An international conference Literary Translation – A Meeting Place for Nations and Literatures was opened at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) on September 18. TSU Rector, Academician Vladimer Papava, Georgian and foreign experts, TSU academic staff and students attended the event dedicated to the 100th anniversary of a translator, poet and theoretician of literary translation, Givi Gachechiladze.
TSU Rector Vladimer Papava said that “Professor Givi Gachechiladze has actually laid the foundation to the school of translation, which is so important for our university and for Georgian culture, as a whole. He has made a lot of excellent translations thus promoting further enrichment of Georgian culture. He has published a lot of books, including textbooks, which are used by students even today.”
“In Georgia, literary translation played a very important role in the development of our culture long ago. Translation was a good means for improving contracts between people not only in Georgia, but everywhere; it promoted cultural diffusion. Literary translation has a lot of peculiarities and it also has a theory and this theory was just developed by Givi Gachechiladze. The today’s conference is also attended by foreigners, who expressed their interest towards this event and I think that this conference will be successful and will further promote the development and dissemination of Georgian culture,” Georgian Ambassador to Great Britain, TSU Professor Revaz Gachechiladze said.
Georgian and foreign scientists addressed the conference on socio-cultural, ethno-linguistic and psycho-linguistic aspects of translation; intercultural communication and dialogue of cultures; problem of equivalence in translation and bilingual lexicography; literary translation in modern world and prospects of its development; tradition and theory of translation, etc.
On the sideline of the event a photo exhibition will be organized at the TSU Museum, where photos depicting Givi Gachechiladze’s life, his documents, manuscripts, translations, memorabilia will be displayed. An anniversary event will be held at the TSU Conference Hall, where a film Shelter – Poetic Translation (author Nino Kakulia) dedicated to Givi Gachechiladze’s 100th anniversary will be shown.
Givi Gachechiladze’s life involved both scientific-pedagogical activities and translation activities. At different times he had been TSU Professor; Head of the Department of English Philology; Head of the Literary Translation Division at the Soviet-old Union of Writers. He has translated Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays as well as works by British, American, Roman, French, German, Russian poets. His monograph “Issues of the Theory of Literary Translation” published in 1959 is also worth noting.
Givi Gachechiladze’s works were published in Russia and other foreign countries. His theory of literary translation has drawn huge interest of scientific world. Upon his initiative, a specialty of literary translation was introduced at the Tbilisi State University in 1960.
The conference will end on September 19.
