The Boulevard Chronicle of Kutaisi Boulevard of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

"BOULEVARD" by Elguja Tavberidze is a boulevard chronicle of the 19th century Kutaisi Boulevard, it is a literary work reflecting the public life of the 19th century, and its artistic peculiarity (in terms of style) is that the writer showed us the spirit of the entire era by almost documenting the history of one boulevard and its existence. It seems that Elguja Tavberidze is describing only documentary footage, but in fact, in this description, Giorgi Tsereteli expresses his heartache. The main reason for the heartache is the quenching of the patriotic spirit of the university-graduate youth, the longing for officialdom and after the so-called struggle of "Fathers and Sons", an appearance on the public arena of the new youth is required to open the eyes to the society.
These chronicles have kept as memories the wit of the 19th century classics, the methods of teaching in the gymnasium, the spirit of the police and, most importantly, the style of the boulevard. This is the garden in which rank inequality does not exist, here everyone is equal to each other and right here the marriage of both the men and women, amount of the dowry are decided as well as selection of the host for that day dinner, along with bigger issues - for example, the fate of the Kutaisi elections and important world issue, both the lies and rumors are invented here, even duels are held here, etc.
Elguja Tavberidze tells us the history of the boulevard in detail, uses the records of historians, journalism, archival materials, but never turns the narrative into providing dry information. His comments, based on the principle of ``how would it have been really (when contradictory facts collide)'', are highly artistic. The knowledge of historical facts is combined with them, the spirit of the era is captured, the ability of scientific argumentation is visible, and the style of the author is highly sophisticated, in which artistry is not lost at any moment. The author discusses the name of the garden - the French word for boulevard, for which the people of Kutaisi used the word "Gulvardi" (heart of roses). "This folk name was so popular that it even reached the last decades."
There are many "romantic episodes" included in the work, one of which is outstanding - the romance between Prince Konstantine Petrovich Oldenburg, the colonel of the grenadier regiment, and his already married Agrafina Japaridze. These romantic episodes are, of course, connected to the boulevard.
Elguja Tavberidze introduces us to many important people of our country, presents their thoughts, relationships, and attitudes, which we cannot even list in a brief overview. The work is a chronicle of the entire nineteenth century, it is large-scale, and that makes it significant. The writer's words are rich in logical, scientific argumentation along with artistry. The words characteristic of the western dialect naturally makes it clear that the events typical of the whole of Georgia in the 19th century are taking place in the west of our country, in Kutaisi, the "Gulwardi" of Georgia.