Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
Royce Hall 306 & 314
February 21, 2025
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RSVP Here
Presenters
Lilit Saghatelyan
Abstract
The paper explores intergenerational transmission of memories and historical narratives in a migration context. A specific focus is on the Armenians from Nakhijevan in Armenia who fled due to Azerbaijani aggression in 1988. In 1988, as tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated, anti-Armenian sentiments grew, leading to increased hostility and aggression towards the Armenian population. This culminated in widespread violence, forced expulsions, and ultimately, the complete migration of Armenians from Nakhijevan to Armenia.
The memory of this forced migration is preserved mostly through personal narratives and community stories. Many of those who fled recall the traumatic experiences of leaving their homes, the loss of their properties, and the harsh conditions they faced upon arrival in Armenia. These memories are passed down through generations, forming a significant part of the collective memory of the Armenian second generation Nakhijevani Armenians in Armenia mostly for whom Republic of Armenia is the homeland. The forced migration from Nakhijevan is part of the larger narrative of conflict and displacement in the South Caucasus.
This paper aims to explore how such forced migration shapes perceptions of the current homeland. It seeks answers to questions such as: How do forced migrants pass down their memories to their children? How does the unique construction of homeland represent diasporic spaces? The study relies on oral history testimonies because of the limited availability of archival materials. Comparing the two generations’ narratives can result in sharing different points of thinking about home and homeland.
Gagik Chilingaryan
Abstract
This paper investigates the intricate dynamics of minority existence in the South Caucasus, focusing on its historical roots, contemporary manifestations, and prospects. Through a multidisciplinary approach that integrates historical analysis, political theory, and empirical case studies, the study seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of the relationship between autonomy, minority rights, and regional security in the South Caucasus. Specifically, it examines the creation and evolution of autonomous regions within the former Soviet Union, particularly in the South Caucasus, assessing autonomy as both a historical construct and a contemporary solution to ethno-national tensions. By exploring the Soviet legacy and its approach to national questions, the study evaluates the efficacy of autonomy in resolving conflicts and fostering peaceful coexistence between titular nations and minority groups.
The research addresses two main questions: the factors that led to the establishment of autonomous regions within the USSR and the effectiveness of autonomy as a mechanism for conflict resolution. By drawing on historical archives, scholarly literature, and contemporary sources, the study contributes to broader discussions on nationalism, state-building, and conflict resolution. Through a comparative analysis of different autonomous regions such as Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, the study identifies patterns, trends, and divergences in autonomy policies and their outcomes. The research highlights the ongoing challenges posed by unresolved ethnic conflicts and the complex situation in the South Caucasus, where opportunities for peaceful resolution remain.
Diego Benning Wang
Abstract
By the late-nineteenth century, the orally transmitted Armenian legend about the folk hero David of Sassoun seemed to be one of those stories doomed to oblivion when, in 1874, Ottoman Armenian clergyman Karekin Srvandzdiants published a tiny pocket-sized booklet containing the story that he had heard from a villager he had chanced upon in his parish. Srvandzdiants noted that he would be happy if the story could reach twenty people. Just a few decades later, this hitherto little-known folk legend would be read, and its main heroes celebrated by tens of millions of citizens of the Soviet Union. During the six and a half decades after the tale’s first publication in Constantinople as an unassuming booklet, scores of variants of the epic would be collected from all over the newly established Soviet Armenia; some of the most revered Soviet poets and linguists would join forces to produce a unified, collated text of the epic in verses and subsequently translate it into dozens of languages, in which the epic tale was circulated in millions of copies. More importantly, David of Sassoun and other main heroes of the epic cycle would come to symbolize the newly forged Soviet Armenian national character in a vast totalitarian empire whose guiding ideology was inimical to many aspects of Armenian culture and traditions. In this paper, I provide an overview of the story of the epic, look into the underlying messages of the epic, discuss what Soviet policies helped the epic captivate a large audience in a short period, and analyze the political calculations and ideological justifications behind the promotion of the epic.
Nelli Manucharyan
Abstract
This paper explores the significance of street names in Yerevan, Armenia, during the Soviet and early post-Soviet periods (1921-1992), focusing on their role in shaping national identity and collective memory. Grounded in theories of social memory and spatial politics, and utilizing an interdisciplinary approach that draws from urban studies, political science, and cultural geography, this study interprets street names as more than mere functional markers; they are symbols deeply intertwined with social, cultural, and political processes, reflecting power dynamics and ideological shifts. The study examines how the Soviet regime strategically renamed streets to assert control, disseminate propaganda, and reshape the city’s identity in line with socialist values.
