TURKISH-GEORGIAN LITERARY INTERACTIONS THROUGH TRANSLATION AS CULTURAL DIPLOMACY IN THE BLACK SEA REGION DURING THE SOVIET PERIOD (1921-1991)
TURKISH-GEORGIAN LITERARY INTERACTIONS THROUGH TRANSLATION AS CULTURAL DIPLOMACY IN THE BLACK SEA REGION DURING THE SOVIET PERIOD (1921-1991)

Summary/Abstract: The Black Sea basin has historically served as a significant crossroads of cultural contact, identity negotiation, and literary interaction. This study examines the cultural relations between Turkey and Georgia during the Soviet period (1921–1991) through literary translation, within the context of ideological orientation, censorship, and diplomatic representation. With Georgia’s incorporation into the Soviet Union, direct diplomatic relations came to a halt; cultural interaction was largely maintained indirectly through translation activities. During this period, translation functioned not only as a medium of literary transfer but also as a tool for ideological mobilization and a platform for cultural continuity. The article demonstrates that Soviet censorship policies played a decisive role in the selection of Turkish works translated into Georgian, with a preference for texts aligned with socialist realism. In this context, the translation efforts of figures such as Ahmet Özkan Melashvili are evaluated. Conversely, translations from Georgian into Turkish began at a later stage but were largely carried out independently of ideological constraints. The works of Georgian authors such as Shota Rustaveli, Nikoloz Baratashvili, and Ilia Chavchavadze contributed not only to the promotion of cultural heritage but also to the construction of a regional identity. The thematic asymmetry observed in the mutual translation practices reveals that translation operates not only as an aesthetic endeavor but also as a political act. In conclusion, by framing translation as a tool of cultural diplomacy, this article seeks to provide both a theoretical and historical foundation for understanding how these relations may be redefined in the post-Soviet context.

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