Armenian Literature
Armenian literature encompasses the body of written works produced by authors from Armenia and its historical territories. Its origins are traced back to around 400 CE, linked to the creation of the Armenian alphabet, which enabled the preservation of both religious texts and secular writings. The cultural significance of literature in Armenia has been shaped by a tumultuous history marked by invasions, territorial fragmentation, and a lack of sustained sovereignty, which has led to literature becoming a vital expression of Armenian identity.
The literature developed through several eras, beginning with a rich classical period in the fifth century, often regarded as a golden age. This era saw the emergence of significant works, such as Eznik Koghbatsi's polemical writings. The medieval period introduced prominent poets and historians, while the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries marked a revival in Armenian literary activities. The nineteenth century further established modern Armenian literature, influenced by European styles and marked by the debate over linguistic expression—classical versus spoken Armenian.
In contemporary times, despite facing challenges, Armenian literature continues to thrive, with notable modern writers like Aram Pachyan and Ruben Yesayan emerging in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Their works reflect a blend of traditional themes with modern narratives, ensuring the continuation of Armenia's rich literary heritage.
Armenian Literature
Armenian literature is literature written by authors from the contemporary country of Armenia and the various nation-states that preceded it. The history of Armenian literature is typically traced back to around 400 CE when the Armenian alphabet was developed primarily for the purpose of religious preservation. Centuries after its early emergence, Armenia’s literary tradition is still one of the most prominent aspects of Armenian identity and culture. Much of Armenian literature’s cultural significance is tied to Armenians’ historic lack of geopolitical sovereignty. Because of its checkered history of territorial instability caused by repeated invasions, displacements, and migrations, Armenia struggled to establish a permanent cultural identity. In this environment, literature proved to be a critical element in the development of a distinct Armenian culture. As a result, literature remains an integral part of Armenian identity even to the modern day.
Brief history
Armenia is a country located in the geographical region of Transcaucasia that lies on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. In its present form, Armenia is only a fraction of the size that it was during earlier times. Home to one of the oldest hubs of civilization in human history, ancient Armenia stretched from the south-central coast of the Black Sea to the Caspian Seas in the north and from the Mediterranean Sea to modern Iran’s Lake Urmia in the south. Scholars believe that the first people to inhabit this region probably migrated there from Eastern Europe. It is traditionally said that ancient Armenia was initially founded by the legendary hero Hayk around 2,500 BCE. Armenia ultimately derived its name from that of Hayk’s son, Aram. Following Hayk’s reign, Armenia was controlled by rulers like the Hittites for centuries until it became an independent kingdom in 190 BCE. The Kingdom of Armenia subsequently thrived for a time until the fall of the Roman Empire. At that point, control of the former Kingdom of Armenia was divided between the Persians and Byzantines.
In the centuries that followed, Armenia regained some control of its territory at times, but after enduring a seemingly unending barrage of foreign invasions, it fell as an autonomous state in the fourteenth century. For several hundred years, a divided Armenia was controlled by various Mongol and Arab rulers. This changed in the seventeenth century when Armenia was split between the Persians in the east and the Ottomans in the west. In the nineteenth century, the eastern portion of Armenia was annexed by Russia. In Ottoman-controlled western Armenia, the imperial government conducted organized massacres and forced removals of ethnic Armenians in the mid-1890s and again in 1915. Eastern Armenia briefly won its independence in 1918 and existed as the Republic of Armenia for two years until it was retaken by the Russians and incorporated into the newly formed Soviet Union. Armenia was subsequently united with Azerbaijan and Georgia to form the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. In 1936, the republic was dissolved, leaving each of these countries to take its modern form while still under Soviet control. When the Soviet Union later began to crumble in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Armenia became one of the first Soviet republics to declare its independence. Since officially becoming an independent nation on September 23, 1991, Armenia has retained its Soviet borders. While fewer than one-quarter of modern Armenians still live in Armenia itself, the country and its people remain known for their strong cultural pride.
Overview
The earliest roots of Armenian literature can be traced back to antiquity. Contemporary scholars have unearthed evidence of pagan oral literature that thrived in Armenia prior to the fifth century CE. However, this ancient oral literary tradition was all but obliterated because of the introduction of Christianity in Armenia in the fourth century. Overzealous priests in Armenia’s early Christian church made a concerted effort to eradicate pagan oral literature that was remarkably successful. Only a few stray examples of ancient Armenian literature survived to the modern day.
