Vol. 17 (2024): Contemporary Issues of Literary Criticism Literatures of Small Countries and Challenges of the Modern Global World
International Literary Standard and Modern Georgian Poetry

War Discourse and Identity Search in Leo Vardiashvili's Novel "Hard by a Great Forest"

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  • Lili Metreveli,
  • Tatia Oboladze
Lili Metreveli
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University; Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature
Tatia Oboladze
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University; Shota Rustaveli Institute of Georgian Literature
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62119/cils.17.2024.8846

Published 2024-12-20

Keywords

  • Post-war trauma,
  • Identity and belonging,
  • Collective and individual memory,
  • Displacement and exile,
  • Georgian literature

Abstract

Leo Vardiashvili’s debut novel, Hard by a Great Forest (2024), explores the deep scars left by Georgia’s recent wars, including the Tbilisi Civil War, the Abkhazia War, and the August War. Blending genres and using an experimental narrative style, the novel follows characters who face the pain of loss, displacement, and the search for belonging. Through their struggles, Vardiashvili reflects on how both individuals and societies cope with trauma – whether by suppressing memories, denying the past, or finding symbolic ways to heal. The novel offers a poignant portrayal of the lasting human cost of war and the universal need for identity and home.

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