It also investigates the continuation and transformation of these practices in the early post-Soviet period, particularly in the context of Armenia’s transition to independence. The study discusses how street names were used to symbolically sever ties with the Soviet past and assert a new national identity in the wake of independence. The study draws on a comprehensive analysis of archival documents, urban maps, and official records to trace these changes, providing a detailed understanding of how Yerevan’s urban landscape was shaped by broader historical and political dynamics. This analysis offers insights into the ways in which state power is inscribed onto the physical environment, revealing the intricate relationship between place, memory, and identity.
Tamta Tatarashvili
Abstract
Khopan (Խոպան) in spoken Armenian, refers to the practice of seasonal work migration. Khopanchis (Խոպանչի) are individuals who travel primarily to Russia (but occasionally to other post-Soviet countries), for 8 to 10 months each year to work. This practice is crucial for post-Soviet Armenian families as a means of survival. Typically, Khopanchis are men, leaving women, children, and the elderly behind to manage the household.
In rural Armenia, the daily life of the community revolves around the public perception and reputation of the migrant men. Women who remain in the village shoulder the responsibility of upholding the family’s moral standing. Consequently, the movement of women and girls within the village is of great significance and is closely scrutinized by the ever-present public eye.
Since 2022 I have been conducting ethnographic fieldwork in one of the villages of the migrant-sending region in Armenia, Gegharkunik (Գեղարքունիք). As I navigate through the roads of the village with my female interlocutors, I notice that certain places, roads, and modes of movement hold specific gendered meanings.
This paper aims to investigate how moral judgments are reflected in movement patterns and mobility practices. I will examine how the complex system of permissions and prohibitions shapes different trajectories for men and women. Additionally, I will identify significant spaces, locations, and practices along these trajectories that indicate individual conformity or resistance of women to established cultural norms in the absence of men.
Basak Yagmur Karaca
Abstract
Armenian theatre groups and individuals acted as cultural intermediaries, bridging the gap between Ottoman traditions and Western theatrical practices, especially in the nineteenth-century theatrical scene in Istanbul. They translated and adapted Western plays, making them accessible to Ottoman audiences. Within this theatrical scene, one stage and one Armenian actress had a more substantial story to tell than others. The Arevelian Tadron (Şark Theatre) was established in the late nineteenth century, and Arousyak Papazian, the first actress in the Ottoman Empire, debuted within Arevelian Tadron. Arevelian Tadron and Papazian stood as symbols of limitation and gateways to visibility and opportunity in theatre and the positionality of women in nineteenth-century Ottoman theatre.
This study aims to bring forward a segment of the Armenian women’s cultural presence in nineteenth-century Istanbul through the vantage point of Arevelian Tadron and Arousyak Papazian. The vignettes and glimpses into these shared experiences raise questions regarding space and women’s agency: How can we look at nineteenth-century theatre in Istanbul from the perspective of the Armenian community? How does nineteenth-century Ottoman Theatre, primarily through the Arevelian Tadron experience and Arousyak Papazian, illustrate Armenians’ position within Ottoman society, and what does it disclose about their profound cultural impact and integration during this era?
Veronika Zabel Nayir
Abstract
My paper concerns the nature of the “unthinkable experience” (of genocide) and explores whether it is a frustrating, appropriate, or catastrophic object for philosophy. While I draw a genealogy of unthinkability within continental European thought, I engage the archive and writings of the Armenian genocide. As David Kazanjian and Marc Nichanian write in their dialogue, “Beyond Genocide and Catastrophe,” “To respect such an Event would be […] to respect the limits it imposes on comprehension” (130).
In Nichanian’s philosophical project I locate the name “Aghed” (literally meaning ‘disaster’ or ‘catastrophe’), taken from the great Armenian writer Zabel Yesayan, known for her 1909 work of witnessing and testimony, In the Ruins. Nichanian’s wager, which I explicate, is that the word “Aghed” should remain untranslated (as the Shoah [calamity] or Nakba [catastrophe] sometimes are), and that this refusal to translate – into another language but also into the legal quantifier of “genocide” – attempts to extend justice to the experience of the witness-survivor because it signifies atrocity’s unassimilability – its being beyond language, symbolization, or thought. Ultimately, I track Yesayan’s textual struggle: she writes at every turn of the “indefinable,” “infinite,” “boundless” catastrophe which is located “beyond the limits of [her] understanding.” While I make discussion of the discourses of phenomenology and psychoanalysis, I do so (enlisting Hegel, Kant, Freud, and Derrida) in order to bring the writings of the Armenian genocide, the Aghed, into closer proximity with these traditions which have endeavoured to think the boundaries of sense, reason, and understanding.
