Essay/Post/Note | Շարադրութիւն

by

Երեւանէն Շարունակականութեան եւ Փոփոխութեան Դրուագներ

Երեւանէն Շարունակականութեան եւ Փոփոխութեան Դրուագներ

«Ասսալամու ալէյքոմ» (արաբերէնով «Բարեւ ձեզ», խմբ․)․․․

Ոեւէ մէկը Երեւանի մէջ ինծի այդպէս երբեք չէր մօտեցած եւ չէր ողջունած:

Բնազդաբար, «Ուա ալէյքոմ սալամ» («Եւ ձեզ ալ բարեւ», խմբ․)․․․ ըսելով պատասխանեցի:

Սովորական երեւոյթ ունեցող տղամարդ մըն էր՝ գուցէ իմ տարիքիս, հաւանաբար քիչ մը աւելի մեծ: Մասամբ ճաղատ էր, մութ հագած: Պայծառ գոյներով «հիճապ»-ով կինը կ’ընկերակցէր. ան սայլակ մը կը քշէր, որուն մէջ անուշիկ փոքրիկ մը պառկած էր: Տէրեան Փողոցը անցնելու վրայ էինք՝ Երեւանի կեդրոնը, Օփերային քովը, դէպի Կարապի Լիճին անկիւնը:

«Ֆալասթինէն (Պաղեստին, խմբ․)․․․ եմ: Հաճիք, կ’օգնէ՞ք …»

Ձեռքս սրտիս մօտ դրի եւ զղջման ու կարեկցանքի արտայայտութեամբ թեթեւ մը խոնարհեցայ: Օգնութիւն խնդրողներուն մեծաւ մասամբ այդպէս կ’արձագանգեմ: Հասարակութեան մը մէջ մեծցած եմ, ուր ողորմութիւն ուզողներու պակաս չկար եւ ան յաճախ կազմակերպուած բնոյթ կը կրէր: Հազուագիւտ դէպքեր կ’ըլլան, երբ ինքզինքիս կրնամ համոզել փողոցը անծանօթի մը գումար տրամադրել: Միշտ զգոյշ եմ եւ Երեւանի պէս քաղաքի մը մէջ, կ’ենթադրեմ, որ հաւանաբար նմանօրինակ անձեր դիմացս կ’ելլեն, ինչպէս ալ եղած է. տարիներու ընթացքին, նոյն մարդիկ նոյն պատմութիւնը կը պատմեն, նոյն խաբեբայութեամբ կը զբաղին: Հիմա, աս ընտանիքին չէի ճանչնար, անկարելի էր պնդել խաբեբայ էին կամ ոչ: Յամենայն դէպս, չկրցայ իրենց օգնելու տրամադրութիւն յայտնել:

կարդալ մնացածը

by

Vignettes on continuity and change in Yerevan

Vignettes on continuity and change in Yerevan

“Assalamu alaykum.”

Nobody had ever approached me in Yerevan and greeted me that way before.

Quite instinctively, I responded, “Wa alaykum salam.”

He was an ordinary-looking man, perhaps around my age, perhaps a bit older. He was balding and wearing dark clothing. A woman in a bright hijab accompanied him, pushing a stroller with a cute toddler. We were about to cross Teryan Street, heading toward the Swan Lake corner by the Opera in central Yerevan.

“I am from Falasteen. Please, would you help …”

I placed my hand on my heart and bowed slightly with a regretful, empathetic expression. That is how I respond most of the time to those who ask for money. I grew up in a society where begging was widespread and often a racket. It’s rare that I can bring myself to give money to strangers on the street. I am always wary, and in a city like Yerevan, I imagine I most likely will run into the same people — as I have over the years come across those who tell the same story and try to sell the same scam. Now, I didn’t know this family at all or whether they were running a scam. But all the same, I couldn’t bring myself to help them.

read the rest

by

Who is an Armenian Gharib in the 21st Century?

Who is an Armenian Gharib in the 21st Century?

