Historical Types of Georgian Folklore

Abstract

The earliest records of Georgian folklore are made just two centuries ago, which does not allow us to restore the precise path it went trough from ancient times until today. However, the fact that next to the new texts in folklore are remained older patterns as well, gives us opportunity to identify the major historical stages, levels, and periods. Considering the types of traditionality of Georgian folklore, three periods might be outlined: 1) archaic 2) classical 3) postclassical.