ანტონ ჩეხოვის ბოლო პიესის ქართული თარგმანები
Abstract
Starting from the second half of the 19th century Georgian intellectual society faced new challenges; more and more increasingly was being discussed the possibility to see as many foreign literary works in Georgian language, as possible; the interest was so high that definition of any translation principles was senseless, however, the important circumstance must be emphasized that the necessity for defining translation principles started being discussed actively in the Georgian scientific discourse right from that period. From 1900s, Georgian theatre practitioners faced the necessity for denying remaking and having quality translations; furthermore, attention started being paid to good translations and for the cause the Tbilisi Drama Society even introduced a financial prize for best translations.
At the moment, our matter of interest are Georgian translations of Anton Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard and their impact at Georgian translation and theatrical societies. It is noteworthy that first Georgian translation followed immediately after the play was created; author was Sopio Tsitsishvili (1905); in 1909, Ivane Barveli madethe remake from Russian and titled it Salkhino (The Feast). As for the translation by the prose writer, playwright and theatre director Shalva Dadiani, it was published in 1954 by the Publishing House Khelovneba (Art). In 1962 came out the third volume of Anton Chekhov’s literary works, which includes Dadiani’s translation of the Cherry Orchard, although, study of the material makes us believe that Dadiani did not consider Sopio Tsitsishvili’s translation. In 1982, Soviet Art Magazine published another translation of Cherry Orchard by Mikheil Kvlividze; this was the translation included in the almanac of Anton Chekhov’s plays published by the Union of Georgian Theatrical Workers (1990). We assume that Mikheil Kvlividze used the same text (20-volume publication – 1944-1951), which was used by Shalva Dadiani. As for Manana Antadze’s translation, it was specially done for the 2004 theatrical performance by the Theatre of Cinema Actors; it was later published by the Publishing House Centaur in 2014.
The study concludes that all four translations are highly specific; it is noteworthy that all the texts are intended for the theatrical stage; the topicality of the issue is reasoned by the circumstance that there has been no discussion in scientific discourse of the pluses and minuses of those translations. However, it is clear that Anton Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard is among those popular literary creations, which have established special place in Georgian translation and theatrical spaces.
