The Literature of Georgia: A History - Tapa dura

"This little masterpiece gives an eminently readable survey of Georgian literature....The book reads like a novel, and even discussion of Georgian Bible translations is fascinating."--Choice "There is much in Donald Rayfield's critical, comprehensive survey to stimulate both specialists in Georgian literature and scholars with wider interests in the Near East. It is by far the most complete and authoritative account of its subject in English, and in a number of ways it adds significantly to the scholarly literature in Georgian....It makes up for the absence of a reliable general monograph on Georgian literature in the nineteenth century and fills in the numerous gaps and corrects the distorations in literary history and criticism of the communist period. Byzantinists, Iranists, those who study the literary and cultural expansion of Europe, and those who are concerned with the effects of Soviet communism on individual creativity and national development will welcome the author's learned and straightforward approach to controversial issues."--World Literature Today "The first comprehensive study in English of the literature of the Georgian people from the fifth century AD to the present day....Rayfield enriches his scholarly yet readable prose with excellent translations from discussed works....important and indispensable work for advanced students and scholars of the Caucasus, of Christianity, and of comparative literatures."--Religious Studies Review "This little masterpiece gives an eminently readable survey of Georgian literature....The book reads like a novel, and even discussion of Georgian Bible translations is fascinating."--Choice "There is much in Donald Rayfield's critical, comprehensive survey to stimulate both specialists in Georgian literature and scholars with wider interests in the Near East. It is by far the most complete and authoritative account of its subject in English, and in a number of ways it adds significantly to the scholarly literature in Georgian....It makes up for the absence of a reliable general monograph on Georgian literature in the nineteenth century and fills in the numerous gaps and corrects the distorations in literary history and criticism of the communist period. Byzantinists, Iranists, those who study the literary and cultural expansion of Europe, and those who are concerned with the effects of Soviet communism on individual creativity and national development will welcome the author's learned and straightforward approach to controversial issues."--World Literature Today "The first comprehensive study in English of the literature of the Georgian people from the fifth century AD to the present day....Rayfield enriches his scholarly yet readable prose with excellent translations from discussed works....important and indispensable work for advanced students and scholars of the Caucasus, of Christianity, and of comparative literatures."--Religious Studies Review "This little masterpiece gives an eminently readable survey of Georgian literature....The book reads like a novel, and even discussion of Georgian Bible translations is fascinating."--Choice "There is much in Donald Rayfield's critical, comprehensive survey to stimulate both specialists in Georgian literature and scholars with wider interests in the Near East. It is by far the most complete and authoritative account of its subject in English, and in a number of ways it adds significantly to the scholarly literature in Georgian....It makes up for the absence of a reliable general monograph on Georgian literature in the nineteenth century and fills in the numerous gaps and corrects the distorations in literary history and criticism of the communist period. Byzantinists, Iranists, those who study the literary and cultural expansion of Europe, and those who are concerned with the effects of Soviet communism on individual creativity and national development will welcome the author's learned and straightforward approach to controversial issues."--World Literature Today "The first comprehensive study in English of the literature of the Georgian people from the fifth century AD to the present day....Rayfield enriches his scholarly yet readable prose with excellent translations from discussed works....important and indispensable work for advanced students and scholars of the Caucasus, of Christianity, and of comparative literatures."--Religious Studies Review

This study reveals the literature of Georgia to be unique among that of the former Soviet Union in its combination of quality and length of literary tradition. It charts the development of Georgian literature from the largely religious texts of the 5th century, through its golden medieval age, to the diversities of the 20th century. Special mention is made of the poets Vazha Pshavela, Galaktion Tabidze and Paolo Iashvili, as well as the novelists Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Grigol Robakidze and Mikheil Javakhishviei.