About A Critical Opus By Givi Kobakhidze (Daniel Chonkadze And His Novella ‘Surami Fortress’)

Abstract

Givi Kobakhidze is one of the prominent representatives of the Georgian emigration of the second half of XX century. Along with a wide variety of social activities he was engaged in other creative pursuits as well. He wrote both fiction and literary-critical texts, and during his stay in Georgia he gathered the folk material.

In 1985, in the 7th edition of ‘Gushagi’ (‘The Guardian’) GiviKobakhidze under the pseudonym Tedo Rachvelishvili published a critical letter _ ‘Daniel Chonkadze and his novella ‘Surami Fortress’. As the article makes it clear, the author does not share the author’s concept according to which the legend is distorted and the theme is artificially exaggerated, which he explains by Chonkadze’s low social origin and believes that the outlook of the prose writer is based on these grounds.

G. Kobakhidze ignores the folk story of a young man to be bricked up alive. In addition, he offers a new version of the legend of the Surami Fortress. However, the publication does not make it clear whether he recorded it himself or used other sources. The letter also raises the issue of ‘the unfair tragedy’; the opinions about the works by KonstantineGamsakhurdia (‘The Great Master’s Hand’) and GalaktionTabidze (‘Praise to Nikortsminda’) are expressed. The author clearly supports and substantiates the idea that the right hand depicted on the churches should be only interpreted as a symbol of the manifestation of the human ability.

It should be noted that in the Georgian literature ‘Surami Fortress’ turns out to be one of the most important texts which always becomes the focal point for the literary criticism (An. Purtseladze, Al. Orbeliani, proletarian critique, Ak. Bakradze ...); two films, were shot, its studies are fruitful in terms of the concepts of the modern literary studies (G. Zedania). In this respect, the critical opus by Givi Kobakhidze is undoubtedly important.