I was recently quite moved by one of the fantastic posts of the Armenian Museum of America’s Sound Archive series. It featured the voice of Karnig Kuludjian from 1945. A genocide survivor who ended up in the Chicago area, Kuludjian expresses confidence on the disc now online that the war in Europe would soon come to an end in favor of the Allies and the boys would return home. It is a fun recording, quite organic, made at home — a rarity for the era. You can hear the muffled voices of people in the background, laughing at Kuludjian’s amusing observations. The disc becomes even more compelling with a wonderful à propos song: Gharib Akhper, a work addressed to, roughly, a brother in exile, often framed as brothers in arms, expressing hope that they will come back. It is a song I have heard my father sing many times around many tables. So, I got a good sense of what that gathering in Chicago eighty years and more ago must have been like — beautiful, charming, melancholic.

read the rest

by

Zohrab Information Center adds Liturgy and Liturgical Materials Collection

Zohrab Information Center adds Liturgy and Liturgical Materials Collection

A collection of mostly unpublished materials related to the liturgy and worship services of the Armenian Church is now available for the interested public to view at the Zohrab Information Center. The Liturgy and Liturgical Materials Collection was processed by Andrew Kayaian, librarian of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, and Nareg Seferian, who completed his doctoral studies at Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs in 2023.

The collection consists of four series. The first brings together a number of documents pertaining to the Badarak or the Divine Liturgy – that is, the service with which the faithful are most familiar from ordinary Sundays. Armenian churches tend to have books in their pews with the text and order of the Badarak, often in Armenian with translation and transliteration so that parishioners can follow along. These official pew books are usually published by the various dioceses of the Armenian Church and have made their way into library collections around the world. What makes the Zohrab Information Center’s collection unique is that it consists of more ephemeral or local materials put together by individual priests, parishes, or others for specific occasions and local needs, which otherwise would be lost or unknown if not gathered together here. This series in the collection also includes materials related to the various aspects of Sunday worship, such as Gospel readings, the confession, and the creed.

read the rest

by

Zohrab Information Center adds Plays and Performances Collection

Zohrab Information Center adds Plays and Performances Collection

A unique collection of theatrical works is now available for the interested public to view at the Zohrab Information Center. The Plays and Performances Collection was processed by Nareg Seferian, who completed his doctoral studies at Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs in 2023.

The tradition of Armenian theater is a venerable one. Records exist of dramatic compositions and performances in ancient times, while modern works testify to the rich tapestry of the development of Armenian culture in the Ottoman, Romanov, and Qajar realms over the course of the 19th century and into the 20th – presented most notably in Modern Armenia Drama (Columbia University Press, 2001) edited by Prof. Nishan Parlakian and Prof. Peter Cowe. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the activities of Armenian playwrights, actors, and producers – to say nothing of the public – left a lasting impact in the world of theater throughout Turkish, Russian, and Persian society, certainly in the Ottoman Empire.

read the rest

by

This Tarkmanchats, let’s celebrate Armenian names

This Tarkmanchats, let’s celebrate Armenian names

My name is Nareg Hovsep Seferian.

It ends in “-ian” – characteristic for most Armenian surnames, also with its other spelling, “-yan.”

“Seferian.” That means “traveler.” My ancestors were probably merchants. Little surprise there for any Armenian. The sefer part is ultimately an Arabic root, but it surely became a surname for Armenians under Turkish or Persian rule. “Safarian” is another version. So, alongside the Armenian suffix, that surname reflects the mark of medieval and modern empires and neighboring cultures.

“Hovsep,” my middle name, is Armenian for “Joseph” – a name from the Bible, Hebrew via Greek. This is an indication of how Armenians have long formed part of the broader cultural landscape around the Mediterranean and Middle East. It also indicates the Christian heritage which forms a significant part of the Armenian identity. It is my father’s name. And my nephew’s name – the first-born grandson of my immediate family. That tells you something about naming practices prevalent in Armenian culture.

read the rest

by

Երբ Երեւանում կար ընդամենը 402 հեռախոսահամար

Երբ Երեւանում կար ընդամենը 402 հեռախոսահամար. 1927 թվական

Մոտակա անցյալում առցանց հանդիպեցի 1927-ի մի հրապարակման, որը Հայաստանի Ազգային Գրադարանի աշխատակիցները թվայնացրել էին: Փաստաթուղթը այս պահին առկա չէ գրադարանի շատ հարուստ առցանց նյութերի շարքում, սակայն առ ի հետաքրքրություն արժի այն ներկայացնել:

