The Translational Fiction Literature in the Armenian Magazines of Tiflis (1860–1881)

Abstract

The article analyzes the tendencies of the development of Armenian translated fiction and its importance as a communication channel in the genesis of national identity. The magazines under study published those works in which the collective image of the nation and its axiological system were embodied, and parallels were drawn between its past and present. Under the influence of socio-political and cultural factors, translated literature developed both in intralinguistic and inter-lingual directions and turned into one of the main catalysts for the formation of the modern Armenian language. The literature translated into Armenian improved the structure of the modern Armenian literary language and replenished its vocabulary with neologisms and borrowed words. Quantitative and qualitative analysis indicates that the thematic vector is shifting from social problems to patriotic content. Compositions of patriotic themes, in addition to aesthetic perception, awakened the national dignity of the Armenian people, faith in the revival of the Homeland, and Their own future. Comparison with the Russian newspaper “Kavkaz” (“Caucasus”) of the same period confirms the directly opposite thematic preferences of the editors: the literary geography in the Russian newspaper covered the South-East, and in the Armenian magazines – the North-West.