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Interview With Dr. Rubina Peroomian: The Power Of The Pen

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  • Interview With Dr. Rubina Peroomian: The Power Of The Pen

    INTERVIEW WITH DR. RUBINA PEROOMIAN: THE POWER OF THE PEN

    http://www.haytoug.org/3576/interview-with-dr-rubina-peroomian-the-power-of-the-pen
    June 18, 2012

    Haytoug: Armenians have long took pride in education and having an
    alphabet that is now over 1,600 years old. Given this legacy, how big
    of a role would you say the written word and literature has actually
    had on shaping the destiny and identity of the Armenian people?

    Rubina Peroomian: Yes, we are proud of our culture, our heritage and
    our 1600-year-old alphabet. We are proud of the rich literary output
    that made the fifth century the Golden Age and the tenth and eleventh
    centuries the Silver Age of Armenian literature.

    Yes, education has always been one of the key values upheld in
    Armenian families. But this consciousness was germinated, expounded and
    disseminated by the nineteenth-century Armenian Renaissance movement
    which was launched to enlighten and educate the Armenian masses,
    disseminate religious and cultural values, and propagate ideas of
    modernity. Before then, these values were esteemed and perpetuated by
    a relatively small class of men and women--which included the clergy,
    the ruling class, the nobility and the intellectuals--while the masses
    lived in ignorance and poverty under the yoke of foreign domination,
    deprived of basic human rights.

    What shaped the destiny and the identity of the Armenian people,
    in other words, what sustained their survival throughout their
    turbulent history, was their devotion to Christianity in the midst of
    the encroaching Muslim world and a subconscious effort to maintain
    and perpetuate their ethnic origin, traditions and language. An
    influential factor here may have been the spoken word and not the
    written word or literature.

    H: It is often said that the cultural renaissance of the Zartonk
    (Awakening) period of the 19th century gave birth to the Armenian
    revolutionary movement. In what ways exactly did writers like Mikael
    Nalbandyan, Khatchadour Abovian, Raffi and others spur Armenians
    to stand up for their liberation? Weren't the material conditions
    experienced by Armenians in the Ottoman Empire alone enough to make
    them want to resist their oppression?

    [raffi.png] R.P.: The political awakening was the final phase of
    the nineteenth-century Armenian Renaissance which began with an
    Enlightenment movement, the establishment of a network of modern
    schools, the periodical press, and the modernization of the language
    with the replacement of Grabar (which was unintelligible to the masses)
    by two literary languages closer to the dominant vernaculars.

    Through these vehicles the Armenian intelligentsia were able
    to propagate the Renaissance ideology which was, in essence,
    the aspiration to live the life that all humankind deserved to
    live. And the model, or the source of inspiration, was not so much the
    European example but the glory of the Armenian past, drenched with
    an insatiable love of liberty and justice and bolstered by a rich
    culture that Armenians can be proud of. The Armenian masses needed
    to become conscious of their own deplorable situation before they
    were able to aspire to a better future. It was during this period
    that the written word and the literature created by the Renaissance
    writers, some of whom you mentioned, assumed the role of reshaping the
    Armenian identity which had been buried in obscurity and the darkness
    of centuries of subjugation. This literature cultivated the Armenians'
    will to stand up and fight for their rights and take their destiny
    into their own hands. Call it tendentious or committed literature
    if you will, let some literary critics campaign against it, but the
    literature of the Zartonk period did the job. This literature can be
    considered the realization of the theory of "reflect and control,"
    to use Melvin J. Vincent's expression. It presented Armenian life as
    it was in its ugliest aspects, and at the same time it propagated
    and cultivated what was desirable, what was worth fighting for, in
    the reader's mind. In other words, the Renaissance artists not only
    held up a mirror to reflect life as it was, they presented a model
    of what it should be.

    These models created characters, heroes of national dimensions who
    acquired flesh and blood in the forthcoming national struggle for
    liberation.