In the early days of Christian Armenia, the only widely available works of literature were copies of the Bible and other religious books written in Greek and Syriac. Since few Armenians understood these languages, such books were effectively rendered useless to most of the population. To remedy this problem, early Armenian linguist Mesrop Mashtots and several others developed the Armenian alphabet in 405 CE. Mesrop also organized a school of translators who undertook the task of translating Greek and Syriac religious works into the newly created Armenian.
Classical Armenian Literature
The fifth century is widely known as the golden age of Armenian literature. While religious translations were the most common works of this era, others proliferated as well. Chief among the great achievements of classical Armenian literature is author Eznik Koghbatsi’s Refutations of the Sects. A polemical or strongly critical work, Refutations of the Sects offers a defense of pagan Armenian superstitions, Greek philosophy, and Iranian dualism. It is considered to be the finest example of classical style in Armenian literature. Additional writings were translated into Armenian from other languages later in the classical era, including the writings of religious figures such as Saint John Chrysostom and those of Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.
Medieval Armenian Literature
Armenian literature reached new heights in the tenth and eleventh centuries. It was during this period that St. Gregory Narekatzi emerged as the first renowned Armenian poet. Best known for his mystic poems and hymns, Narekatzi also penned important books like Commentary on the Song of Songs. Early medieval Armenian literature was also dominated by great histories. In particular, Thomas Artsruni’s History of the House of Artsruni is typically viewed as the foremost source on Armenian history up to 936. Similarly, Bishop Ukhtanes of Sebastia penned both History of Armenia and History of the Schism Between the Georgians and Armenians.
Around 1100, Greater Armenia suffered a devastating political collapse that resulted in a split between separate eastern and western branches of Armenian literature. During this period, many Armenian authors on both sides of the divide started writing in spoken Armenian in addition to classical Armenian.
The late fourteenth century saw a stark decline in Armenian literature because of the 1375 Mamluk invasion and the subsequent 1385 invasion led by Tamerlane. Persisting through the end of the medieval era, this period of decline marked a cultural low point for Armenia and its literary tradition.
Modern Armenian Literature
Armenia’s cultural and literary decline started coming to an end in the seventeenth century with the reemergence of great histories. This reawakening led to an intellectual renaissance in the eighteenth century and the beginning of modern Armenian literature in the nineteenth century. As early modern Armenian literature began to develop, there arose a controversy over whether new works should be written in the classical Armenian language or in the common spoken tongue. This debate was ultimately decided in favor of the spoken language. In response to this critical decision, another linguistic schism occurred in Armenia; while Eastern literature was subsequently written in a modified version of the Yerevan dialect, western literature was written in a modified version of the Istanbul dialect.
As the country’s modern literary tradition began to take hold, many Armenian authors modeled their work on that of European writers. Several prominent figures flourished during this era. These included satirical novelists such as Hakob Paronian and Ervand Otian and short story writers such as Grigor Zohrab.
During the years when Armenia was under Russian control, the novel became a more prominent part of the national literary tradition than it had ever previously been. Novels such as Khachatur Abovean’s Wounds of Armenia (1841) often served to promote Armenian moral and sociopolitical ambitions. Chief among Armenia’s leading nineteenth-century novelists was Raffi, who was best known for works like The Fool (1880) and Sparks (1884). Armenian poetry also started to thrive during the early modern era, with poets such as Hovhannes Thumanian and his short epic masterpiece Anush (1892) at the forefront of the movement.
While Armenian literature entered another decline in the early twentieth century following the fall of Istanbul as the hub of Western Armenian literature, the country’s literary tradition ultimately survived and rebounded in later years. Some of the most notable writers to emerge in independent Armenia in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries are Aram Pachyan, Ruben Yesayan, Anna Davtyan, and Hovhannes Tekgyozyan. Pachyan, in particular, is a highly celebrated modern Armenian writer who achieved breakthrough success with the publication of his 2012 novel Goodbye, Bird. Similarly, Yesayan shot to fame after his first book, 13 Kilometers From The Tunnel (2023), broke ground as one of the first horror-thriller genre novels in Armenian literature.
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