Translated fiction in the Armenian magazines of Tiflis of the late 19th - early 20th centuries

The article examines the dynamics of the development of translated literature in Tiflis-Armenian magazines at the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. It presents the programmatic policies of publishers and editors of the magazines, identifies quantitative and qualitative characteristics of translated literature, as well as its significance in shaping Armenian literary criticism and ethics, and in refining the Eastern Armenian literary language. The conclusion is drawn that, evolving within the general framework of the pre-revolutionary press of the Russian Empire, the corpus of Armenian translated literature in magazines bore significant resemblance to the corpus of translated literature in Russian periodicals. The main feature was manifested in the selection of works from neighboring nations, driven by the tendentious aim of some publishers to demonstrate to Armenian readers the level of cultural development and the image of the 'Other' with whom they shared a combination of regional, socio-political, and sociocultural realities. These same realities became factors contributing to the dominance of Russian literature in the overall corpus of Armenian translated literature. In this case, a large number of translations were also influenced by the authority of the dominant culture of the empire and the ideals of its famous representatives, which largely corresponded to the philosophical and aesthetic views of Armenian literary figures. Furthermore, translated literature reduced the degree of isolation, alienation, and distance in the system of intercultural communication. The editors of Armenian magazines, well-acquainted with the modernist trends of European literature at the end of the 19th century, nonetheless preferred world classical literature. Their aim was to cultivate the Armenian reader within the framework of corresponding aesthetic categories. They were confident that Western cultural orientation would not only not harm national distinctiveness but also serve as a guide to world literature and literary studies. During this period, translated literature simultaneously became one of the main factors and indicators of the development of Eastern Armenian literary language, literary critical thought, and creative ethics.