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CONFERENCE ON ISLAMIZED ARMENIANS
http://www.hrantdink.org/?Detail=645&Lang=?Home&Lang=en
11-13 October 2013 - Istanbul
Hrant Dink Foundation
The turn of the 20th century was a period of significant social and
political transformation in the Ottoman geography, which involved
individual and mass experiences of religious conversion. In
this period, a large number of Armenians (were) Islamized, most
significantly during the years 1915-1916. An unknown number of young
Armenians survived the massacres and death marches of 1915 as adopted
daughters and sons of Muslim families. Fewer others became wives and
husbands. In exceptional cases, whole families or villages survived by
"passing" as Muslims. While some of these survivors (particularly young
men) re-united with their families or relatives in later years, or were
taken into orphanages by missionaries and relief workers, many others
lived the rest of their lives as "Muslims," taking on Turkish, Kurdish,
or Arabic names. Until recently, the stories of these survivors were
silenced or ignored in all historiographies. There is now a growing
body of literature on Islamized Armenians in the form of fiction,
memoir, testimonials and historical research. This conference seeks
to address, the experiences of Islamized Armenians and the social
consequences of their experiences; the long silence on Islamized
Armenians; as well as the recent forms of unsilencing.
What have Islamized Armenians been through? How did they deal with
the gravity of their experiences? With whom and how were they able
to share these experiences? How do their experiences reflect on the
lives of their children and grandchildren? How have they impacted
the different localities where they have lived? How are their stories
remembered and recited in these different localities?
How do the "grandchildren" of these survivors make sense of the
stories of their Islamized Armenian grandparents? How do they
articulate their identities and sense of belonging? How are they
affected by the various political developments and tensions around
this issue? How is this process reflected on different localities?
How can one account for the decades of silence on Islamized Armenians
in all historiographies? Why has it taken so long for us to be aware
of the stories of Islamized Armenians, and why is our knowledge of
their predicament so limited? In what ways is this form of survival
and its silencing gendered? How does it relate to predominant notions
of women, men and procreation? Why is there growing interest on this
particular category of survivors today?
How do the stories of Islamized Armenians contribute to or complicate
the existing scholarship on genocides in general and the Armenian
genocide in particular? What do they suggest regarding the category of
"the survivor" in genocide scholarship? What can we learn from a study
of similar forms of survival in other cases of genocide and political
violence (such as the Holocaust, the case of Aboriginal children in
Australia, or the "lost children" of Chile)? What can we learn from
exploring the connections and differences between experiences of
(forced) Islamization in previous centuries and those in the first
part of the 20th century?
Addressing such questions, among others, this conference seeks to
contribute to both the historical debates on 1915 and its aftermath,
as well as to contemporary questions of ethnic/national identification,
gender, responsibility, and justice. The conference also seeks to
discuss the role of research and scholarship in the difficult processes
of facing historical and present forms of violence, discrimination,
and injustice.
Application Process:
The conference is open to all researchers from all disciplines and
backgrounds.
The working languages of the conference will be English, Turkish and
Armenian. The applications should be made in English or Turkish.
Please submit an abstract (max. 500 words) outlining the relevance
and novelty of your contribution, together with a 200 words resume.
There are limited funds for those participants who do not have other
sources of funding to attend the conference. When submitting your
abstract, please indicate your need for any financial assistance.
There are no registration fees. Lunch, tea and coffee will be provided
for all presenters.
