Akaki Tsereteli State University
Professor
Kutaisi/Georgia
Abstract
The issue of gender is relevant both to contemporary humanitarian sciences and to fiction. On the one hand, literature reflects the gendered structure of existing social reality; on the other hand, it actively participates in the formation and transformation of this reality by representing patriarchal or feminist ideologies through male and female characters within artistic narratives.
The perception of women varies across literary works of different historical periods. In both classical and later artistic texts, female characters are depicted as beautiful beloveds, mothers, and wives, as well as embodiments of a certain moral imperative, marked by motifs of sacrifice and idealization—representations that are, for the most part, grounded in patriarchal frameworks.
Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century—particularly at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—alongside the rise of the feminist movement and the growing emphasis on women’s emancipation, feminist discourse entered literary texts. This shift led to a re-evaluation of gender roles, an increased focus on portraying gender inequality, a deeper exploration of women’s inner worlds, and a critical foregrounding of the injustices embedded in patriarchal stereotypes. While Soviet ideology formally proclaimed equality between men and women, this did not imply an immediate transformation of entrenched patriarchal attitudes into more liberal perspectives.
In Georgian literature of the 1960s–1970s, amid various emerging literary trends, the representation of women underwent significant transformation. Alongside the traditional roles of mother and wife, female characters in prose texts of this period are distinguished by their intellectual and spiritual depth, their capacity for self-reflection, and their sense of inner resistance.
Revaz Inanishvili’s short story “Someone Is Late for the Bus” represents one of the most significant texts in terms of the artistic treatment of gender issues. At the same time, it encompasses multiple socio-cultural and gender-related dimensions characteristic of the Soviet period. The work is marked by psychological depth and a minimalist plot structure. Notably, the narrator is a woman (Elene), through whose perspective several characters are interpreted; her internal monologue constitutes the main narrative line. By depicting patriarchal clichés alongside the disintegration of established models, the author invites the reader to reflect on the necessity of overcoming gender stereotypes.
In the work of this master of short prose, the contemporary era is depicted through a variety of everyday hardships, traumatic memories, and characters of both fragile and resilient dispositions, yet always with an underlying faith in humanity. The spiritual loneliness of his characters is often rooted in an internal conflict with reality—a theme clearly exemplified in this text, which occupies a prominent place not only within Inanishvili’s literary legacy.
Keywords: gender, patriarchal stereotypes, representation, artistic narrative, short prose.