Vol. 16 (2023): XVI International Symposium Contemporary Issues of Literary Criticism Socialist Realism in Literature and Art
Criticism and Journalism of the Period of Socialist Realism

Does Snake Poison Work on Social Realism?

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  • Hayate Sotome
Hayate Sotome
Universiti of Tokyo
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62119/cils.16.2023.7579

Published 2023-12-11

Keywords

  • Sergi Danelia,
  • Vazha-Pshavela,
  • “The Snake Eater”

Abstract

In 1927, the critic and philosopher Sergi Danelia (1888–1963) published an essay titled “Vazha-Pshavela and the Georgian Nation.” In this essay, he adressed a question of why Mindia, the protagonist of the poem “The Snake Eater,” did not die at the very moment when he ate a piece of snake meat. Danelia insisted that the snake meat had been boiled, thereby weakening the effect of the poison. This paper disscusses the reason(s) behind his overly realistic interpretation of the poem, concidering the political-ideological circumstances and his attitude toward them.

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