Unlike in most world literatures, love is not a major theme of modern Georgian literature considered as a whole. As is to be expected, however, there are canonical texts which deal primarily with the theme of love. These texts mainly date to the premodern period (pre-eighteenth century) of Georgian literature, when it was still more under the influence of Eastern literature models than Russian and European ones. Among such texts, pride of place must be given to Shota Rustaveli's Vepqistaosani (ca. 1200). This text is said by some (including Shota himself, in his prologue t…