Did the Armenian Writers Conference Walk the Talk?

Lucine Kasbarian

 

“Armenian writers who, as a result of bitter fate, create in foreign languages are not foreigners, but faithful and dedicated ambassadors of their Armenian blood and spirit in non-Armenian surroundings.”

-- Sarkis Guiragossian, Aztag daily newspaper, 2005

There are several schools of thought about how to behave in a foreign country. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” is one such advisory.

But – and I’m really thinking of Armenia-Diaspora relations, what about a self-identifying Roman whose family has been in exile for several generations? What if this individual often visited Rome and participated in its culture with an eye on solidarity with its people? And what if Rome was in economic and political turmoil, and the people were leaving in droves?  Could one then afford to merely “do as the Romans do?”