Scholarly record

MODERN SCHOLARLY EDITION OF EPISTOLARY GENRE (GEORGIAN EXPERIENCE)

K. Gigashvili, M. Gigashvili, G.Gotsiridze

Abstract

The article deals with the scholarly edition of 19th-20th cc. Georgian writersВ’ epistolary legacy (thirty-volume set), initiated by our scientific team from 2010, the modern research methods for textual and editorial studies, we guide with in preparing the volumes, our editorial strategy, based on which traditional attitudes and modern technologies have been combined with each other in research process, it became possible, by using computational technologies, to read several indecipherable texts of the writers, unpublished up today, and involve them in the edition in the chronological order, to establish the identities of the addressees and persons, mentioned in the letters, to clarify the issue of authorship in the cases of unsigned texts, to date 154 undated letters, to correct several biographical details of the famous persons, etc. The article sheds also light on social, cultural, and wide scientific meaning of the Georgian writersВ’ correspondence itself, its social and cultural values. Indeed, mentioned edition is not electronic yet, but lively interest towards it, expressed by the leading scholars in the field, and intellectual society, in general, proves that traditional editions keep significance together with electronic scholarly editions, despite their rising popularity. Epistolary genre, showing most vividly the live chronicle of the distinct epoch and private, and sometimes the deep intimate life of prominent people, is nearly leaving the field of literary life. The unprecedented progress of modern technologies destroyed the necessity of a letter at first, but during the time the interest has been increasing towards the private life and social work of famous figures. By reviewing previous (such as: The Cambridge Edition of the Letters and Works of D. H. LawrenceВ…) and recent scholarly editions of epistolary genre (The Letters of William Godwin, edited by P. Clemit; The Letters of A. E. Housman, edited by A. Burnett, and others), in the article there have been shown originality and research novelty of Georgian edition (reflected in editorial principles), and analyzed scientific apparatus, enclosed to each volume: scientific rubrics, passports, comments, scholarly annotations, indexes, notes, as well as dictionary and linguistic review.

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