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CULTURE - DON'T FORGET THE GENOCIDE
by Steve Andrew
Morning Star
June 2, 2008 Monday
UK
My Grandmother A Memoir
by Fethiye Cetin (Verso, £12.99)
One of the first things that you notice about political arguments is
that they are not always won by sheer weight of facts and figures.
Intimate, more personal narratives about how larger events have
affected the smaller people can also pack a powerful punch and this
is what Fethiye Cetin attempts to do by telling the story of the
Armenian genocide, the 20th century's hidden holocaust, through the
life of her much-loved grandmother.
What makes this story all the more remarkable is that it's also a
tale which came as much as a shock to the author as anyone else.
Few, if any, knew about her grandmother's Armenian Christian background
and, so, when she began to tell the stories of torture, murder and
separation that devastated the once thriving Armenian communities of
Anatolia, Cetin decided that her experiences must never be forgotten.
There's a wealth of information here about Armenian culture and Turkish
society in general and it's a powerful introduction to the brutality
of the period, the only drawback being that it never really explains
why the genocide took place.
The recent assassination of an Armenian writer, a personal friend of
the author, and a series of protests by nationalist bigots against
EU recognition of the massacres show how far Armenians have yet to
go in their struggle for justice.
--Boundary_(ID_shFI9iM8Iyyvwwi6jg03ng)--
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
by Steve Andrew
Morning Star
June 2, 2008 Monday
UK
My Grandmother A Memoir
by Fethiye Cetin (Verso, £12.99)
One of the first things that you notice about political arguments is
that they are not always won by sheer weight of facts and figures.
Intimate, more personal narratives about how larger events have
affected the smaller people can also pack a powerful punch and this
is what Fethiye Cetin attempts to do by telling the story of the
Armenian genocide, the 20th century's hidden holocaust, through the
life of her much-loved grandmother.
What makes this story all the more remarkable is that it's also a
tale which came as much as a shock to the author as anyone else.
Few, if any, knew about her grandmother's Armenian Christian background
and, so, when she began to tell the stories of torture, murder and
separation that devastated the once thriving Armenian communities of
Anatolia, Cetin decided that her experiences must never be forgotten.
There's a wealth of information here about Armenian culture and Turkish
society in general and it's a powerful introduction to the brutality
of the period, the only drawback being that it never really explains
why the genocide took place.
The recent assassination of an Armenian writer, a personal friend of
the author, and a series of protests by nationalist bigots against
EU recognition of the massacres show how far Armenians have yet to
go in their struggle for justice.
--Boundary_(ID_shFI9iM8Iyyvwwi6jg03ng)--
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress