1) Vine and Wine - Concepts Expressing the Georgian Mentality (Linguistic research)
Interdisciplinary Project (Involving Academic Staff of Philology and Agrarian Fields) (2023 -2024)
Professor Nunu Geldiashvili - Project Scientific Director and Researcher Linguist
Ø The goal of the project was to explore the concepts of vine and wine as an expression of the Georgian mentality based on linguistic and cultural research. It aimed to define and present their role in the development of Georgian language and culture by examining the relationship between philology and agriculture. The project included detection, classification, structural-semantic analysis, and functional study of linguistic elements associated with vines and wine, thereby describing the Georgian linguistic and cultural landscape.
Ø The necessity of this research lies particularly in its interdisciplinary and complex nature. By integrating humanities and agricultural sciences, studying the interconnectedness of these issues enables specialists to develop a comprehensive understanding of the unique and compelling aspects at play. This approach fosters connections across different disciplines and contributes significantly to the advancement and development of both philology and agricultural fields.
Ø The approach is somewhat innovative, and we believe it will generate considerable interest, potentially becoming a decisive factor in shaping and conducting future interdisciplinary studies, particularly those involving linguistic and cultural dimensions.
2) Literary and Linguistic Features of Georgian Brief Fictional Prose Narrative
Project Scientific Director – Professor Nino Kotchloshvili
In the 20th century multy-thematic and multy-genre Georgian literature, brief fictional prose acquired a special vitality. Novella, essay, etude, sketch, miniature, sketch, sketch have become priorities.
The origin of the Georgian short prose of this period is supported by the tradition and experience of national writing, as well as by the changes and inquiries in the literature of the foreign countries.
The purpose of our research was to study and analyze the literary and linguistic features of the XXI century Georgian brief fictional prose narrative.
Based on the set goals, the research field covered a wide range of topics. We generally studied the works of Shio Aragvispireli, Niko Lortkifanidze, Grigol Robakidze, Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Ioseb Grishashvili, Davit Turdospireli, Revaz Inanishvili, Otia Ioseliani, and highlighted the important literary and linguistic features that helped us to outline the common principal features of brief fictional prose narrative and create the final picture.
Davit Turdospireli’s works, which has not been widely and deeply studied until now, are noteworthy, as the author made a certain contribution to the progress and development of the 20th century Georgian brief fictional prose narrative.
Davit Turdospireli's miniature works bear all the characteristics of short prose, which are expressed by faint, inconspicuous epic plot built on mood, intense expression, dialogue structure, or the use of narrated material.
Davit Turdospireli's literary heritage is distinguished by the abundance of children’s literature, however, the reader's attention is attracted by the interesting patterns of brief ficti0onal prose narrative depicting contemporary epochal events of the writer, as well as the general human problems. From this point of view, the archive of the writer preserved in Giorgi Leonidze State Museum of Georgian Literature contains numerous interesting materials, most of which are still unpublished and, therefore, is alien for the scientific society.
During the research, we expressed our interest and analyzed the following issues: plot structure and form of dialogue in brief fictional prose narrative; lyrism in small prose; Davit Turdospireli's subtext of miniatures; folklore elements in brief prose narrative; the main themes of Georgian short prose texts and the structural-semantic aspects of titles; peculiarities of word formation (models of composites); structure of synonyms and emotional discourses; opportunities to create a positive and negative emotional field; issues related to phraseology ("phraseological nests"); features related to text parameters; sentence types and the main characteristics of word order; issues of sentence modality and linguistic expression of brief prose texts; basic possibilities for creating an artistic effect.
We think that the topics analyzed in the monograph will be of interest to the readers, specialists of the field and, undoubtedly, will contribute to the further, even more thorough study of Georgian brief fictional prose narrative. The observation made it clear that there are far more other interesting features to be investigated in the short prose texts, which was impossible to be covered during the study.
The results of the research will practically be useful for the history of Georgian literature, linguistics, and the theory of literature. Accordingly, they will be actively used in the process of in-depth study and research of Georgian philology.
3) Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Kakheti – Udi People
Scientific Director of the Project: Doctor of History, Professor Tengiz Simashvili
During the project implementation period a comprehensive study was conducted regarding the history, cultural traditions, folklore, customs, and women's needs, as well as other aspects of the Udi people who migrated to the village of Zinobiani (formerly the village Oktomberi), Kvareli municipality in the 1920s. The findings of this study have been published in a book.
The project was ongoing for 11 months in 2023.
