Wine, Opium, and Hashish in Georgian and European Symbolism

Tatia Oboladze / Wine, Opium, and Hashish in Georgian and European Symbolism Tatia Oboladze Tbilisi State University Wine, Opium, and Hashish in Georgian and European Symbolism Introduction In the 1910s, the first symbolist group of 13 poets, The Blue Horns,1 emerged in Georgian literature with clearly stated purposes and aesthetic positions. The Blue Horns (Tsisperi Qantsebi) was the first organized literary group. The main goal of the symbolist poets was renewal of Georgian literature and its inclusion into the Western context. This group of young poets made attempts to broaden the area of thought and to modernize Georgian literature with their art and their public activities. They declared Tbilisi as a cultural centre, and thus rejected the status of a cultural periphery (Oboladze, 2018). Georgian symbolists regarded Charles Baudelaire, Stephane Mallarme, Richard Wagner, Friedrich Nietzsche, and others as the leading authorities for forming their creative positions and worldview. By mentioning their names and texts, dedicating their verses to them, and translating their works, Georgian symbolists clearly outlined the cultural area of their art and declared Georgian literature as part of European modernism.2 Theory of Myth One of the universal signs of symbolist aesthetics determining the substance of each variation of this movement (French, Georgian, Russian, etc.) is the reconstruction of myth. Symbolism not only starts with the actualization of universal characters, images, motifs, and literary myths (such as Salome, Medea, Narcissus, Satan, etc.), but new mythology is also created. Valerian Gaprindashvili and Grigol Robakidze are the key theorists of Georgian symbolism who declared the renewal of the traditional mythological pantheon. Their theory of myth was closely linked to German thinkers, more precisely to those of Wagner and Nietzsche. 1 2 The appearance of the journal Tsisperi Qantsebi provoked a mostly negative reaction. The related manifesto and criticism of authorities of Georgian literature were unacceptable for the public. Although officially the group Tsisperqantselebi existed until 1931, its active creative period with the short period of Georgia’s independence, 1918-1921. The article was supported by the Joint Rustaveli-DAAD fellowship programme, 2021. DOI:10.4312/ars.16.1.219-230 219 AH_2022_1_FINAL.indd 219 19. 01. 2023 12:57:06 Tatia Oboladze / Wine, Opium, and Hashish in Georgian and European Symbolism The group of the young poets regarded Gr. Robakidze as one harbinger of symbolism, and Nietzsche as the other. As early as 1911, Robakidze presented a lecture entitled Friedrich Nietzsche in a Georgian theatre, and was actually the first to familiarize the wider society with the German philosopher’s views. Nietzsche‘s concept about the Dionysian and Apollonian dichotomy turned out to be especially significant for Georgian symbolists. Apollo – the god of light – is associated with the concept of an individual‘s ego, rationalism, chastity, while Dionysus – the god of the subconscious and the god of wine and feasting – is associated with the destruction of the ego (Robakidze, 2012, 218). Each artist is one of either Apollonian dreams or Dionysian narration. Only in Greek tragedy were these two concepts harmonically combined (Nietzsche, 2016, 61). The modern individual, who has rejected the Dionysian concept, has lost the mythic sensibility and turned into the ”eternally hungry“ individual (Nietzsche). The main challenge of modernism and its primary goal is reviving these lost ties and activating the mythic sensibility in art. Robakidze wanted to renew what he saw as the stale Georgian literature, employing actualization of the mythic flow. For him, myth was the ”voice of internal experience; myth is the word of the universe. That is why those desiring to be the mediator between the humans and the world of divine substance should talk in the language of mythos” (Robakidze, 2014, 142). Because of this, he can be seen as the apologist for Dionysian art in the desacralized art of his time. ”My emblem is Dionysus‘s medallion“, states the poet in Automedallion (Meotsnebe Niamorebi [Dreamer Gazelles], 1922 N7). Unlike Nietzsche, for Robakidze the key substance should be sought not in the ancient world but rather in Georgian, Caucasian mythology. The desacralized story can be dealt with by ”returning“ to myth. Though Robakidze‘s ideas are fed by Nietzsche‘s philosophy, he has adapted these to his own purpose, aesthetics, and specific Georgian culture, and created his unique mythic theory. He was interested in the East, ”saturated“ with its mythos. He considered Georgia as a ”piece of the East“ (Robakidze, 2014, 395), and for him the renewal of Georgian culture meant returning to these traditions. Robakidze‘s theory of the myth comprises a harmonic combination of two incompatible fundamentals – paganism and Christianity, Nietzsche‘s dichotomy of Apollo and Dionysus, as the idea of the polarity of classical thinking greatly influenced the formation of German symbolism, in particular the art of Stefan George. His theory of myth is close to Robakidze‘s views, and in both cases we can see the synthesis of different (oriental, biblical, Greek, Roman, etc.) mythological traditions (Grigorian, 2009, 151-152). Another German thinker that determined the substance of symbolism and greatly influenced the art of The Blue Horns is Richard Wagner. Symbolism inherited two key elements from Wagner –significance of music and the myths. Wagner regarded myth as the only means for restoring the ancient tradition and approaching poetry and music, and his’ art is a manifestation of the revival of the lost power of the myth (collective subconscious) (Marchal, 2011, 123). 220 AH_2022_1_FINAL.indd 220 19. 01. 2023 12:57:06 Tatia Oboladze / Wine, Opium, and Hashish in Georgian and European Symbolism Based on German myths, Wagner has created his own. He rewrote the history of humanity, as in his myth humans have replaced the dead gods. Wagner‘s myth tells us about mankind ruined by the gods and saved by humans (Grauby 1994, 62-63). Like Wagner, The Blue Horns also replace the ancient gods with humans, in this case with poets, while they replace the ancient heroes with literary characters (Hamlet, Ophelia, etc.). ”While before, in poetry there was Apollo, now there is Gautier, while there were the Medusa and the Girl, now there are Edgar and Maldaror… Before the poets were inspired by the Hellenic and Roman gods and heroes, now they are inspired by the fantastic names of the past poets“ (Gaprindashvili, 1990, 445). In Wagner‘s and the symbolists‘ theories, the central issue is a reconstruction of myth, but fundamental to this is the definition of the purpose of ”myth rehabilitation“. For Wagner, myth had the function of protector of the national genius, i.e. for him myth is the instrument for the conservation of the national idea. In contrast, for the symbolists myth (...truncated)