On One Manifestation of Georgian Tolerance

Abstract

Tolerance is an international term denoting a phenomenon that carries the most significant social, political, and culturological content of our time. In this article, the term is employed to express the content of the foundational concept of the peaceful coexistence of two or more ethnicities within a single state, and of multiculturalism within the sphere of cultures – for which the Georgian equivalent that may be used is shemts’q’nareblovaneba (tolerance, forbearance).

The relevance of the topic is determined by the fact that the Georgian state is historically distinguished as a country marked by the peaceful coexistence of various ethnicities, in which the dominant Georgian culture has never been restrictive or oppressive-marginalizing toward the ethnic groups that found refuge in Georgia and toward their cultural identity.

Through methods of analysis and synthesis and empirical study of the text, it is revealed and established in the article that the Georgian people and their culture are, in and of themselves, mentally tolerant.

A scholarly novelty is presented by the comparative analysis, from the standpoint of tolerance, of Vazha-Pshavela’s poem „Host and Guest“ and the Georgian folk legend „The Guard Shibu in the Meadow“ (Qaravli Shibu Ch’alashi). The conclusion is reached that Georgian tolerance is a phenomenon conditioned by history, and that its remarkable content is already presented within the oral, authorless literature of the Georgian people.