Psychological Aspects of Existentialism in the Work of Vazha-Pshavelain

Abstract

Since existential philosophy takes as its field of inquiry human existence and the clarification of the nature of life, it stands closest of all to literature, for artistic thought likewise reaches into the deep layers of the human soul and seeks to clarify
the essence of its existence.
In the view of the existentialists, the human being is abandoned in the world; he is alone and stands in opposition to it. At the same time, the human being is inclined toward self-knowledge; he seeks clarity about himself on both the conscious and unconscious levels, striving to discover his own true „self“, and through this attempts to attain freedom, which is the key to truth. The existentialists, moreover, sought out the ways and methods by which a person might achieve this.
It is recognized in literary scholarship that the establishment of realism in Georgian literature in the second half of the nineteenth century contributed to the „investigation“ of the essence of human life. This is due, among other things, to the fact that through artistic imagery literature reaches more deeply into the mysterious spiritual layers of a person›s inner world and attempts to convey with full precision the processes taking place there.
It should also be noted that this problem is directly connected with psychologism, insofar as human nature — and all the more the discernment of a person’s unconscious world — is an exceedingly complex matter, one that literature attempts to clarify. It is precisely the foregrounding of these questions, and their portrayal with due depth, that establishes for certain writers the status of a „psychological“ or „philosophical“ writer.
It should also be noted that it is realism specifically that deepens inquiry in this direction — that is, into the essence of human existence, its nature and purpose — insofar as it is recognized that truth conveyed through artistic imagery is more
enduring than truth given through philosophical categories.
New Georgian literature, in addition to reflecting matters of everyday life, devoted due attention to this profoundly philosophical problem as well. The work of the Georgian Romantics is rich in existential problematics, and it may be said that their work laid the groundwork, in this respect, for the era of realism.
It should be noted that Georgian literary criticism has not focused attention on Vazha-Pshavela as an existentialist writer. In fact, Vazha-Pshavela anticipates many existentialist philosophers who formulated and articulated human existence, the essence of being, and its purpose through philosophical categories. Vazha-Pshavela portrays this problem more beautifully and more deeply through artistic imagery, and it is precisely in this direction that the central concern of our study will proceed.