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Rhyming the National Spirit : A Comparative Inquiry into the Works and Activities of Taras Shevchenko and Ilia Chavchavadze

Metreveli, Tornike LU orcid (2019) In Nationalities Papers 47(5). p.894-912
Abstract

The article is a comparative inquiry into the roles of Ilia Chavchavadze (1837-1907) and Taras Shevchenko (1818-1861) as national poets and anti-tsarist intellectuals within the context of their respective national traditions (in Georgia and Ukraine). During the period of their activity (19th and the beginning of 20th century), both Ukraine and Georgia were under tsarist imperial rule (albeit the two poets lived in different periods of Russian imperial history). Through their major works, each called for their communities to awaken and revolt against oppression, rejected social apathy caused by tsarist subjugation, and raised awareness about the historical past of their nations. By comparing the works and activities of the two poets and... (More)

The article is a comparative inquiry into the roles of Ilia Chavchavadze (1837-1907) and Taras Shevchenko (1818-1861) as national poets and anti-tsarist intellectuals within the context of their respective national traditions (in Georgia and Ukraine). During the period of their activity (19th and the beginning of 20th century), both Ukraine and Georgia were under tsarist imperial rule (albeit the two poets lived in different periods of Russian imperial history). Through their major works, each called for their communities to awaken and revolt against oppression, rejected social apathy caused by tsarist subjugation, and raised awareness about the historical past of their nations. By comparing the works and activities of the two poets and examining their impact on national mobilization in tsarist Ukraine and Georgia, this article argues that (lyric) poetry rather than prose (novel) constituted the agency of common national imagining. It was lyric and not epic poetry or novel, this article shows, that laid the foundation of nationalist mobilization as it framed the revolt of the I against colonialism as a revolt of the I against an oppressive society under which the cultural grounds for common imagining had been constructed.

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author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
anti-colonial nationalism, Georgia, national identity, nationalist poetry, Ukraine
in
Nationalities Papers
volume
47
issue
5
pages
19 pages
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85079655005
ISSN
0090-5992
DOI
10.1017/nps.2018.59
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
c88c57e9-e020-4596-a30a-61dc7b37a756
date added to LUP
2020-12-16 16:22:48
date last changed
2024-06-27 04:32:26
@article{c88c57e9-e020-4596-a30a-61dc7b37a756,
  abstract     = {{<p>The article is a comparative inquiry into the roles of Ilia Chavchavadze (1837-1907) and Taras Shevchenko (1818-1861) as national poets and anti-tsarist intellectuals within the context of their respective national traditions (in Georgia and Ukraine). During the period of their activity (19th and the beginning of 20th century), both Ukraine and Georgia were under tsarist imperial rule (albeit the two poets lived in different periods of Russian imperial history). Through their major works, each called for their communities to awaken and revolt against oppression, rejected social apathy caused by tsarist subjugation, and raised awareness about the historical past of their nations. By comparing the works and activities of the two poets and examining their impact on national mobilization in tsarist Ukraine and Georgia, this article argues that (lyric) poetry rather than prose (novel) constituted the agency of common national imagining. It was lyric and not epic poetry or novel, this article shows, that laid the foundation of nationalist mobilization as it framed the revolt of the I against colonialism as a revolt of the I against an oppressive society under which the cultural grounds for common imagining had been constructed.</p>}},
  author       = {{Metreveli, Tornike}},
  issn         = {{0090-5992}},
  keywords     = {{anti-colonial nationalism; Georgia; national identity; nationalist poetry; Ukraine}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{894--912}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Nationalities Papers}},
  title        = {{Rhyming the National Spirit : A Comparative Inquiry into the Works and Activities of Taras Shevchenko and Ilia Chavchavadze}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/nps.2018.59}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/nps.2018.59}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}