance today. Vazha-Pshavela’s journalism of the 80s and 90s is also interesting from an artistic point of view. Vazha’s “Letters to a Friend” is written in a very simple language and it is free from extraordinary stylization. In his letters, Vazha often refers to rhetorical figures. Using these stylistic techniques, the writer manages to concentrate the reader’s attention and give special emphasis to this or that problem.