    The revolutionary movement was a byproduct of the Renaissance, as
    was the formation of the Armenian political parties (1885-90). It
    was not widespread, however. In fact, it was launched by a few who
    believed in the importance of self-defense as a means toward national
    liberation, and its followers were the few with arms-in-hand who were
    weary of the repression, the persecution, the Turkish and Kurdish
    assaults, the looting, rape and kidnapping that were rampant in the
    Ottoman Empire. It took years of struggle to move the masses--who were
    submerged in darkness and had adapted to their lot--to sensitize them
    to their own predicament and influence them to see the possibility
    of changing the status quo.

    H: In many of the novels, poems, songs, and literature of the
    Zartonk period, we find a common emphasis on the theme of youth and
    the importance of passing on values of freedom and justice to the
    younger generation. Why was there such a strong emphasis on the youth
    by writers back then?

    R.P.: The Renaissance movement began with the enlightenment campaign
    in a newly established network of schools, that is, the education of
    the youth. If the Armenian Zartonk ideology called for a change in
    the destiny of the nation and for the destitute masses to once again
    become a nation with goals and aspirations, the young generation
    had to be prepared to take on the commitment and lead the way. The
    significance of the power of youth activism can be seen throughout the
    history of mankind. "Youth are the future"-- the statement is old and
    worn but it is true. An example close to our life in America, known
    to all, is that of the Mexican American Youth Movement of the 1960s
    and the changes brought about by the relentless activism of Chicano
    youth. In the Armenian reality of the early nineteenth century, the
    imaginary characters that Renaissance writers created and hoped to
    see materialize in real life were young individuals with a profound
    consciousness of the plight of the nation and an unwavering commitment
    to bringing change. And we have seen the burgeoning of these young
    heroes thrusting forward even when their lives were at stake.

    H: You've written a great deal about literary responses in the
    aftermath of the Armenian Genocide. What can such literature convey
    to us about the Genocide that historical facts or oral history cannot?

    R.P.: Your question leads to the essence of my work as a genocide
    scholar whose field of research is artistic literature with the
    Genocide at its core. For many long years now, I have studied the
    literature of atrocity--to use Lawrence Langer's terminology-- in
    order to understand the human dimension of this colossal crime which
    today is called the Armenian Genocide. My writings expose the last
    cries of the victims of the great injustice that has still not been
    redressed. They speak of the survivors' perceptions of the calamity and
    how their tragic experience has indelibly impacted their psyches and
    become a debilitating influence in their lives; how harrowing images
    of their past experience, triggered by visual, aural, olfactory or
    other associations, revisit them in their waking hours, and return
    in their sleep when the unconscious overrides conscious control to
    push dormant images to the surface.

    In my reading and explication of these artistic creations--memoirs,
    auto-biographical novels and other genres of genocide literature--I
    have tried to illuminate a dark corner of the horrendous landscape
    of the Armenian Genocide which will never be completely known,
    and the boundless sea of personal and collective pain and suffering
    that will never be fully recognized. Although I provide historical
    background to the places and events under discussion in my work,
    I never attempt to prove the veracity of the Genocide. It is there
    as the point of departure, as the source of the breach in Armenian
    life and all the paradigms of responses to historical catastrophes,
    and the source of the new reality which is life in the diaspora.

    Literary responses to the collective catastrophe reflect the
    reality perceived by the writers. These writings are the truth as it
    happened. The reader relates to that truth and absorbs it like no other
    document or fact sheet. [Mid.png] Allow me to quote a passage from my
    most recent book which discusses the same issue and demonstrates the
    intrinsic value of Genocide fiction and symbolic poetry "as elucidators
    of universal truths that lie at the roots of historical facts, putting
    inconceivable realities into human perspective... assisting readers
    to grasp the meaning of a historical event."

    Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, a Jewish Holocaust scholar, once declared that
    "The Holocaust has already engendered more historical research than any
    single event in Jewish history, but I have no doubt whatsoever that
    its image is being shaped, not at the historian's avail, but in the
    novelist's crucible." Indeed, it is the artist's creative power that
    can capture the unthinkable horrors of genocide and bring them within
    the scope of the reader's imagination. That is the power of the pen.