Artin Mehrabian
Abstract
The name Armenia first appears in the historical record during the 6th century BC in connection with the Median Empire and the revolt of Cyrus the Great. However, the circumstances of Armenia’s emergence are obscured by limited evidence and a confused scholarly understanding of the political situation of this period. While Greek classical sources describe a Median Empire ruling Armenia and Anatolia, recent scholarship challenges the Median Empire’s control in Armenia entirely by using contemporary cuneiform texts. This paper offers a revised answer to the question of the Median Empire using a comparative approach that identifies important connections between the disconnected evidence, showing Armenia was under Median control, and providing a foundation for reconstructing the circumstances behind Armenia’s conquest at the hands of Cyrus the Great. These new findings reveal how Armenia participated in the widespread revolts against the declining Median Empire, which culminated in Cyrus the Great’s rise to power. Armenia was in turn subjugated by Cyrus, whose concealment of the Armenian king’s death is then explored as part of his wider political strategy. The previously conflicting Greek and Babylonian texts are found to agree on a shared historical reality and offer new insights into Xenophon as a source. This research addresses several different scholarly debates about the 6th century BC. Where the Persian conquest of Armenia was previously difficult to reconstruct, this paper shows that the evidence was there. By piecing them together, this research reevaluates the political climate of this period and Armenia’s place within it.
Marta Zerbini
Abstract
To understand the history of a monument, the graphic survey is one of the main tools of documentation capable of revealing numerous historical data such as metrological observations, construction rules, design schemes. These indicators convey the correct comprehension of the building, providing information about practices and methods of a certain historical period. This paper investigates the practical knowledge of building construction in Armenia in the Early Middle Ages through graphic survey and critical observations of metrological, technological, and design analysis conducted on the case study of the Zoravar Chapel. The chapel is located near the town of Eghvard, a few tens of meters away from the well-known church of S. Teodoros. The chapel shows a structure with single nave and barrel vault. Thus far, it is deeply damaged. Only a small part of the vault, the apse and its covering survived from a huge collapse. The original size and shape are recognizable thanks to the foundation platform where the building was built above. The platform became completely visible after the collapse and on its upper side, we noticed a millimetric and linear engraving mark (ichnography) placed in correspondence of the external wall, tracing the perimeter of the building plan and its entrance on a 1:1 scale. This research recognizes it among the used construction techniques and aims to link it to the deeply known building tradition of the Architecture of classic times. Analysing it, the paper shows the geometric protocol of the construction, suggesting the use of the Practica Geometriae’s principles, and the building methodologies known by local workers. This research deepens the knowledge status about the Zoravar Chapel, of which in the existing literature there are no indications.
Tzovinar Artzrouni
Abstract
Folk songs are not mere creations of the people, but historical records that, in addition to their artistic and aesthetic values, also contain valuable ethnographic and sociological information. Folk songs are unique documentation of the daily life of the people, as well as of their traditions and collective past. All new developments in the villagers’ lives, whether in their personal or collective lives, are reflected in folk songs.
This paper examines this essential feature of Armenian folk songs and explores how they capture and reflect the reality of the people who created them. As such, Armenian folk songs offer a wealth of information on Armenian communal life at a specific time and place.
Through examples chosen from folk songs collected from all over the Armenian Highlands by various prominent musicians, ethnographers, and philologists since the late 19th century, the paper illustrates how songs from different genres of Armenian folk music reflect the reality the Armenian people lived, their collective problems and individual sorrows, as well as the beliefs, customs, and values that governed this life. While new events and incidents appear in the lyrics immediately regardless of the genre (i.e., popular heroes’ names come up in dance-songs as well as in lullabies), it is remarkable to observe how the tunes of folk songs mirror the natural environment at the heart of which they were created.
Peter Kiss
Abstract
The Armenians who settled in Transylvania in the second half of the 17th century assimilated very quickly into the local Hungarian population. In just over a century, the Armenian communities changed languages and by the end of the 18th century the Armenian community was almost entirely Hungarian-speaking, while at the same time there were constant attempts to preserve Armenian identity and consciousness. József Vártán Dondoni’s History of the Armenian Nation, which covers Armenian history from its beginnings until 1800, was written with this aim in mind. Although the life of the Transylvanian Armenian author is not known, it is assumed that he was a cleric who learned Armenian while studying abroad. His work is entirely in Hungarian and survives only as a manuscript copy. The author’s primary aim is to help preserve the identity of Armenian youth by teaching them about the history of their ancestors. Although at first reading his work is very similar to Mik῾ayēl Č῾amČ῾eanc῾’s Hayoc῾ Patmut῾iwn, which cites as Dondoni’s main source, upon deeper examination it becomes clear that Dondoni’s work is quite different from that of the Mechitarist author. Using the ‘Erfahrungstheorie’ introduced by the German philosopher of history Reinhard Koselleck, we can see that Dondoni departs almost entirely from the Erfahrung found in Č῾amč῾eanc’s work, and in fact the Hungarian author creates a distinctly new Erfahrung, centred on the heroes of Armenian history and Catholic faith.
