MODERN GEORGIAN COMPARATIVE STUDIES: DIRECTIONS OF RESEARCH, MAIN ISSUES

Abstract

Taking into account the factual material, research methods, and tasks, the authors trace the evolution/changes in Georgian comparative studies. It is notable that typological approaches, along with contact-genetic ones, are now actively used. These changes become firmly established due to the studies of iconic figures and periods, which attract the special attention of the scholars. Eurocentric concepts give place to other ones that have their basis in the study of the national literature and include philosophical, anthropological, psychological, and religious factors in the field of research. A lot of attention has been given to the principles of selecting literary texts for translation. The field of Georgian comparative studies has been remarkably changed/updated in the late 20th — early 21st centuries. Along with historians of literature, the theorists, critics, translators, and specialists in European and Oriental languages have been involved, which affected the level of comparative studies. Among the raised issues are reception, imagology, typology of anti-colonial narratives, genre transformations, postmodern discourse, etc. The character of Georgian-Ukrainian comparative studies changed drastically: it is obvious in the approaches/assessments of literary translation and in all connecting issues in general. Comparative studies came as close as possible to the theory of literature, which let the researchers (R. Khvedelidze, N. Naskidashvili, S. Chkhatarashvili, I. Mchedeladze) update the methodology and intensify their work on the diff erent levels of research, regardless of the presence/absence of contexts. The present surge in Georgian comparative studies started in the 2010s. It is connected to the organization of effective specialized research centers. Of great interest are the comparative studies aiming to show the history of Georgian literature as an individual version of the world literature (I. Ratiani), to identify the features of the Georgian literary canon based on the three main literary models (Middle Ages, Romanticism, post-Soviet), with a focus on the combination of ‘canonical’ and ‘non-canonical’ in innovative writing.