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March 3 - World Writers Day: Is Armenian society reading books?
12:05 - 03.03.12
President of the Writers' Union Levon Ananyan strongly believes that
the Armenian society is little by little redeveloping its interest in
books.
Speaking to Tert.am, he said that 40 new members have quite recently
joined the literary community, most being young people.
According to him, the majority of the more or less outstanding writers
in Armenia - around 400 people - are members of the Union.
`They give a literary product. The annual book publishing has hit
records in the past years - around 1,200 - 1,300 books, most being
fiction literature,' he said, adding that about 135 million drams
(about $ 375,000) are annually allocated from the State Budget for the
books publication.
His comments came on the occasion of the World Writers Day which is
annually celebrated on March 3. The holiday has been established in
1986 by the International Congress of PEN Club.
Speaking about the day, writer and publicist Violet Grigoryan said she
does not absolutely care about the society's opinion, and does not
even attempt to see any links between a writer's role and the public.
`Liking or disliking does not absolutely matter to me. The important
thing is the different comments, although we do not presently have
what is commonly known as a literary critic or a reader's response
which does not actually interest me at all,' she said.
Grigoryan does not think the Armenian society lacks book-lovers.
`I don't know what has given rise to the statements that the society
is now reading less than before. Maybe that past is linked to the
Soviet times when no other means entertainment, and none of
technologies we use today existed,' she said, adding that the internet
nowadays very often replaces the popular scientific literature that
was widely read in the past.
As for why the older generation of writers does not join their ranks,
she said: `The continuation of the older [generation] is impossible
because the objectives of literature have changed. Outstanding
authorities become demanded when the society poses questions -
historically and politically,' she said, referring to such prominent
writers as Khachatur Abovyan and Raffi who had set themselves a task
to shape or preserve a nation (problems which she said no longer
exist).
`Today, we consider the classical writer a cultural value, but art
differs from culture. Art nowadays is an emerging value that you
cannot assess. Art lives with us, and we need time to make it
culture,' she noted.
Tert.am
12:05 - 03.03.12
President of the Writers' Union Levon Ananyan strongly believes that
the Armenian society is little by little redeveloping its interest in
books.
Speaking to Tert.am, he said that 40 new members have quite recently
joined the literary community, most being young people.
According to him, the majority of the more or less outstanding writers
in Armenia - around 400 people - are members of the Union.
`They give a literary product. The annual book publishing has hit
records in the past years - around 1,200 - 1,300 books, most being
fiction literature,' he said, adding that about 135 million drams
(about $ 375,000) are annually allocated from the State Budget for the
books publication.
His comments came on the occasion of the World Writers Day which is
annually celebrated on March 3. The holiday has been established in
1986 by the International Congress of PEN Club.
Speaking about the day, writer and publicist Violet Grigoryan said she
does not absolutely care about the society's opinion, and does not
even attempt to see any links between a writer's role and the public.
`Liking or disliking does not absolutely matter to me. The important
thing is the different comments, although we do not presently have
what is commonly known as a literary critic or a reader's response
which does not actually interest me at all,' she said.
Grigoryan does not think the Armenian society lacks book-lovers.
`I don't know what has given rise to the statements that the society
is now reading less than before. Maybe that past is linked to the
Soviet times when no other means entertainment, and none of
technologies we use today existed,' she said, adding that the internet
nowadays very often replaces the popular scientific literature that
was widely read in the past.
As for why the older generation of writers does not join their ranks,
she said: `The continuation of the older [generation] is impossible
because the objectives of literature have changed. Outstanding
authorities become demanded when the society poses questions -
historically and politically,' she said, referring to such prominent
writers as Khachatur Abovyan and Raffi who had set themselves a task
to shape or preserve a nation (problems which she said no longer
exist).
`Today, we consider the classical writer a cultural value, but art
differs from culture. Art nowadays is an emerging value that you
cannot assess. Art lives with us, and we need time to make it
culture,' she noted.
Tert.am