Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 54 | 2018
Research Article | Homeland in the Poetry of Nik’oloz Baratašvili and Giacomo Leopardi
Homeland in the Poetry of Nik’oloz Baratašvili and Giacomo Leopardi
Abstract
In 1839, the 22-year-old Nik’oloz Baratašvili composed the long poem Bedi Kartlisa (The Fate of Georgia), in which he tackled one of the issues of modern Georgia: whether the choice made in 1783 by King Erek’le II to draw up a treaty of friendship with the Russian Empire had been beneficial for Kartl-K’axeti. In the course of the poem Baratašvili maintains a stiff attitude, never siding for or against the choice of Erek’le II. Much more instinctive and impetuous is the attitude of the 20-year-old Giacomo Leopardi, who, faced with Italy in chains, is overwhelmed by an individualistic romantic impulse. In his songs, he desires greatness for his homeland and the glory of ancient times when people ran to die for it, he states his aversion to foreign rule and his hopes for Italy’s resurrection.
Submitted: Jan. 16, 2018 | Accepted: April 4, 2018 | Published June 25, 2018 | Language: en
Keywords Italian literature • Nik’oloz Baratašvili • Georgian literature • Giacomo Leopardi
Copyright © 2018 Luigi Magarotto. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2018/01/003
