ქალაქური ტექსტი ქართულ მოდერნისტულ რომანში
The Urban Text in the Georgian Modernist Novel

Summary/Abstract: Each culture, as a semiotic space, is divided according to certain principle, to distinguish the confronting structures existing within its scopes and this conditions individual nature of this structure. “One of the key mechanisms of semiotic individuality is the border. This border could be regarded as the limit ending the periodical form. This space is defined as “our”, “own”, “cultural”, “safe”, “harmonically organized” etc. and it is opposed by “their space”, “strange”, “hostile”, “dangerous”, “chaotic”. There are many such opposing pairs, though, for our research is confrontation between the center and the periphery. In the selected novels (“White Collar” by Mikheil Javakhishvili and “Smile of Dionysus” by Konstantine Gamsakhurdia) this is the dichotomy that plays the most significant role and our further observations over these texts are based on this givenness. The research is based on Juri Lotman’s conception, according to which there are two kinds of cities, one that is located at the outskirts of the cultural field and the other is the model of the center of universe, symbolically. The cities described in both novels are such “centers of Universe”: in Smile of Dionysus such city is Paris and in White Collar – Tbilisi. The article emphasizes the role of two cities in these texts. In particular, while Paris is indeed one of the main cities of Modernism, cultural and civilization centers, where originated the “new life” of early twentieth century. While Tbilisi in the White Collar is not of the same scale, it performs the same function. In both novels, the “center of universe” is confronted by the periphery. In Gamsakhurdia’s novel this is Taia Shelia’s house of childhood, with which the main character, Konstantine Savarsamidze has deep ties. In Mikheil Javakhishvili’s novel, the similar role is plaid by the community in Khevsureti, isolated from the external world and living in the mountains. If we regard the city as the center of the universe, as the symbolic space, then we can consider the periphery as the “desert”. On the example of the city of Uruk, Zurab Kiknadze shows that the city is surrounded by several areas: the agricultural, grazing lands and hunting fields. The most remote and hostile to the urban civilization, unknown and dangerous area is referred to as the desert. Finally, we have identity confrontation: center vs periphery – city vs. desert.

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