Page 172 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 172
Ideology in the 20th Century: studies of literary and social discourses and practices
“Those Who Are Not with Us Are Against Us”
Viktor Nozadze received his tertiary education at the University of Mos-
cow. His years as a student during the 1910s coincided with an intensifi-
cation of the revolutionary spirit at leading Russian universities, active
participation of students in illegal activities, persecution of ‘unreliable
persons,’ and clashes with the police. It is clear that Nozadze was active-
ly involved in all these processes because he returned in Georgia with the
first wave of the February Revolution of 1917. The proclamation of the
Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918 found him in Tbilisi. Like all
leftist Georgians, he welcomed this historical and political event. Noza-
dze was one of sixty-nine students that the government of Georgia sent
abroad to receive their education. The objective of the new government
172 was clear and well-defined. To launch the country’s management struc-
ture at the necessary level, intelligent young professionals were needed,
educated at European universities and imbued with progressive ideas.
They were expected to use what they learned in Europe to develop and
advance the Democratic Republic of Georgia. This goal was well under-
stood by all sixty-nine envoys. From England, Nozadze wrote to his com-
patriot, the painter Shalva Kikodze: “We are the first persons sent to Eu-
rope; we do not belong to ourselves. We belong to Georgia, and woe to
those that return empty and fail to bring anything to the native country”
(Sharadze 2004, 38).
However, the Independent Republic of Georgia existed for only three
years; on February 25th, 1921, the Soviet army occupied Georgia and So-
viet rule was established. The communist regime announced a special ide-
ological struggle against the Georgians that had gone abroad for their
education or worked there. Those that managed to return to their home-
land and escape the purges of the 1920s were reminded of their ‘dubious
past’ during the 1930s and accused of counter-revolutionary activities,
master. Correspondingly, the human ideal described in the romance is the ideal of a
knight (heroic and romantic). Rustaveli’s characters have all the features of an ideal
man (beauty, generosity, modesty, military virtues, and so forth), of which wisdom
and intellect are of major importance, and they do all they can to help their friends,
eradicate injustice, and achieve their top ideal in this world: love, which is ultimate-
ly equal to the victory of good over evil. The characters in The Knight in the Panther’s
Skin achieve their goals relying on their own mental and physical potential and un-
tamable aspiration toward victory. All of this is motivated by love and guided by faith
in God and fate. This vision of human potential goes beyond the mediaeval method
for resolving this problem and rises to the level of Renaissance thinking.
“Those Who Are Not with Us Are Against Us”
Viktor Nozadze received his tertiary education at the University of Mos-
cow. His years as a student during the 1910s coincided with an intensifi-
cation of the revolutionary spirit at leading Russian universities, active
participation of students in illegal activities, persecution of ‘unreliable
persons,’ and clashes with the police. It is clear that Nozadze was active-
ly involved in all these processes because he returned in Georgia with the
first wave of the February Revolution of 1917. The proclamation of the
Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918 found him in Tbilisi. Like all
leftist Georgians, he welcomed this historical and political event. Noza-
dze was one of sixty-nine students that the government of Georgia sent
abroad to receive their education. The objective of the new government
172 was clear and well-defined. To launch the country’s management struc-
ture at the necessary level, intelligent young professionals were needed,
educated at European universities and imbued with progressive ideas.
They were expected to use what they learned in Europe to develop and
advance the Democratic Republic of Georgia. This goal was well under-
stood by all sixty-nine envoys. From England, Nozadze wrote to his com-
patriot, the painter Shalva Kikodze: “We are the first persons sent to Eu-
rope; we do not belong to ourselves. We belong to Georgia, and woe to
those that return empty and fail to bring anything to the native country”
(Sharadze 2004, 38).
However, the Independent Republic of Georgia existed for only three
years; on February 25th, 1921, the Soviet army occupied Georgia and So-
viet rule was established. The communist regime announced a special ide-
ological struggle against the Georgians that had gone abroad for their
education or worked there. Those that managed to return to their home-
land and escape the purges of the 1920s were reminded of their ‘dubious
past’ during the 1930s and accused of counter-revolutionary activities,
master. Correspondingly, the human ideal described in the romance is the ideal of a
knight (heroic and romantic). Rustaveli’s characters have all the features of an ideal
man (beauty, generosity, modesty, military virtues, and so forth), of which wisdom
and intellect are of major importance, and they do all they can to help their friends,
eradicate injustice, and achieve their top ideal in this world: love, which is ultimate-
ly equal to the victory of good over evil. The characters in The Knight in the Panther’s
Skin achieve their goals relying on their own mental and physical potential and un-
tamable aspiration toward victory. All of this is motivated by love and guided by faith
in God and fate. This vision of human potential goes beyond the mediaeval method
for resolving this problem and rises to the level of Renaissance thinking.
