FOR THE HISTORY OF ONE STORY BY MIKHEIL JAVAKHISHVILI

Abstract

A distinguished Georgian writer and a master of prose, Mikheil Javakhishvili (1880-1937), following “Jako’s Lodgers”, created another story, “A Cup”, which was somewhat forgotten by literary experts, being first published in “Mnatobi” magazine (#2-3) in 1928. Later it was included in the collection of the writer’s works. The main character of the story is Nodar Shubidze, a chemistry scholar and inventor, who left Georgia immediately after the arrival of the Bolsheviks, departing for Paris together with other emigrant Georgians. After eight years of thinking, evaluating, and analyzing political events, despite the fact that the newly-formed Soviet Union is threatened by the war on the part of Europe, he is determined to return there, to his homeland, but with something new, with a gift - a porcelain cup created as a result of the experience obtained in a tablecloth factory, selfless work, and experiments, which will create new opportunities for the chemical industry of the newly-established Soviet Georgia. “A Cup” distinctly demonstrated the clash of ideas that encompassed the nation in the process of introducing novelty. Here, the artistry is perfectly combined with the main goal of the writer to show this process, however, the end of the story still poses a question to the main character and the reader. The purpose of the article is to show these sides of M. Javakhishvili’s story and the political process that manifests the Georgian reality of the 1920s in a way that to some extent is implicit.