Armenian Identity in the Diaspora : Between Modernity and Preservation

 Laurence Ritter

The author of a PhD dissertation, Remodelling of Armenian Identities between the Diaspora and Armenia, from Victims to Individuals, French sociologist Laurence Ritter explains the specifities of the Armenian Diaspora formed after the 1915 Genocide. In her view, far from being a monolithic whole, the Diaspora shows different faces according to the countries Armenians emigrated to. Therefore, one should talk about not just one but several Diasporas. Armenia’s access to independence and the wide circulation of information in the digital era have also deeply changed the ways of the traditional Diaspora. Laurence Ritter analyses the various challenges the Diaspora must face in order to step into modernity.

The Independence Generation

Maria Titizian

 

They speak a different language. Their engagement with one another and the world has a different rhythm and voice. They are globally mobile, technologically advanced and brave of heart and conviction. Their heroes and mentors come from the past but their vision is rooted in possibility. They ask the important questions, they use their logic and rationale but their actions are informed by an explicit sense of belonging and ownership. They are cognizant of the deficits yet refuse to be shattered by them. They are intuitive and brilliant beyond the stretches of our tired and worn down imaginations. They see the world through their own sense of time and space. And while I secretly fear that their fearlessness highlights my own obsolescence, I am awed by their mettle. They are the independence generation.

A Clash of Cultures: Re-Imagining the Hyphenated Armenian

 Maria Titizian

I often wonder if other nations are as hard on themselves as we are. No doubt our behavior toward one another on a personal, national and global scale is enough reason to begin a critical discourse on our self-perceived lack of inspiration. While we all claim to be Armenian due to genetic material, ethnicity, language, physical characteristics and a shared history, we are in fact a people whose behavior, world views and perceptions are in constant conflict. Our personal stories and experiences in the Diaspora attest to this condition and were further compounded after Armenia gained independence. We went from the typical Diaspora hyphenations of Lebanese-, American-, Iranian-, Syrian-, French-, Argentinean-Armenian to the Hayastantsi-Spyurkahay shift. We are forever labeling ourselves as Armenians belonging to a particular place but never a shared space.

We create divisions for the sake of divisions.

Stories of a Silent Generation

Abby Alexanian

I don’t speak Armenian. I’ve never been to the Republic of Armenia. I rarely eat the food or attend Armenian Church services. But I can’t shake the feeling that I am definitely Armenian. Yet as much as I feel that I am Armenian, I also can’t seem to figure out what that means.

Human beings are “meaning makers” – we turn our memories into stories that give meaning to the past. Meaning helps us understand pain and joy, it teaches us about ourselves, and it gives us various parts of our identities. Family histories especially confer meaning on each new generation; in many ways, our family stories create us. Yet what happens when those stories are immensely painful? And what happens when these stories in particular are not told?

Questions on the Raison d'Etre of an Armenian School Education

This letter to the editor appeared in the June 1999 issue of the now-defunct "AIM" magazine in response to an editorial, "Questions on the Raison d'Etre of an Armenian School Education." A whole decade went on, but some of the issues raised in the letter seem relevant to us and, we hope, will look relevant to the readers.

Armenian Day Schools: Some Random Thoughts

One can safely assume that the number of students in Armenian day and Saturday schools throughout the Eastern United States is pretty much smaller than that of Sunday schools students. A comparative and updated statistics remains to be done, but let us take this assumption, however well-grounded it might be, as a starting point to confront an old debate in the Armenian-American community: what is the source of Armenian identity in this community? Church or school?