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Armenian Studies Program
Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Coordinator
5245 N. Backer Ave. PB4
Fresno CA 93740-8001
ASP Office: 559-278-2669
FAX: 559-278-2129
ASP Website: http://www.fresnostate.edu/artshum/armenianstudies/
`The Origins of the Armenian Community in New England
and the Construction of Armenian-American `Cultural Congruence''
by Dr. Simon Payaslian
Dr. Simon Payaslian, holder of the Charles K. and Elizabeth
M. Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature at Boston
University , will give a talk on ` The Origins of the Armenian
Community in New England and the Construction of Armenian-American
`Cultural Congruence,' ' at 7:30PM on Friday, September 12, in the
University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191, on the
Fresno State campus.
The lecture is the first in the Fall Lecture Series of the Armenian
Studies Program and is supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation.
This lecture discusses the origins and development of the Armenian
community in the United States, with a focus on the New England
region, from the 1880s to the 1920s. The early Armenian immigrants to
the New World, having fled Ottoman oppressive rule and economic
depression, were confronted with the twin, and often conflicting,
tasks of preservation of Armenian traditions, values, and mores of the
homeland while seeking rapid integration and assimilation into
American society. The case of the Armenian community in the United
States demonstrates the dynamic nature of, and the complexities
involved in, the construction and evolution of a diasporan community
and identity. Armenian community institutions not only functioned as
instruments for self-preservation but also sought to cultivate a
positive self-image of the community in the host society.
A comparative analysis of the Armenian-language newspaper Hayk and t
he English- language Armenia journal reveals the deep tensions between
the imperatives of self-preservation and the imperatives of cultural
integration and rapid economic growth. Hayk emphasized preservation of
Armenianness against foreignization and sought to instill a sense of
community belongingness and cultural authenticity. It urged community
institutions and leaders to protect the newly arriving family members
and compatriots from what its authors considered the dangers of
drifting and assimilating into the dominant culture.
On the other hand, t he Armenia journal promoted the idea of `cultural
congruence' between Armenian and American values. It represented those
sectors in the Armenian community who felt compelled to guarantee
economic survival and success, to strive to create favorable
impressions of Armenia and the Armenians among their American hosts,
and to lobby for favorable U.S. foreign policy towards the
homeland. The promotion of `cultural congruence' between Armenian and
American values and identities as cultivated by the Armenia journal in
the early part of the twentieth century emerged as the dominant
paradigm for the Armenian communities across the United States by the
1940s and has survived largely uncontested since then.
Dr. Simon Payaslian is holder of the Charles K. and Elizabeth
M. Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature at Boston
University. He is the author of a number of books, including The
Political Economy of Human Rights in Armenia: Authoritarianism and
Democracy in a Former Soviet Republic (2011) and International
Political Economy: Conflict and Cooperation in the Global System
(co-authored with Frederic S. Pearson) (McGraw-Hill, 1999; Chinese
translation, Peking University Press, 2006). His articles and book
chapters include `Diasporan Subalternities: The Armenian Community in
Syria,' Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies 16:1/2 (2007
[2012]): 92-132, and `Imagining Armenia,' in The Call of the Homeland:
Diaspora Nationalisms, Past and Present , edited by Allon Gal, Athena
S. Leoussi, and Anthony D. Smith (Brill, 2010).
The lecture is free and open to the public. Free public parking is
available after 7:00PM at Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the
University Business Center. For more information about the lecture
please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, or visit our
website at www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.
Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Coordinator
5245 N. Backer Ave. PB4
Fresno CA 93740-8001
ASP Office: 559-278-2669
FAX: 559-278-2129
ASP Website: http://www.fresnostate.edu/artshum/armenianstudies/
`The Origins of the Armenian Community in New England
and the Construction of Armenian-American `Cultural Congruence''
by Dr. Simon Payaslian
Dr. Simon Payaslian, holder of the Charles K. and Elizabeth
M. Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature at Boston
University , will give a talk on ` The Origins of the Armenian
Community in New England and the Construction of Armenian-American
`Cultural Congruence,' ' at 7:30PM on Friday, September 12, in the
University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191, on the
Fresno State campus.
The lecture is the first in the Fall Lecture Series of the Armenian
Studies Program and is supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation.
This lecture discusses the origins and development of the Armenian
community in the United States, with a focus on the New England
region, from the 1880s to the 1920s. The early Armenian immigrants to
the New World, having fled Ottoman oppressive rule and economic
depression, were confronted with the twin, and often conflicting,
tasks of preservation of Armenian traditions, values, and mores of the
homeland while seeking rapid integration and assimilation into
American society. The case of the Armenian community in the United
States demonstrates the dynamic nature of, and the complexities
involved in, the construction and evolution of a diasporan community
and identity. Armenian community institutions not only functioned as
instruments for self-preservation but also sought to cultivate a
positive self-image of the community in the host society.
A comparative analysis of the Armenian-language newspaper Hayk and t
he English- language Armenia journal reveals the deep tensions between
the imperatives of self-preservation and the imperatives of cultural
integration and rapid economic growth. Hayk emphasized preservation of
Armenianness against foreignization and sought to instill a sense of
community belongingness and cultural authenticity. It urged community
institutions and leaders to protect the newly arriving family members
and compatriots from what its authors considered the dangers of
drifting and assimilating into the dominant culture.
On the other hand, t he Armenia journal promoted the idea of `cultural
congruence' between Armenian and American values. It represented those
sectors in the Armenian community who felt compelled to guarantee
economic survival and success, to strive to create favorable
impressions of Armenia and the Armenians among their American hosts,
and to lobby for favorable U.S. foreign policy towards the
homeland. The promotion of `cultural congruence' between Armenian and
American values and identities as cultivated by the Armenia journal in
the early part of the twentieth century emerged as the dominant
paradigm for the Armenian communities across the United States by the
1940s and has survived largely uncontested since then.
Dr. Simon Payaslian is holder of the Charles K. and Elizabeth
M. Kenosian Chair in Modern Armenian History and Literature at Boston
University. He is the author of a number of books, including The
Political Economy of Human Rights in Armenia: Authoritarianism and
Democracy in a Former Soviet Republic (2011) and International
Political Economy: Conflict and Cooperation in the Global System
(co-authored with Frederic S. Pearson) (McGraw-Hill, 1999; Chinese
translation, Peking University Press, 2006). His articles and book
chapters include `Diasporan Subalternities: The Armenian Community in
Syria,' Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies 16:1/2 (2007
[2012]): 92-132, and `Imagining Armenia,' in The Call of the Homeland:
Diaspora Nationalisms, Past and Present , edited by Allon Gal, Athena
S. Leoussi, and Anthony D. Smith (Brill, 2010).
The lecture is free and open to the public. Free public parking is
available after 7:00PM at Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the
University Business Center. For more information about the lecture
please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, or visit our
website at www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.