The Knight in the Panther’s Skin Marathon Reading at Frankfurt Book Fair

The program of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) at 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair was solemnly closed with The Knight in the Panther’s Skin marathon reading. The event is a joint project of TSU and Goethe University Frankfurt within the framework of which students of various nationalities read out the novel by Shota Rustaveli in 50 languages. It was the marathon’s demo version held at Goethe University Frankfurt in June 2018, where students of the two universities read out The Knight in the Panther’s Skin in various languages, including in German, English, Abkhaz, Japanese, Korean, Chechen, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Ossetian, Armenian and Azerbaijani languages. 

Rector of TSU, George Sharvashidze said that the marathon was very impressive. “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin has been translated in more than 50 languages and the world peoples are still delighted with the Rustaveli poetry, his philosophy and vision. Just it was the main message to be voiced at Frankfurt Book Fair: we are the representatives of greatest culture and have equal rights in any cultural area, including in our native European area,” Rector Sharvashidze said.

The project is valuable from both literary and scientific points of view. In the process of preparing for the marathon, the project’s scientific group worked on parallel text alignment. Fragments from the poem read out in 50 languages were simultaneously shown on the screen in German.   
Prof. Manana Tandashvili of Goethe University Frankfurt said that Frankfurt Book Fair was unimaginable without the poem by Shota Rustaveli. “It is not only literary reading. It is the collaboration between TSU and Goethe University Frankfurt at an academic level, because students of the both universities participated in The Knight in the Panther’s Skin marathon reading,” she said. Prof. Tandashvili also noted that under the Memorandum signed between TSU and Goethe University Frankfurt, implementation of the international student project “Parallel Corpus of The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” will begin from the next academic year.

Elvina Abdulayeva, TSU student, said that “I am from Abkhazia and therefore, presenting the Abkhaz language was especially important for me. My goal was to reach out to my peers in Abkhazia,” she noted.

The masterpiece of Georgian literature - The Knight in the Panther’s Skin by Shota Rustaveli was first translated in the 19th century by German writer, journalist and translator, Arthur Leist. The translation done in 1885-1887 with the assistance of Ilia Chavchavadze and Ivane Machabeli paved the way for the poem to reach European readers. Since then, a lot of translations have been done in over 50 languages.

The Knight in the Panther’s Skin marathon reading was dedicated to 100th anniversary of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.