Կոչվում է «Ցուցակ Յերեվանի Հեռախոսային Բաժանորդների»: Ինքնին մի կողմից շատ պարզ՝ անգամ պարզունակ գրքույկ է: Մյուս կողմից արտացոլում է մոտավոր անցյալը՝ մի ժամանակ, երբ նոր երկիր, նոր կարգեր, անգամ նոր ինքնություն էր արմատավորվում, եւ նոր արհեստագիտական (տեխնոլոգիական) հնարավորություններ էին բացվում:

Մի քանի նկատառում դրանից, ուրեմն:

կարդալ մնացածը

by

Independence and Indigeneity

Independence and Indigeneity

Today is Armenia’s independence day – the thirtieth anniversary, in fact, of this latest manifestation of a place called Armenia on the world map. It has not been an easy three decades, and the last twelve months and more have been marked with a pandemic and a devastating war and its aftermath, among other challenging phenomena.

For the past two weeks now, I have been in Kapan, in the province of Siunik in the south of the country, doing fieldwork for my dissertation. So far, I have conducted about a dozen interviews and had numerous conversations with locals about Siunik and the experience of the new geography of the province and the country since last year. That’s the over-arching theme of the dissertation. Although I do not have many substantial conclusions to draw as of yet, one common theme that has appeared is indigeneity. It is a prevailing part of Armenian discourse that the Armenians are the original inhabitants of this land, their historical homeland.

read the rest

by

Some Thoughts on “Whiteness”, Privilege, and Related Categories in Discourse in the United States

Some Thoughts on “Whiteness”, Privilege, and Related Categories in Discourse in the United States

I have been exposed to numerous news stories, documentaries, long-form articles, and other media products about racism in the United States over the past year and more, ever since George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. It’s not that I had been unaware of racism in America, but I now find myself more educated about the various social, political, cultural, and legal facets of this complex and multi-layered phenomenon. Many questions remain for me, popping up amidst mixed and conflicted thoughts and feelings as I try in particular to tie in the narratives I’ve come across with the experience of the Armenian community in the United States.

At the outset, I have to emphasise that I am not American at all. I have spent quite a few years in this country, but always as a student – an observer and a learner in more ways than one. So my perspectives are that of an outsider.

I remember one of the first times I devoted some thought to the conceptualisation of race in the United States. It was the 2010 census. I filled it in as everyone was required to do so. There were a few basic questions, and then a long list of options for “Race”. It seemed like such a lop-sided form to me. What kind of data would come out of it? As far as I could tell, it would compute how many people were in a given space at that prescribed moment, how old they were, and then lots of variations in how they could label themselves. What purpose could that latter bit serve in public policy?

read the rest

by

Four Reasons Why the Public Recognition of the Armenian Genocide Matters

Four Reasons Why the Public Recognition of the Armenian Genocide Matters

It is April 24 soon – Armenian Genocide commemoration day.

Every year, the public remembrance of the victims of a horrific crime during a tumultuous period becomes political in many places Armenian communities call home, not the least of which in the United States.

The White House has been issuing statements annually on April 24 for more than a quarter of a century now, but always avoiding the term “Armenian Genocide”. The massacres and deportations are duly and solemnly condemned by each president. However, calling it by that explicit term – genocide – would be detrimental to relations with Turkey, because the government in Ankara has long held either denialist positions or has pushed forward modified arguments about the broader historical context, general widespread suffering and chaos during the First World War, and so on. It is comparatively rare in Turkey nowadays to hear outright denial of killings, dispossession, and the exile from Anatolia and Asia Minor of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and other communities in 1915 and later. But describing it as genocide remains taboo in most Turkish circles.

There have been reports that President Biden will invoke “the g-word” this year. Congress, for its part, has acknowledged the Armenian Genocide on a few occasions, most recently in October, 2019, when relations with Turkey were at a low. Almost all state governors or state houses have made various proclamations or passed resolutions on the Armenian Genocide during the last few decades, as have many city-level governmental bodies throughout the United States. However, there is no sustained, federal Armenian Genocide policy position consistently adopted and expressed by the legislative and executive branches in Washington. It remains a challenge at the forefront of the impressive and moving efforts undertaken by the Armenian-American advocacy and activist community.

The broader question lingers: why even acknowledge the Armenian Genocide? What’s the point of any public or national commemoration in the US or elsewhere? It happened more than a hundred years ago. Yes, it was tragic, it should be condemned, the community has every right to hold memorial services. But what makes it a live public, political issue?

I think that is a reasonable question. Here are four reasonable responses.

read the rest