Gruzja jako radziecka Italia w eseistyce Piotra Wajla

Abstract

The article deals with the myth of Georgia in the work of the Russian essayist Pyotr Vail (Петр Вайль) (1949–2009). This myth is constructed on similar images that make up the myth of Italy in European literature. In the article, Vail’s descriptions of Georgia were confronted with the model of the South presented as locus amoenus, and with Italy’s “black myth” (images of death, rotting, decay, etc.). The analysis shows that in the works of the Russian essayist we deal (analogically to the Italian theme) with both: a “positive” and “black” myth of Georgia (expressed through the theme of death and the problem of dictatorship).