Formation and development of Comparative studies in 20th century Georgia depended on the ideological atmosphere in the country since it was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1921 and, therefore, subordinated to Soviet ideology.

Comparative Literature, a university discipline as understood in the West, was not popularized in the curriculum of Soviet universities, including the Georgian universities. As much as Comparative Literature tended to expand the borders of literary research towards the literatures of non-Soviet and non-socialist countries, it was a risky prospect for Soviet research. Contrary to this notion was activated the term Literary Relations, widely used within Soviet and Socialist countries. The main difference between the Comparative Literature and Literary Relations was the lack of methodologies, which could bond Soviet literary studies with international one.

In the Post-soviet period enthusiastic efforts to fill this gap showed up: in the Post-soviet period the process of expanding the boundaries was followed by the process of deepening literary studies and leading Georgian universities were ready to implement Comparative Literature programs. However, the problem of a different kind was raised: the shortage of specialists and text-books. Therefore, universities faced a complex need, like – translating textbooks, creating syllabuses, training specialists, producing original research. But, despite difficulties the result was nevertheless successful: today Comparative Literature is part of the teaching and research process in major Georgian universities and Academic centers presented with various researches and initiatives.

The presentation will explore the topic, focusing on the past experience, current practices and future possibilities.

The presentation highlights the characteristics, perspectives, and challenges of creating Georgian literary corpora through two multilingual corpora: the European Literary Texts Collection (ELTeC) and the European Drama Corpus (DraCor). Additionally, the initial results of using digital analysis for Georgian literary corpora will be presented.

The electronic versions of the texts were obtained through retro-digitization, which involves scanning published books, extracting text using OCR technology, and text correction. The presentation will discuss the possibilities for automating this process for the digitization of Georgian literature.

The presentation will also address the limitations that small literatures face in comparison to major European literatures. To this end, the criteria for selecting texts in the European Literary Collection will be discussed in detail, and it will be clarified which criteria Georgian literature does not meet.

Before presenting the preliminary results of the digital analysis of Georgian literature, the significance of corpus analysis conducted through the distant reading method for literary studies will be briefly discussed.

The presentation will introduce two variants of digital analysis for Georgian literary corpora: stylometric analysis and topic modeling.

This paper investigates the quantitative analysis of a key aspect of the poetics of the eminent medieval Georgian Romance The Knight in the Panther's Skin of Rustaveli—specifically, the semantics of color. The study treats color as a linguistic entity, examining its application through the lens of linguistic and literary theoretical frameworks.

While this topic has been explored qualitatively within Georgian scholarly literature, particularly in the field of Rustvelology, the objective of this quantitative study is to simplify the complex semantic representation of color in The Knight in the Panther’s Skin through modeling. Additionally, the collection and visualization of quantitative data will facilitate the identification of patterns and interrelations in the symbolic significance of color. The research aims to address the following central question: What are the chronological,symbolic, theoretical, and linguistic foundations of color's role within the poetics of The Knight in the Panther’s Skin?

The primary methodological approach of the study will involve quantitative and statistical analysis. Data collection will be conducted via the digital annotation platform Catma, and the quantitative data will be interpreted through various diagrams.

This research examines the Georgian-French literary and cultural relationship during the Soviet period, with a focus on developing archival methodologies and ensuring accessibility through digital platforms. Extensive archival work has already identified and cataloged French plays translated into Georgian, as well as personal letters and unpublished manuscripts from the 17th century to the early 20th century. The nature of these materials required a specific approach to cataloging, resulting in their systematic organization into a comprehensive database, which was subsequently published in book form and serves as a foundational resource.

The current project expands this scope to explore translations, adaptations, and personal correspondence from the Soviet era, during which the nature of cultural exchanges was reshaped by political and ideological constraints. This shift necessitates a revised approach to cataloging and categorization to reflect the altered forms of Georgian-French interactions. Newly discovered archival materials—such as unpublished translations, letters, and documents from Soviet censorship committees—will be collected, analyzed, and incorporated into an expanded digital repository and electronic book.

This paper will analyze the methodologies used to categorize these unique archival materials, including translated plays, correspondence, and censored texts, while addressing challenges in making them accessible to a broader audience. By leveraging digital tools and creating an accessible platform, the project aims to preserve these cultural artifacts and highlight the evolving relationship between Georgian and French literature within the broader framework of European intellectual history.