Liza Mardoyan
Abstract
This paper offers a psychoanalytic conceptualization of what will be defined as “The Armenian Genocide Complex.” It draws on Henderson’s (1990) notion of the cultural unconscious, which encompasses the shared symbols, myths, and historical experiences embedded in the collective psyche of a culture. The cultural unconscious shapes not only individual identity but also the collective behavior and emotional responses of a community. Dreams, as expressions of the unconscious, act as a bridge between the individual and the cultural unconscious, often carrying symbolic representations of cultural complexes—patterns of perception, emotion, and behavior rooted in collective experiences. As Samuel Kimbles (2014) explains, these complexes are formed through collective traumas, narratives, and unresolved tensions within a group, and they become the fundamental building blocks of an “inner sociology” (p. 29).
Despite the significance of dream studies across various cultures, little research has been conducted using dreams as a psychotherapeutic tool to understand intergenerational, cultural, political, and historical trauma in the Armenian community. This research aims to create a space where dream analysis can be utilized in troubled social environments, enabling communities to access adaptive and creative responses to trauma (Bulkeley, 1994).
This paper focuses on an article published in Agos newspaper in October 2020, where Delal Dink recounts a dream about the funeral of her father, Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in 2007 by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. Delal’s dream will be analyzed as a case study, using psychoanalytic praxis to explore the intersection of personal dream imagery with the collective and historical psyche.
Setrag Hovsepian
Abstract
Armenians in the diaspora and Arabic-speaking countries have been facing significant challenges in preserving the Western Armenian language and culture. In the absence of policies protecting their cultural heritage and language, UNESCO classified Western Armenian as an endangered language (2010), which alerted to the urgent need for preservation efforts.
Armenian diaspora schools were also affected by recent social, political, and economic events in the Middle East, which led to additional challenges in preserving the language and threatened the existence of those schools. Notable events include the ongoing war in Syria, the 2020 explosion in Lebanon followed by a severe economic recession, and the migration of religious minorities and ethnicities, including Armenians, from the Arab World.
Additionally, a significant contributing factor is the lack of updated resources and innovative teaching practices available to Western Armenian educators. These challenges and other factors have led to a decline in students’ motivation to learn Western Armenian at school.
This work explores the current state of Western Armenian education through three case studies, a survey, and interviews with current and former teachers of Western Armenian and Armenian History in Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Syria. The aim is to understand those schools’ challenges and identify potential strategies for enhancing Western Armenian instruction in these schools and beyond.
Olivia Guyodo
Abstract
This paper explores the resilience and agency of four Turkish civil society organizations in preserving the memory and cultural heritage of Armenians amidst authoritarian oppression in Turkey. Focusing on four prominent NGOs, the study examines how these organizations confront the Turkish state’s oppression and ongoing denial of Armenian histories and systematic efforts to erase their historic and cultural legacy. Through a detailed analysis of their strategies and activities, this research highlights how these NGOs navigate the complex socio-political landscape of Turkey, employing innovative methods to safeguard Armenian heritage and memory despite facing substantial risks and state repression. The paper also addresses the broader implications of these efforts for understanding the politics of cultural heritage, memory preservation, and the vital role civil society plays in countering cultural erasure. By focusing on the work of these civil society organizations, the research fills a gap in the literature on civil society’s role in countering cultural and ethnic erasure. It provides nuanced understandings at the intersection of memory, heritage, and resistance within the context of contemporary Turkey, offering valuable insights into the broader dynamics of cultural preservation in oppressive environments. This study contributes to Armenian Studies and memory studies by emphasizing civil society’s role in challenging state narratives, preserving historical truths, and protecting cultural heritage.
Arthur Ipek
Abstract
Of the handful of contemporary voices in Western Armenian literature coming forth within the Diaspora, Tenny Arlen, with her posthumous collection of poetry entitled To Say with Passion: Why Am I Here?, became the first American-born Armenian-language poet to receive widespread acclaim for her literary work. In anticipation of an expanded volume of Tenny Arlen’s collection of poetry, which will include the author’s translation of her original Armenian poems into English, the present study will thematize her poetry and contextualize the author for a broader audience. First, the thematic structure of the poetry is analyzed—namely, the author’s nocturnal world laden with stars and surrounded by dreams, her ludic use of personal pronouns such as “I” and “You”, and the role of the maternal figure in a number of poems (“mayr”). Apart from describing the poetic significance of the work independent of biographical information, Arlen’s personal discovery of a dialectic of influence, drawing upon giants of world literature such as Wilde, Dickinson, Rilke, and Nietzsche, is discussed. Finally, an attempt is made to situate the poet amongst writers such as Missak Medzarents, Diran Tcharakian, and Mannig Berberian, who happen to represent the classic Armenian literary tradition. Themes such as bilingualism, exophony, and influence will provide the conceptual framework of the analysis, which will bridge the gap between two centuries of Armenian literature, and attest to the possibility of a uniquely Western Armenian creative literature for the twenty-first century.