ავტობიოგრაფიული ჟანრის ნარატოლოგიური საფუძვლები (აკაკი წერეთლისა და მარიამ ჯამბაკურ-ორბელიანის ავტობიოგრაფიული ტექსტების მიხედვით)

The Dissertation research studies two factual autobiographies of the 19th century. The
contemporary theory of autobiography has been formed on the basis of the knowledge of
cognitive sciences (Eakin 2008, Löschnigg 2006). Prior to the given research, these attitudes had
not been applied to the study of Georgian autobiographical texts. When planning the research, it
was also taken into account that the narratological strategies of description of the character’s
consciousness were not fully integrated into the contemporary theory of autobiography.
The purpose of the research was to identify the cognitive basis of functioning of the factual
autobiography and find out how the biographical data of the autobiographer are semanticized in
the autobiographical narrative. Another significant purpose of the research was to implement
detailed analysis of the selected autobiographical texts.
Research methodology was worked out based on the synthesis of the contemporary theory of
autobiography and cognitive narratology. Selection and processing of the textual data were based
on the cognitive grounds of recollection, as well as the importance of emotion for the functioning
of consciousness. Based on cognitive narratology, the author defined the type of textual data that
would be relevant for research purposes.
As a result of the research, it was proved that an inalienable part of factual autobiography is fiction;
the biographical data given in the text are organized based on the homeostatic needs of the
narrator autobiographer; the experiencing autobiographer’s experience, is described in the text
based on continuity and coherence. The study of Akaki Tsereteli’s My Adventure has made it
possible to identify the dynamics of formation of the experience of the experiencing
autobiographer. Research has proved that observation of the emotion of the experiencing
autobiographer is a precondition for the study of formation of the above-mentioned experience.
Georgian factual autobiography of the 19th century hardly ever describes the verbal thoughts of
the experiencing autobiographer. The analysis of Mariam Jambakur-Orbeliani’s biography has
also proved that creation of the factual autobiography is conditioned by the homeostatic needs of the narrator autobiographer. For Mariam, who was old-aged at the time of writing, her written
autobiography fulfilled the function of a cognitive crutch.
The research outcomes are of great theoretical value because, within the framework of the given
research, the contemporary theory of autobiography was enhanced based on narratological
categories worked out for the study of character’s consciousness. This forms substantial grounds
for the study of factual autobiography. Research outcomes are of practical value as well: they form
significant methodological basis for the study of the vast corpus of autobiographies written in the
Georgian language.