მხატვრული თარგმანი საქართველოში: XX საუკუნის 20-იანი წლები

Abstract

The history of the Georgian literary translation of the 1920s is an extremely interesting and signifi cant period. “Translations of the early years after the establishment of Soviet power in Georgia, in the majority of cases, they are distinguished by the perfection and stylistic integrity. The initial unclear and confusing search for the form gradually refi nes and fi nds its way in the hands of a few translators who are typical men of letters in this period” (Gachechiladze, 2014:133). The periodical “A Chronicle of the Book” is a bibliographic reference of the books and printed products published throughout the country, off ering the reader a list of books published in various fi elds which cover scientifi c, political-economic and agitational literature, textbooks and pedagogical literature, popular scientifi c, reference literature, children’s literature. The list of periodicals is also diverse. In the 1920s, the publishing activities were also in full swing and occupied a leading position in the cultural reconstruction of the socialist state. In this respect, Georgia enjoyed outstanding authority among the Soviet republics. Georgia was distinguished by a high level of translation and also by a wide variety of publishing activities. Among the operating publishing houses of that period, they are: Zakkniga, Sakhelgami, Sakhkinmretsvis Stamba, Tbilisi State Publishing House and Publishing House of Trade Unions also worked fruitfully. The books were published in the printing houses “Red Cross of Georgia” and “Polygraftrest”. For clarity, we can mention the 4th number of the bibliographic reference from 1926. Of the books translated in the same year, the following editions are noteworthy: Voynich’s “The Gadfl y” (translated by S. Kldiashvili), “Poems” by S. Yesenin (translated by M. Pataridze), George Gross and Weiland Herzfelde’s “Art is in Danger” (translated by V. Gaprindashvili), Joseph Bedier’s “Tristan and Iseult” (translated by G. Kikodze), Rabindranath Tagore’s “The Guard of Heritage” (translated by S. Tavartkiladze), Anton Chekhov’s “Novels” (translated by S. Barnov). Maxim Gorky’s “Short Stories” (translated by N. Khutsishvili). In the same year, W. Whitman’s “Selected Poems” (translated by Konstantine Gansakhurdia) and V. Shklovsky’s “A Sentimental Journey” (translated by Vakhtang Kotetishvili). Vakhtang Kotetishvili in his work “The History of Georgian Literature from the 19th Century to the Present” wrote: “It may seem strange to the reader that we have included a translator in the history of literature, but this is totally unjustifi ed. Translation is not just a simple mechanical transfer. A good translation is the same as creativity, because the selection of lexical material requires communication with the author and knowledge of the poetic word to select lexical material”(Kotetishvili 1925: 240). Konstantine Gamsakhurdia was one of the leaders of the Literary Union “Academic Association”. Vakhtang Kotetishvili was active in the same union. In the literary magazines “Kavkasioni“ and “Axali Kavkasioni”, published by the “Academic Association”, special attention was paid to translation. New specimens of literary translation were published on a regular basis. It should be certainly noted that the Main Administration for Literary and Publishing Aff airs (Glavlit) founded in 1922 actively worked during this period and strictly controlled any printed publications.