An Important Part of Georgian-American Culture: The Translation Club
December 08, 2023
Article by Lile Kervalishvili
Edited by Ana Gvasalia
Source: GZAAT Gazette
One of the main priorities of GZAAT is allowing students to be fluent in both English and Georgian. Therefore, Lela Samniashvili, Khatuna Tskhadadze, and Ana Kopaliani established a club to assist students in achieving fluency in both of these languages. We introduce to you the greatly anticipated translation club. The founders are all experienced translators and wanted to share this interesting and amusing experience with their students.
“During pandemics, I came up with the idea to create such a club and it worked successfully through our online sessions in 2020”, says Lela Samniashvili. This club is no stranger to our school and worked wonderfully during previous years. The goal of the translation club is to give students the possibility of getting their work published in the GZAAT Gazette and other possible sources, making them further accustomed to new and exciting experiences.
“Translation is all about interpretation. It’s the translator’s job to render the text in their perspective.” Says Khatuna Tskhadadze, emphasizing the fact that translation is also a form of self-expression and communicating one’s thoughts. The members of this club plan to work mainly on poetry as well as short prose. “There are no specific requirements to join the club - just love to experiment with languages”, adds Lela Samniashvili. The foundation of the translation club is not the profound knowledge of different languages, but just the enthusiasm and love for them.
The founders themselves are professional translators. From works such as Shakespeare’s sonnets and Virginia Woolf’s novels to Pasolini’s poetry, our founders have done it all! Not only are they experienced in English to Georgian translations, but Khatuna Tskhadadze has also taken up many Italian projects. Along with publishing many successful works, each of them has won the most prestigious literary prize in Georgia: the SABA. This award aims to identify outstanding translators as well as authors.
The translation club launched its first meeting two weeks ago, where the members were given the assignment to individually translate the same text. “We would like to analyze them and see what changes in the translation because it is really interesting how the musicality changes in each individual’s work.” Adds Khatuna Tskhadadze. The meetings will be held once every two weeks for individuals to present their work and receive very helpful feedback and suggestions. The translation club allows one to learn how to work a little more independently. Anyone willing to join this club is welcome to do so!