The early version of the Life of Saint Nino has been selected for this research. The text preserves ancient elements (dating from the mid-4th century) and is based on the narrative of Saint Nino herself, as well as the high-status women who were her companions. The text contains dozens of symbolic-allegorical names, most of which refer to Saint Nino, along with references to Christ and the Virgin Mary.

The goal of this study is to analyze these names within the historical and cultural context of the Saint’s life, explore the reasons for their use by the narrators, and highlight the qualities of the Saint that they emphasize. References to the Virgin Mary and Christ will also be examined to understand their significance. This version of the Life of Saint Nino can be considered one of the earliest examples of "women's literature" in Christian hagiographical texts. In this context, analyzing the names used in the narrative by female authors offers an interesting perspective on the study.

To make the results more systematic and visible, we will use the CATMA platform. After marking the symbolic names, we will generate a Wordlist, identify keywords, and categorize the names for analysis based on the teachings of well-known ecclesiastical writers on divine names, Christian perfection, and other theological issues (such as Dionysius the Areopagite, Gregory of Nyssa, and others).

Finally, the CATMA Visualizer will allow us to visually present the results of the analysis, observe the frequency and hierarchical distribution of specific names in the text, and draw conclusions. By decoding the names using critical discourse and comparative methods, we can fully reconstruct the hermeneutics of the symbolic-allegorical names presented in the text and explore the scope of their use.

Shota Rustaveli’s The Knight in the Panther’s Skin alternates between two meters: low shairi (3/5/3/5) and high shairi (4/4/4/4). Scholars have noted that transitions between these meters serve to clarify or reinforce ideas, particularly in lyrical sections such as Nestan-Darejan’s letters to Tariel. This study employs CATMA (Computer Assisted Text Markup and Analysis) and ViS-À-ViS to analyze meter, rhyme, and alliteration, identifying structural and stylistic patterns in these sections.

We first annotate Nestan-Darejan’s letter to Tariel upon his return from Khataeti, in which she requests a battle trophy—a veil. The first and fourth stanzas use low shairi, while the second and third employ high shairi, introducing a rare homonymic rhyme scheme (ushenosa-ushenosa-ushenosa-ushenosa, arideno-arideno-arideno-arideno), not found elsewhere in the poem. Alliteration analysis reveals dominant consonants (sh, n, s in one stanza; r, d, n in the other), with n—the initial letter of Nestan-Darejan’s name—common to both. ViS-À-ViS’ visualization highlights the structural relationships between these phonetic elements.

Further analysis of low shairi rhyme units (e.g., mtenisa – shenisa – tskhenisa – denisa) and verb-based rhymes (gshvenodes – mshvenodes – gagaghvelondes – ar dagtenodes) reveals a shift in poetic focus. While shenisa refers to Tariel, the homonymic rhyme in high shairi (ushenosa) redirects attention to Nestan-Darejan. A key finding is that the over-dactylic, five-syllable rhyme in low shairi (ts'remlta denisa – "the flow of tears") appears to inspire the homonymic rhyme in high shairi (ar ideno – arideno), linking the cessation of tears to the offering of the veil.

Expanding the study, we analyze Nestan-Darejan’s second letter from the fortress of Kajeti (stanzas 1480–1496). This 16-stanza letter begins with two in low shairi. Given its slower rhythm, we hypothesize a lower verb density compared to high shairi. Using ViS-À-ViS, we measure the proportion of verbs, nouns, and adjectives, finding verb-based rhymes indicative of movement and cognitive intensity—key to understanding the protagonist’s psychological state. Additionally, one-syllable words in low shairi stanzas slow the narrative tempo, reinforcing rhythmic contrasts.

The second letter concludes with a low shairi stanza where shenisa and denisa reappear in sheneulisa ridisa ("the veil that once belonged to you"), establishing continuity between the letters. This recurrence underscores the poem’s thematic interplay between possession and absence. By visualizing these patterns, we uncover systematic repetitions of verbs and epithets across the two texts, deepening our understanding of Rustaveli’s versification and its expressive function.