Pshavi in the Literary and Literary-Documentary Prose of Aleksander Orbeliani

Abstract

In the body of work left by Alexander Orbeliani, alongside his literary works, his documentary – and in particular autobiographical – prose commands attention. It appears that the writer intended to gather these writings together and to shape them into a single composition, perhaps an autobiographical novel.
These writings describe in detail what befell the rebel on his journey into exile – from Tbilisi to the Darial Gorge and thence, across Russian territory, to his destination, Orenburg. What is of interest to us here is how the memoirist recalls the districts of Pshavi and the Pshavs themselves. The idea of Georgia’s unity was a topical question in the nineteenth century, and it has lost none of its relevance today.
The aim of this study is to examine the attitude of this Romantic writer toward individual regions and toward the populations living in them.
Pshavi, and the fifirst war waged – and won – by Prince Erekle together with his Pshav peers, is depicted in Alexander Orbeliani›s play „The First Days of Prince Irakli“.
Several of these works were published for the fifirst time in 2023, in the complete collected works of Alexander Orbeliani (in fifive volumes). These writings recount a good many signifificant events. It may be said with certainty that in them the writer is clearly revealed as a son of a unifified Georgia, and as one both knowledgeable about and devoted to the history and contemporary life of its individual regions.