Page 181 - 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. 181
The Forbidden Homeland: Viktor Nozadze’s Scholarly Activity 181
(Nozadze 1963, 626). Nozadze firmly adheres to the opinion that all oth-
er views ascribed to The Knight in the Panther’s Skin are to be considered
errors and can be explained by a lack of understanding of the theology of
The Knight in the Panther’s Skin and, moreover, by its deliberate distor-
tion (Nozadze 1963, 596).
This and other works by Viktor Nozadze that failed to reach not only
the general public but even the narrow circle of Rustavi specialists were
well known at the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of
Georgia. The position of the Soviet officials was clear and unequivocal:
the standard reaction was to leave any differing point of view without a
response or to be limited to short but aggressive remarks. Thus, in the ar-
ticle “Glorious Path of Georgian Soviet Scholarship” in the newspaper
Zarya Vostoka signed by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Georgian
Academy of Sciences Niko Muskhelishvili, Nozadze was incidentally
mentioned as a “maliciously breathing scholar” (Kharazishvili 2009, 147).
In 1966, the eight-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Rustaveli
was celebrated in Georgia. It was held under the aegis of UNESCO, and
therefore preparations for the event began not only in Georgia, but also
throughout the entire Soviet Union. The All-Union Governmental An-
niversary Committee was approved, which was responsible for organiz-
ing and holding the anniversary events. The Central Committee of the
Georgian Communist Party and the Government of the Republic passed
a resolution that was entered by the World Peace Council in the work
of its congress. The chairman of the Georgian Writers’ Union, Irakli
Abashidze, noted:
These are the days when we are standing face to face with the high thought
of the entire civilized world and before the eyes of this world summarize
the entire eight-hundred-year-old history of Georgian culture. During
these days, Georgian literature and art will be a new discovery for many vis-
itors, having arrived from distant corners of the world7 (Abashidze, 1969).
Elsewhere he wrote: “During the anniversary of Rustaveli, the Geor-
gian people will face the high culture of the civilized world and will make
a report on how they have lived from the times of Rustaveli until the pres-
ent day” (Abashidze 1966, 9). It should be noted that by this period (af-
ter appointment of Leonid Brezhnev as general secretary of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party in 1966), the ‘Thaw’ of Khrush-
chev’s times was in fact over, but it was impossible for Soviet officials to
7 Rustaveli’s anniversary in Georgia was attended by more than one hundred foreign
guests, including scholars, writers, and translators.
(Nozadze 1963, 626). Nozadze firmly adheres to the opinion that all oth-
er views ascribed to The Knight in the Panther’s Skin are to be considered
errors and can be explained by a lack of understanding of the theology of
The Knight in the Panther’s Skin and, moreover, by its deliberate distor-
tion (Nozadze 1963, 596).
This and other works by Viktor Nozadze that failed to reach not only
the general public but even the narrow circle of Rustavi specialists were
well known at the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of
Georgia. The position of the Soviet officials was clear and unequivocal:
the standard reaction was to leave any differing point of view without a
response or to be limited to short but aggressive remarks. Thus, in the ar-
ticle “Glorious Path of Georgian Soviet Scholarship” in the newspaper
Zarya Vostoka signed by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Georgian
Academy of Sciences Niko Muskhelishvili, Nozadze was incidentally
mentioned as a “maliciously breathing scholar” (Kharazishvili 2009, 147).
In 1966, the eight-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Rustaveli
was celebrated in Georgia. It was held under the aegis of UNESCO, and
therefore preparations for the event began not only in Georgia, but also
throughout the entire Soviet Union. The All-Union Governmental An-
niversary Committee was approved, which was responsible for organiz-
ing and holding the anniversary events. The Central Committee of the
Georgian Communist Party and the Government of the Republic passed
a resolution that was entered by the World Peace Council in the work
of its congress. The chairman of the Georgian Writers’ Union, Irakli
Abashidze, noted:
These are the days when we are standing face to face with the high thought
of the entire civilized world and before the eyes of this world summarize
the entire eight-hundred-year-old history of Georgian culture. During
these days, Georgian literature and art will be a new discovery for many vis-
itors, having arrived from distant corners of the world7 (Abashidze, 1969).
Elsewhere he wrote: “During the anniversary of Rustaveli, the Geor-
gian people will face the high culture of the civilized world and will make
a report on how they have lived from the times of Rustaveli until the pres-
ent day” (Abashidze 1966, 9). It should be noted that by this period (af-
ter appointment of Leonid Brezhnev as general secretary of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party in 1966), the ‘Thaw’ of Khrush-
chev’s times was in fact over, but it was impossible for Soviet officials to
7 Rustaveli’s anniversary in Georgia was attended by more than one hundred foreign
guests, including scholars, writers, and translators.
