The Intracultural Alien in Grigol Robakidse’s Novel Die Hüter des Grals

The article attempts to explore the semantic function of the intracultural alien in a novel of Georgian author Grigol Robakidse Die Hüter der Grals that was written 1937 during his exile in Germany. The novel is a reaction upon the sovietization of Georgia due to its performative character: It constitutes affective auto- and hetero-images with purpose of triggering certain attitudes and actions on the part of readership. By separating auto- and hetero-images based on ideological features instead of ethnical ones Robakidse represents Georgia as a part of the Western culture. At the same time the construction of the Georgian self-image addresses rather a European or German recipient and aims to make them familiar with this unknown country. Hence Die Hüter des Grals may be read as an exophonic project that should establish a connection between the Georgian and Western identities on the one hand and oppose them to Bolsheviks as their cultural other on the other.
Key Words: Robakidse, Grail, Alien, Intracultural, Exophony