CONTEMPORARY AZERBAIJANI–GEORGIAN LITERARY RELATIONS: LEILA ERADZE AND DILARA ALIYEVA

Abstract

Beginning from the mid-twentieth century, the literary friendship between Azerbaijan and Georgia – particularly in the field of poetry – entered a new stage within the framework of comparative literary studies. There were, evidently, certain factors that gave rise to this development. Above all, the popularity of Samed Vurgun among Georgian poets and writers, his frequent visits to Georgia, his reputation across the Soviet Union, and the active participation of Azerbaijani poets and writers living in Georgia all contributed to the intensification of these literary ties. Within the scholarly sphere, this cooperation reached a new phase through the interaction between the Georgian literary scholar Leila Eradze and the Azerbaijani literary scholar Dilara Aliyeva. The poet, translator, and literary critic Leila Eradze became one of the most dedicated translators of Azerbaijani literature into Georgian. Dilara Aliyeva, for her part, not only studied the Georgian version of the Koroghlu epic but also actively promoted Azerbaijani–Georgian literary friendship. She rendered invaluable services in translating Azerbaijani literature into Georgian. During the 1970s and 1980s, Leila Eradze was well known in the Azerbaijani literary community. She was awarded the honorary title of Honored Worker of Culture of Azerbaijan. Eradze actively participated in numerous cultural and literary events held in Azerbaijan and made special efforts to strengthen and expand the cultural and literary relations between the two neighboring and friendly peoples. She translated and published into Georgian the poetry collections of prominent Azerbaijani poets such as Samed Vurgun, Suleyman Rustam, Nabi Khazri, Nariman Hasan-zade, Jabir Novruz, and Isa Ismayilzade. Leila Eradze also translated into Georgian a number of prose works by Azerbaijani writers, including Mirza Ibrahimov’s Parvane, Ismayil Shykhly’s Mad Kura, Ilyas Afandiyev’s The Willow Trench, and Hasan Seyidbeyli’s The Telephone Girl, as well as collections of short stories by Jalil Mammadguluzadeh, Isa Huseynov, and Alaviya Babayeva, thus introducing them to Georgian readers.