საქართველო აზერბაიჯანულ კულტურულ სივრცეში

ანოტაცია

Georgians and Azerbaijanis have been living side by side in the South Caucasus since ancient times. Despite the fact that Georgia is an ancient Orthodox country, and Azerbaijan is a part of Islamic civilization, ethnic and religious differences have never become the cause of wars caused by mutual hatred. Not only in ancient times, but also in the following centuries, our ancestors considered Azerbaijani-Georgian cultural relations as spiritual kinship. The text of Shota Rustveli's poem confirms this cultural closeness: in the intertextual space of "The Knight in the Panther’s Skin" we not only hear the characters of "Leyli and Majnun" (1188) by Nizami Ganjavi, but also the allusions of the poem's episodes: (1327.4). Nizami's heroes are also mentioned in "Tamariani" by Chakhrukhadze (1170-1212). The heroes of Nizami never evoked the feeling of "stranger" in Georgian readers: Georgia was not a "stranger" country for Azerbaijani poets (Khaqani Shirvani, Falaki Shirvani, Mola Vali Vidadi, Mola Panah Vagif itc.)

In the 19th century the Russian Empire conquers the North Caucasus; the kingdoms and khanates of the South Caucasus gradually lose their independence. In the 40s of XIX century Tbilisi (Tiflis) became the political-administrative, socio-economic and cultural center of the Caucasus. Almost all prominent figures of Transcaucasia lived and worked in Tiflis (Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Abasquli Agha Bakikhanov, Ismail Bey Gutgashinli and many others. Famous Azerbaijani writers Nariman Narimanov Abdullah Shaygi Talibzade and others were born here. As a result, different, the so-called "Literary space of Tiflis" was established. The work of Azerbaijani writers in the literary space of Tiflis had a great impact on the development of Azerbaijani writing and contributed to its Europeanization.

Literary enlightenment that began at the turn of the 19th-20th cen­turies was of special importance for the Azerbaijani literary process, in the development of which the literary environment of Tiflis played a part. In the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Tiflis was one of the important centers of Azerbaijani culture. Narimanov's, Akhverdiyev's, Vezirov's and others' plays were staged, but the most important contribution to the development of Azerbaijani drama belongs to Mirza Fatali Akhundov plays. If in the 19th century Mirza Fatali Akhundov appears as a prominent figure in the Azerbaijani literary space of Tiflis, at the beginning of the 20th century it is already a prose writer, publisher of the magazine "Molla Nas­raddin" Jalil Mammadkulizade (in the years 1906-1914 the famous Azerba­ijani satirical magazine "Molla Nasraddin" was printed in Tiflis). Azerbaijani literary works were often published in Georgian newspapers.

During the Soviet period, the Georgian-Azerbaijani literary lifestyle changed: Tbilisi lost the function of the Transcaucasian administrative center and the Azerbaijani cultural center, but the leading ideas of the soci­alist ideology of "friendship of peoples" and the creation of a new identity of the "Soviet people" promoted cultural relations and personal contacts. At the end of the 20th century the development process of Georgian-Azerbaijani literary relations slowed down, but later it was not only restored, but under­went qualitative changes, which corresponded to the ongoing democratic reforms in public life.