The application deadline is March 20, 2013. To submit your paper and
for more information: [email protected]
Organizing Committee: Ay癬_e Gul Alt覺nay Sibel Asna Fethiye Cetin
Delal Dink Ay癬_e Kad覺oglu Karin Karaka癬_l覺 Emine Kolivar Hosrof
K繹letavitoglu
Scientific Committee: Ahmet 襤nsel (Galatasaray University) Andrea
Pet繹 (Central European University) Ayfer Bartu (Bogazici University)
Ay癬_e Gul Alt覺nay (Sabanc覺 University) Boghos Levon Zekiyan
(Venice Ca' Foscari University) Hulya Adak (Sabanc覺 University)
Jackie Mansourian (PEN Melbourne) Murat Yuksel (Koc University)
Raymond Kevorkian (University Paris 8) Ronald Grigor Suny (University
of Michigan) Selim Deringil (Bogazici University) Vahe Tachjian
(Houshamadyan) Zeynep Turky覺lmaz (Dartmouth College)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
http://www.hrantdink.org/?Detail=645&Lang=?Home&Lang=en
11-13 October 2013 - Istanbul
Hrant Dink Foundation
The turn of the 20th century was a period of significant social and
political transformation in the Ottoman geography, which involved
individual and mass experiences of religious conversion. In
this period, a large number of Armenians (were) Islamized, most
significantly during the years 1915-1916. An unknown number of young
Armenians survived the massacres and death marches of 1915 as adopted
daughters and sons of Muslim families. Fewer others became wives and
husbands. In exceptional cases, whole families or villages survived by
"passing" as Muslims. While some of these survivors (particularly young
men) re-united with their families or relatives in later years, or were
taken into orphanages by missionaries and relief workers, many others
lived the rest of their lives as "Muslims," taking on Turkish, Kurdish,
or Arabic names. Until recently, the stories of these survivors were
silenced or ignored in all historiographies. There is now a growing
body of literature on Islamized Armenians in the form of fiction,
memoir, testimonials and historical research. This conference seeks
to address, the experiences of Islamized Armenians and the social
consequences of their experiences; the long silence on Islamized
Armenians; as well as the recent forms of unsilencing.
What have Islamized Armenians been through? How did they deal with
the gravity of their experiences? With whom and how were they able
to share these experiences? How do their experiences reflect on the
lives of their children and grandchildren? How have they impacted
the different localities where they have lived? How are their stories
remembered and recited in these different localities?
How do the "grandchildren" of these survivors make sense of the
stories of their Islamized Armenian grandparents? How do they
articulate their identities and sense of belonging? How are they
affected by the various political developments and tensions around
this issue? How is this process reflected on different localities?
How can one account for the decades of silence on Islamized Armenians
in all historiographies? Why has it taken so long for us to be aware
of the stories of Islamized Armenians, and why is our knowledge of
their predicament so limited? In what ways is this form of survival
and its silencing gendered? How does it relate to predominant notions
of women, men and procreation? Why is there growing interest on this
particular category of survivors today?
How do the stories of Islamized Armenians contribute to or complicate
the existing scholarship on genocides in general and the Armenian
genocide in particular? What do they suggest regarding the category of
"the survivor" in genocide scholarship? What can we learn from a study
of similar forms of survival in other cases of genocide and political
violence (such as the Holocaust, the case of Aboriginal children in
Australia, or the "lost children" of Chile)? What can we learn from
exploring the connections and differences between experiences of
(forced) Islamization in previous centuries and those in the first
part of the 20th century?
Addressing such questions, among others, this conference seeks to
contribute to both the historical debates on 1915 and its aftermath,
as well as to contemporary questions of ethnic/national identification,
gender, responsibility, and justice. The conference also seeks to
discuss the role of research and scholarship in the difficult processes
of facing historical and present forms of violence, discrimination,
and injustice.
Application Process:
The conference is open to all researchers from all disciplines and
backgrounds.
The working languages of the conference will be English, Turkish and
Armenian. The applications should be made in English or Turkish.
Please submit an abstract (max. 500 words) outlining the relevance
and novelty of your contribution, together with a 200 words resume.
There are limited funds for those participants who do not have other
sources of funding to attend the conference. When submitting your
abstract, please indicate your need for any financial assistance.
There are no registration fees. Lunch, tea and coffee will be provided
for all presenters.
The application deadline is March 20, 2013. To submit your paper and
for more information: [email protected]
Organizing Committee: Ay癬_e Gul Alt覺nay Sibel Asna Fethiye Cetin
Delal Dink Ay癬_e Kad覺oglu Karin Karaka癬_l覺 Emine Kolivar Hosrof
K繹letavitoglu
Scientific Committee: Ahmet 襤nsel (Galatasaray University) Andrea
Pet繹 (Central European University) Ayfer Bartu (Bogazici University)
Ay癬_e Gul Alt覺nay (Sabanc覺 University) Boghos Levon Zekiyan
(Venice Ca' Foscari University) Hulya Adak (Sabanc覺 University)
Jackie Mansourian (PEN Melbourne) Murat Yuksel (Koc University)
Raymond Kevorkian (University Paris 8) Ronald Grigor Suny (University
of Michigan) Selim Deringil (Bogazici University) Vahe Tachjian
(Houshamadyan) Zeynep Turky覺lmaz (Dartmouth College)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress