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Shakespeare 400 Conference in Tbilisi - the translator's challenge, invented words, and gerontology



The first day of the Shakespeare 400 Conference at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, in conjunction with the Rustaveli National Theatre, commenced today – 22 September 2016 – to commemorate 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare. Professor Manana Gelashvili, Head of the Centre for Shakespeare Studies, opened the conference.

Georgian translator Maya Kiasashvili – translator of Georgian books into English, such as Flight from the USSR by Dato Turashvili (2008), The Literature Express by Lasha Bugadze (2012) and The Brueghel Moon by Tamaz Childze (2015) was the first speaker. Her presentation was called ‘Shakespeare Lives On’ focussing on the translator's challenge, but also the continuing need for modern translations.



The first translation of Shakespeare’s works into Georgian was in 1841 – a translation from French into Georgian. Typically tragedies, she said, were translated first. She commented on the challenges in the interpretation of Shakespeare’s works from double translations – such as English into French, German or Russian, and then French, German or Russian into Georgian.

Translation difficulties were further highlighted since Shakespeare often invented his own words. Hence translators were faced with words that they had not heard or seen before. Shakespeare invented over 1,700 words by changing nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, connecting words, adding prefxes or suffixes, borrowing from the French or other languages, or devising completely original words.

Examples of words that Shakespeare (1564-1616) invented include: accessible, addiction, birthplace, champion, fashionable, grovel, madcap, marketable, olympian, and unreal.

With Tamar Zhghenti, I presented the paper, Shakespeare and Gerontology – When the age is in, the wit is out. It focused on ageing and how Shakespeare’s ‘aged’ characters were depicted – whether disparagingly or not. Many of Shakespeare’s characters were historical figures, such as kings, queens, dukes and duchesses, so the paper looked at Shakespeare’s interpretation of their age compared with their real age. This paper will be uploaded to my web page within the next week.

Friday’s sessions will cover the humanities, with comparisons of Shakespeare’s plays with the literary works of authors who were inspired by Shakespeare. The final session will be held at the Rustaveli National Theatre, with presentations and the showing of a documentary film by David Maziashvili about Robert Sturua’s version of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar.











MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).


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