ვაჟა-ფშაველა, როგორც ფოლკლორისტი (ეთნოგრაფიული წერილები)

Abstract

As we have mentioned, Vazha-Pshavela left us the works of theoretical and literary character along with his artistic heritage. His ethnographic letters, which were being published as the separate correspondences and which give us a complete picture of Vazha-Pshavela's deep knowledge and research system in this field, occupy a large place not only in the writer's work, but also in the rich literature about Pshav-Khevsuret,i published in Georgian and foreign languages. These letters are distinguished by their artistry. He mentioned himself about this, when he called his main work, "Pshavian and His Minute World" an ethnographic story. This is indeed the best exemplar of Vazha-Pshavela's prose. Other letters are also more like feature-stories, than scientific researches. Here, thanks to scientific accuracy and artistic persuasion, the reader is able to be well acquainted with the details of the life and the basic habits of Pshavians. It is very interesting and paradoxical the attitude towards women in the mountains, which Vazha discusses in detail in his letters. The paradox of the mountaineer's attitude towards women is, that nevertheless the mountains ferocious nature habituates a woman to the life of hardship, she works like a man and upholds him in all matters, but this is done voluntarily and not by force. Pshavians consider a woman to be the origin of the devil, the words woman and deviless are equaled with each other, their qualities are transferred to each other, however in heroic poetry a woman is deified so much that a mountaineer man is ready to die for her, to become a lover for a woman. Vazha narrates us that according to Pshavian poetry, people do not consider the beauty of a woman to be decisive, but her honesty, family loyalty, which is the first thing a man demands from a woman. In this regard, we can not ignore the tradition of perceiving Queen Tamar as an face-icon in Pshavi (Vazha's poetry also has a special respect for Tamar). Vazha also narrates in his letters about the custom, which is the basis of the love poetry and had a great influence on the courageous, heroic actions of men, and gave rich material to the Pshvian romantic poetry and the Pshavians’ poetic character. In the imaginations of the mountain people it is strangely intertwined the mythological-paganish and Christian notions. For example, belief in giants. Here are the mythological representations of Kopala and Iakhsar fighting the giants and defeating them. As mentioned above, the religious belief of the Pshav-Khevsurian people is characterized by eclecticism, and it is a pantheon of pagan idols, Christian saints and deified historical figures created by the imagination of the Pshavian and Khevsurian, in which ancestors always have an honorable place. This is the cult of the dead and the deification of the forces of nature. In Vazha-Pshavela's ethnographic letters the history of customary law in the highlands of Georgia occupy a large place, the separate norms of which were more understandable and acceptable to the inhabitants of the mountains than the current legislation. This had created a certain antagonism between the government and the local population. These established norms of customary law were completely regular and often such an event was not opposed , but supported by the authorities. Vazha-Pshavela's merit as a serious and thorough researcher of folklore is great (mainly was restricted to the Pshavian folk literature, although he sometimes used the folklore of other peoples, for instance, Russian), and he deservedly holds a leading place in Georgian folkloristics.