"One Hundred Ancient Japanese Poems" (Translated from Japanese by Irma Ratiani, Intellect, 2019)

Abstract

The aim of the study is to analyze the new translations of Japanese Tankas, performed by Irma Ratiani, comparing to old translations.A comparison method is used. The new translations are compared to the old ones, and the canonical Tanka signs are compared to the new translation form.Translators translate Tanka into Georgian, taking into account the measurements in our tradition. The best translation among the translations can be considered to be the one by Irma Ratiani, as it is done directly from the Japanese language and is accompanied by comments about the author and the poem.But the fact is that Tanka is still posing new challenges. Because there are canonical Tankas of Nino Darbaiseli and Paata Natsvlishvili in Georgian, i.e. one might think that the canonical form can be preserved in the translation or that the translator can come as close as possible to it.