Varduhi Baloyan

Shirak Center for Armenological Studies of NAS, RA

Jr. Researcher

Ph.D

Gyumri/Armenia

varduhi.baloyan@gmail.com

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marked an important period in the development of children’s literature and educational publishing among Armenian and Georgian communities. Expanding literacy, pedagogical reforms, and the growth of print culture encouraged the emergence of children’s journals that sought not only to educate young readers, but also to shape moral values, linguistic norms, and perceptions of childhood. Within this context, translated European literature became a significant component of children’s periodicals, introducing new literary models, educational ideals, and narrative forms. This paper examines the reflection and adaptation of European children’s literature in selected Armenian and Georgian children’s periodicals associated with Tiflis and Alexandropol. Particular attention is given to Armenian journals such as Aghbyur and Hasker, alongside Georgian children’s publications including Jejili and Nakaduli. The study concentrates on broader processes of selection, translation, and editorial mediation that determined how European literary material was incorporated into children’s reading environments. The research investigates which types of European texts were prioritized for translation, how editorial policies shaped their presentation, and how translators and editors adjusted content for pedagogical and linguistic purposes. It further considers the role of children’s periodicals as mediating institutions that connected international literary production with local educational agendas and readership expectations. Rather than treating Armenian and Georgian periodical cultures as isolated phenomena, the paper considers them within broader networks of intellectual interaction while recognizing their separate literary traditions and institutional developments. Tiflis, as a major publishing and cultural center with multilingual readerships, and Alexandropol, as an important educational and literary environment, provide productive comparative spaces for tracing the movement of texts and ideas. In this sense, children’s periodicals are approached as dynamic spaces of print culture where educational objectives, translation activity, and literary dissemination intersected. Drawing upon translated works, editorial commentary, and publication practices, the paper aims to demonstrate how periodicals functioned as mediators between European literature and local reading communities. By examining translation practices in Armenian and Georgian children’s publications, the study contributes to scholarship on periodical studies, translation history, children’s literature, and the development of modern literary cultures in the region, highlighting children’s journals as overlooked spaces of cultural transmission and intellectual exchange.

Translated children’s literature; translation studies; children’s periodicals; Armenian print culture; Georgian print culture; European literature; periodical studies