    H: Over recent years, there has been a small but growing number of
    Turks who have begun questioning the denialist narrative of Turkey
    regarding the Genocide. A significant proportion of these individuals
    have been writers, poets, novelists, and literary figures such as Orhan
    Pamuk and Elif Shafak. What role do you feel literature is playing
    in the development of a critical voice in Turkey on the Genocide?

    R.P.: There is certainly an ongoing metamorphosis at the intellectual
    level in Turkey, a change in perceptions of the Turkish past, to the
    extent of questioning the official Turkish narrative. And this is not
    so much a matter of confronting the denial of the Armenian Genocide,
    but of challenging the Republican narrative based on the idealization
    of the founders of the Republic-- many of whom were important political
    figures during the late Ottoman period and, thus, perpetrators of the
    Armenian massacres--and of questioning the denial of the multiethnic,
    multireligious and multilingual makeup of Turkey. These intellectuals
    are in quest of their own true identity.

    They are struggling for the democratization of the republic and for
    the lifting of censorship on intellectual endeavors. Their influence on
    public opinion outside Istanbul is minimal, I would say, but change is
    in the making. It is undeniable. And the effect of artistic literature
    such as Orhan Pamuk's Snow, Elif Shafak's The Bastard of Istanbul,
    Fethiye Cetin's My Grandmother, Kemal Yalcın's You Rejoice my Heart,
    Mehmet Uzun's Pomegranate Flowers, and other works are gradually being
    felt. Of course, it is also undeniable that these artistic creations
    or memoirs are supported and reinforced by historical findings, by
    the books, exposés and discourses of historians, scholars and human
    rights activists such as Taner Akcam, Ayse Gul Altınay, Fatma Muge
    Göcek, Osman Köker, Hulya Adak, Ayse Gunaysu and others.

    H: What are your thoughts on the rapid spread of modern technologies
    and the popular phenomena of social media today? Can these platforms
    serve as useful tools for a modern, 21st century Zartonk and revival
    of Armenian literature?

    R.P.: The spread of modern technology and the popularity of social
    media can be useful and harmful at the same time. The positive impact
    of this medium, so familiar to the young generation, is undeniable
    if used with a controlled effort, such as initiating monitored
    discussions, disseminating ideas, promoting understanding and support
    for the Armenian Cause and literature. It is possible today to send
    out information, organize fan clubs and groups, or rally support for
    or against an Armenian related piece of news in a matter of hours
    through Facebook and the like.

    However, the downside of social media is that it does not lend
    itself to serious literature and is mostly a space for quick notes,
    observations, and so on. As for casual online discussions, they
    can go out of control and boil down to useless chat. A revival in
    literature in Armenian? I doubt this. A unified easily accessible
    medium in cyberspace in Armenian is yet to be developed.

    H: Do you have any upcoming projects or research you can tell our
    readers about?

    R.P.: Yes, of course, and thank you for this question. My third book
    on Armenian Genocide literature was published in March this year, and
    I am already working on the next volume to complete my interpretation
    of the perceptions of the Genocide by Diasporan Armenian survivor
    writers of the first, second and third generations.

    Meanwhile, I have been working on the project of teaching the Armenian
    Genocide to Armenian students in K-12, initiated years ago by the Board
    of Regents of Prelacy Armenian Schools. I have perfected the project,
    adding missing materials and lesson plans for each age group, and I
    introduced it at the biennial educational conference sponsored by the
    Ministry of Sciences and Education of the Republic of Armenia. Because
    of the enthusiastic reception of the project by Armenian teachers
    from all over the world, the Ministry of Education agreed to adopt
    the project, prepare an online version of it and offer it for use
    by all interested parties, free of charge. It is now posted on the
    Ministry's website, at www.spyurq.dasagirq.am, to be exact.

    In participating in the 2012 conference this summer, my goal will
    be to publicize the project and work for its worldwide distribution
    and dissemination so that every Armenian student, wherever he or she
    may be, will have the chance to learn about this important turning
    point in the history of the Armenian people, through age-appropriate
    materials, tools and methodologies.

    I want to see Armenian youth armed with the knowledge of history and
    of Armenian national rights, logically, without emotional impulse. I
    want to see Armenian youth properly educated to become committed
    soldiers of Armenian national aspirations.

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