უსათაურო ლექსთა ბედისწერა (ანა კალანდაძის ლექსთამეტყველება)
Authors: ელაშვილი ქეთევან 
Published: December 2024

In the realm of artistic thought, giving titles to texts is of paramount significance, influencing how the reader comprehends and engages with a work. Titles have the power to prolong the en­du­ring essence of a book, so­metimes surpassing even the promi­nen­ce of the author. As author George Simenon astutely observed, "Un­fortunately, the title itself often becomes the gateway to inter­pre­ting the work." Titles such as "Red and Black" or "War and Pea­ce" establish a specific atmosphere and anticipation for the reader.
Authors who allow readers to name and shape the main characters, such as in "David Copperfield" or "Robinson Crusoe," show a deep level of res­pect for their audience. A title not only ser­ves to encapsulate the essence of the work but also directs the reader's focus towards specific themes or messages within the narra­tive, which would otherwise remain unspoken in the absence of a title.
That is why unentitled masterpieces evoke a distinct "literary mood" that demands a unique poetic sensibility and shapes their own fate. The absence of a title, whether indicated by ellipses or dashes, primarily evokes a sense of boundless creativity or creative energies bursting forth seemingly uninhibited. Untitled poems shouldn't necessarily be linked solely to the author's imagination or associative processes. Instead, they represent a form that allows the reader, when confronted with the work, to delve into its depths without any preconceived notions or guidance from a title. It grants the reader the freedom to interpret and engage with the piece on a more personal and profound level. The roots of untitled works can be traced back to folklore, particularly in the form of succinct expressions like two-line (less frequently three – or four-line) poems known as "Folk aphorisms." These minimalist figurative expressions serve as the foundational "poetic steps" leading to the creation of intricate folk masterpieces. Consequently, the themes encapsulated within these concise poems, prevalent in oral poetry, manifest a wide range of diversity and depth. Distinct "artistic expr­essions" emerge in Georgian poetry, where the anonymity of poems serves as a signature style for certain authors. Focusing on Ana Kalan­dadze's poetry, it's noteworthy that the anonymity within her po­ems sparked my interest in this unconventional exploration. Years later, this initial curiosity culminated in an interpretation of the author's associative vision, notably captured in a piece titled "The Serpent Prays."
In the context of Ana Kalandadze's work, being untitled can be seen as a deliberate artistic choice that allows for a unique un­folding of poetic exp­ression. This approach serves as a "poetic ma­neu­ver" to transcend the cons­traints of reality and cultivate a sense of "literary mysticism" within her po­etry. By doing so, Kalandadze managed to shield numerous enigmatic poems from the pressures of conformity, a sentiment I encountered in Ana Kalan­dadze's own prose reflections.
That's why she established a sort of "code" of untitled works in Geor­gian poetry, leading to an extensive list of such poems (in the poetry of Anna Kalandadze, specifically in the 2004 edition, there are nearly three hundred untitled poems). This is why it seems fitting to focus on just one chapter – "Shine, unattainable..." – where the essence of the poetry transcends mere titles. It is in this chapter that the profound depth of the poetry exists beyond names, embodying a poetic understanding of sacred origins.
For Ana Kalandadze, this kind of existence is equivalent to living with an "empty soul" and that's why in poetic manifestation author still strives to "erect, find the temple of the soul", which is "sky-high" and full of "sen­sations" ("Behold, the temple...", 1973, p. . 335), where there is only heaven and the immense movement of the soul... this is a poetic speech following in the footsteps of faith ("Who owns the icon...", 1973, p. 336), it is the "house of baptism" towards which the eternal strives the soul is pure and sensitive.
Anna Kalandadze considered the untitled poems to be such a shelter. After all, he created a completely free artistic space behind anonymity, whe­re words are born with unconditional knowledge or bottomless access. At the same time, the untitled work here is a kind of puzzle and the "path of life" of the poem.
Furthermore, through this distinctive artistic signature, the poetess's poetic journey can be interpreted in a divergent light, highli­ghting the do­mi­nance of emotions intertwined with the profound silence of enigmas...