Georgian Translations of "Cinna" by Pierre Corneille

Abstract

Georgian reader got acquainted with the work of Pierre Corneille in the second half of the nineteenth century. Georgian translators were especially interested in P. Corneille's tragedy  ,,Cinna’’.  Currently, there are three Georgian translations of ,,Cinna’’.  The first one belongs to Alexander Tchavtchavadze (1844),  second - to Nino Tarishvili (1941-1942), and the third -  to Giorgi Salukvadze (1961). Al. Tchavtchavadze 's translation has come to us  in its complete form. The translator either extends or reduces the dialogues or monologues of the actors by one or two verses in case of need. That is why, there are totally 1766 verses instead of original 1780  in the translation. The mentioned work is made in rhyming verse - we find both ordinary and beautifully designed poetry, although mostly the patterns are poor. It is not hard for Alexander Tchavtchavadze to codify ,formulate and analyze the text of ,,Cinna", it is easy for him to decode the phrase and make the necessary paraphrase and changes. Al. Tchavtchavadze successfully adapted the sixteen-syllable Georgian verse to the Alexandrian verse of the original, and at the same time ensured the creation of adequate artistic forms of ,,Cinna" in translation.  It is undoubtable ,that Al. Tchavchavadze picked the text of ,,Cinna" thanks to his own literary taste and intuition and also due to socio-political interests – through this translation he draws an allusive parallel with the 1832 conspiracy of the Georgian nobility, whose 145 participants were first executed by Nicholas I, known for his cruelty. He did not decide, but soon, thanks to his own natural ,,kindness", he forgave all the conspirators.  Chronologically, the second Georgian translation of "Cinna" was made in 1941-1942 by the famous poet Nino Tarishvili. At present the mentioned translation cannot be found  in the archive of Nino Tarishvili preserved in Giorgi  Leonidze State Museum of Literature.  In the time period of my friendship with Ms. Tarishvili, I read the manuscript of the translation of ,,Cinna" at her residence and now, without any special research, I can say that the text of "Cinna" is completely translated from French in fourteen-syllable rhymed verse and is distinguished by the depth and charm of Nino Tarishvili's poetic thinking. The third translation of ,,Cinna" belongs to the poet Giorgi Salukvadze, who was able to preserve the form and content of the origin in his translation. Despite some shortcomings of the work, G. Salukvadze vividly describes the artistic portraits of the main characters, because of this, the Georgian translation of ,,Cinna" is an artistically matured work.  The fact that three famous Georgian poets were interested in the translation of Pierre Corneille's "Cinna" is very significant for the history of Georgian-French literary relations. We hope that in the future Georgian poets will return to the translation of "Cinna" and give us better and improved texts