The Formation of Georgian Feminist Discourse: (Text and Context)

Abstract

The first wave of feminism, which was formed in the West from the se­cond half of the 19th century, aimed at the political, social, and economic eman­cipation of women, the rethinking of traditional gender roles, and cultural stereotypes, was also responded to by fiction, mainly by female authors. Simultaneously with the emergence and development of Western feminism, the generation of the sixties in Georgia activated the idea of ​​the Europeanization of Georgian culture and the modernization of literary and social thought. One of the strategic directions of this process was the struggle for women's civil rights and support for their creative emancipation. One of the themes of the publicistic works of Ilia, Akaki, Giorgi Eristavi, Niko Nikoladze, Archil Jorjadze, and others was the importance of women's self-realization.

Based on the study of the journalistic letters, personal correspondence, autobiographical notes, and public activities of Georgian women authors active in the second half of the 19th century and the 10s of the 20th century, and at the same time, an analysis of Ekaterine Gabashvili's play "The Wing­breaker", we can conclude that Georgian women used all public platforms to voice their opinions. Although a large part of the problems raised by women writers (desacralization of women, misinterpretation of women's mental abi­lities and their psycho-emotional nature, unfair distribution of gender roles) remained unresolved, the struggle of women ended with concrete results in the late 10s of the 20th century. After the establishment of the First Democ­ratic Republic of Georgia, 17 women ran for office in the Constituent Assem­bly elections held in 1919 on behalf of various parties, of whom 5 – Minadora Ordzhonikidze-Toroshelidze (1879-1967), Elisabeth Nakashidze-Bolkvadze (1885-1937), Eleonora Ter-Parsegova-Makhvidze (1875-date of death unk­nown), Anna (Ola) Sologashvili (1882-1937), Kristine (Chito) Sharashidze (1887-1973) – were elected members. Two of them - Elisabeth Nakashidze-Bolkvadze and Anna (Ola) Sologashvili – were shot by the Soviet authorities in 1937 on charges of counter-revolutionary activities and "chauvinistic sen­timents". The actualization of gender themes by Georgian women simulta­neous­ly with the European feminist school (and in some cases even earlier) should be considered a most important event for the history of Georgian fe­minism, an organic part of which is the gender policy of the Soviet Union and its literary reflection.