Ilia State University
Associate Professor
Field: Source Studies
Academic Degree: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Tbilisi, Georgia
Abstract
In the nineteenth century, following Russia’s conquest of Georgia, Russian was declared the official language in the region. This marked the beginning of the implementation of Russification policies, although their tactics and methods were not uniform. The establishment of printing houses and periodical publications in Georgia became an important component of Russian imperial language policy. However, official policy in this regard was not initially as aggressive as it became in later decades. The first newspaper published in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Sakartvelos Gazeti (“Newspaper of Georgia”), appeared on March 8, 1819, not in Russian, as might have been expected, but in Georgian. It functioned as an official organ of the Russian authorities and did not serve the national interests of Georgian society at the time. Published until 1822, the newspaper included official governmental documents as well as administratively, politically, and socially important materials translated into Georgian, the language accessible to the local population. In the following period, language policy changed significantly, which was again reflected in the press. From June 1828 until 1832, the Russian-language governmental newspaper Tiflisskie Vedomosti (“Tiflis News”) was published in Tiflis. Its thematic scope covered the socio-political, economic, and cultural issues of the peoples of the Caucasus. Government announcements and official documents were also published, all under strict official control and supervision. The newspaper appeared in three languages: Russian, Georgian, and Persian, which was connected to the need to cover the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828). This paper examines the representation of the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) in the Russian and Georgian versions of “Tiflisskie Vedomosti”. Particular attention will be paid to publications concerning the capture of Kars and Poti as examples of the media representation of significant military and political events. The paper aims to demonstrate how wartime events were communicated within official Russian informational discourse and how this discourse was transformed in Georgian translation intended for local audiences. It will analyze not only thematic parallels but also translation strategies, terminological choices, and possible semantic shifts between the bilingual texts. Special attention will be given to the translation of military terminology, toponyms, and ideological narratives, as well as to signs of adaptation or editorial intervention. Based on comparative textual analysis, this study seeks to demonstrate how translation participated in the transmission of imperial narratives, while simultaneously shaping local informational and ideological discourse.
Keywords