Page 179 - 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. 179
The Forbidden Homeland: Viktor Nozadze’s Scholarly Activity 179
ous that the author, who was one of the first Georgian scholars to consist-
ently formulate the theory of the Christian worldview of Rustaveli, was
instructed to present the author of The Knight in the Panther’s Skin as a
Christian whose worldview was based only on the Bible and who reject-
ed Church dogmatics.
Nozadze, living in exile, was free from Soviet ideological pressure and
he was among the rare scholars that grounded the concept of Rustaveli’s
Christian world outlook from the philosophical and theological view-
point. He made the following critical remark concerning the position of
Soviet scholars in issue 11 of the journal Kavkasioni, fully dedicated to
the eight-hundredth anniversary of Shota Rustaveli’s birth:
Rustaveli is praised as an advocate of atheistic ideas. He is glorified as a pan-
theist and materialist. He is lauded as a standard-bearer of democracy ... He
is praised and glorified as a person expelled and persecuted by the Georgian
church. Incense is burned to him especially because he, as it were, “is con-
sonant with the contemporaneity”, the Communist period. And this is ob-
scenity, indecency, folly (Nozadze 1966, 109).
Unlike his Soviet colleagues, Nozadze had a quite different approach
to research. In his opinion, to study the theological philosophy of The
Knight in the Panther’s Skin one needs thorough knowledge of Christian
theology, but it is also necessary to study each analyzable phrase, symbol,
or metaphor thoroughly. Although this proves to be a difficult task for
any researcher, without such a basis it is inconceivable to understand and
interpret the contents of the text (Nozadze, 1963, 40–42). Hence, Noza-
dze approached to the study of Rustaveli in the context of various phil-
osophical and religious teachings. However, with his focus on the main
objective-thematic motifs of The Knight in the Panther’s Skin (concepts of
good and evil, love and Providence, and the physical world and the oth-
erwordly), as well as terms and phrases (the names of the Supreme Being
used by Rustaveli and aesthetics of light), Nozadze shows that Rustave-
li’s worldview is based on Christian theology rather than on religious or
philosophical teachings such as Platonism, Neoplatonism, Zoroastrian-
ism, Mithraism, Gnosticism, Sufism, Pantheism, and Manicheism. Un-
like his Soviet colleagues, Nozadze studied these issues using comparative
and hermeneutical methods. In the analysis of theological issues, when it
was related to Rustaveli’s interpretation of the biblical passages, his re-
search was based on the views of Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Augustine of
Hippo, Athanasius the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Dionysius the
Areopagite.
ous that the author, who was one of the first Georgian scholars to consist-
ently formulate the theory of the Christian worldview of Rustaveli, was
instructed to present the author of The Knight in the Panther’s Skin as a
Christian whose worldview was based only on the Bible and who reject-
ed Church dogmatics.
Nozadze, living in exile, was free from Soviet ideological pressure and
he was among the rare scholars that grounded the concept of Rustaveli’s
Christian world outlook from the philosophical and theological view-
point. He made the following critical remark concerning the position of
Soviet scholars in issue 11 of the journal Kavkasioni, fully dedicated to
the eight-hundredth anniversary of Shota Rustaveli’s birth:
Rustaveli is praised as an advocate of atheistic ideas. He is glorified as a pan-
theist and materialist. He is lauded as a standard-bearer of democracy ... He
is praised and glorified as a person expelled and persecuted by the Georgian
church. Incense is burned to him especially because he, as it were, “is con-
sonant with the contemporaneity”, the Communist period. And this is ob-
scenity, indecency, folly (Nozadze 1966, 109).
Unlike his Soviet colleagues, Nozadze had a quite different approach
to research. In his opinion, to study the theological philosophy of The
Knight in the Panther’s Skin one needs thorough knowledge of Christian
theology, but it is also necessary to study each analyzable phrase, symbol,
or metaphor thoroughly. Although this proves to be a difficult task for
any researcher, without such a basis it is inconceivable to understand and
interpret the contents of the text (Nozadze, 1963, 40–42). Hence, Noza-
dze approached to the study of Rustaveli in the context of various phil-
osophical and religious teachings. However, with his focus on the main
objective-thematic motifs of The Knight in the Panther’s Skin (concepts of
good and evil, love and Providence, and the physical world and the oth-
erwordly), as well as terms and phrases (the names of the Supreme Being
used by Rustaveli and aesthetics of light), Nozadze shows that Rustave-
li’s worldview is based on Christian theology rather than on religious or
philosophical teachings such as Platonism, Neoplatonism, Zoroastrian-
ism, Mithraism, Gnosticism, Sufism, Pantheism, and Manicheism. Un-
like his Soviet colleagues, Nozadze studied these issues using comparative
and hermeneutical methods. In the analysis of theological issues, when it
was related to Rustaveli’s interpretation of the biblical passages, his re-
search was based on the views of Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Augustine of
Hippo, Athanasius the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Dionysius the
Areopagite.
