『호랑이 가죽을 두른 용사』 러시아어 번역과 스탈린

Abstract

<Knight in the Panther’s skin> written by Shota Rustaveli between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century is considered not only as a glorious achievement of Georgian literature, but also one of the best middle age epics in world literature. Since Georgia was incorporated by Imperial Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, several attempts were made to translate this classic work to Russian, even in fragments. In 1933 a full Russian translation by poet Konstantin Balmont was published in Paris, and this work was also published in Russia in 1937 on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of Shota Rustaveli. In the same year several translations such as by Tsagareli and by Petrenko were also published in Russia. However, many scholars consider Shalva Nutsubidze’s translation as the best and, at the same time, the most close to the original work. The fact that the work of this translation was made possible by Stalin’s active involvement and encouragement was not well known. In this article, the background and the scope of Stalin’s involvement were analyzed in view of literary politics and literary sociology against the backdrop of cultural conditions of that period. We could draw an inference on the background and the reasons of Stalin’s active involvement as purely patriotic national pride to overcome his weak political background as a Georgian. Literary aspirations in Stalin’s young years and the personal love for this work also played an important role. There is no reason to infer that Stalin wanted to show his talent and charisma as the Great leader even in the field of literature. Although Stalin took actions at many stages of the translation and the publication of Rustaveli’s work, he tried to make his trace unnoticed to the public. It is a paradoxical phenomenon that Stalin, who purged so many writers and artists during the 1930’s, saved Nutsubidze’s life and helped him complete one of the best translations of <The Knight in the Panther’s Skin>, and it is a very interesting literary episode, which could be added to his enigmatic personality and life.