Translation, adaptation and identity: the role of literature in Georgia’s Europeanization process (19th-century perspective)

During the first half of the nineteenth century, Georgia experienced a complex process of Europeanization that reshaped its cultural and literary landscape. In this period, marked by the country’s incorporation into the Russian Empire, Georgian writers engaged with French and Russian literary traditions through translation, adaptation, and rewriting. This article examines how three key figures—Aleksandre Chavchavadze, Grigol Orbeliani, and Grigol Rcheulishvili—used translation not simply as a means of linguistic transfer but also as a tool for negotiating identity and cultural autonomy under imperial pressure. Drawing on postcolonial theory, comparative literature, and contextual analysis, this study explores how translated texts were creatively reconfigured to reflect local historical consciousness and ideological priorities. The findings show that translation functioned as a form of cultural resistance and hybrid expression, enabling Georgian authors to incorporate Enlightenment ideals, Romantic esthetics, and new genres while embedding them in native literary forms. Aleksandre Chavchavadze’s engagement with French classics, Grigol Orbeliani’s national rewriting of Russian poetry, and Grigol Rcheulishvili’s localization of European prose all exemplify how foreign influences were rearticulated through a distinctly Georgian lens. The article argues that these practices contributed to the emergence of a modern literary language and national subjectivity in Georgia. Rather than passive reception, the Europeanization of Georgian literature was shaped by active strategies of adaptation and ideological reinterpretation. This study contributes to postcolonial literary scholarship by demonstrating how peripheral literary systems employed translation as a medium of cultural self-determination during periods of asymmetrical power relations.