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FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN
SUMMER
AUGUST 2000
RICHARD G. HOVANNISIAN ARMENIAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION CHAIR
IN
MODERN ARMENIAN HISTORY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES REVEREND
CLERGY, DISTINGUISHED OFFICIALS OF THE UNPARALLELED CITY OF VENICE,
COLLEAGUES, HONORED GUESTS, AND STUDENTS OF THE ARMENIAN STUDIES SUMMER
PROGRAM;
WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY TO MARK A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE IN THE
COLORFUL, DIVERSE, AND OFTEN DIFFICULT LIFE OF THE ARMENIAN DIASPORA.
IT IS AN ANNIVERSARY—THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTENSIVE
SUMMER PROGRAM IN ARMENIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE HELD IN VENICE.
IT IS A PROGRAM IN A CHAIN OF SUCH ENDEAVORS WHICH ARE DIRECTED
TOWARD A COMMON PURPOSE AND A COMMON GOAL..
FOR FOUR FULL DECADES NOW, I HAVE HAD THE PRIVILEGE AND THE PLEASURE OF
TEACHING ARMENIAN HISTORY. IT
IS A FASCINATING SUBJECT BUT AT THE SAME TIME OFTEN SAD AND SOMETIMES EVEN
DEPRESSING. THIS IS A SAGA OF
SURVIVAL AGAINST SEEMINGLY INSURMOUNTABLE FORCES AND AGAINST ALL LOGICAL ODDS.
THE TURBULENCE AT THIS CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS AND OF CIVILIZATIONS
HAS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES SWEPT MILLIONS OF THE NATIVE ARMENIAN INHABITANTS
OFF THEIR GREAT PLATEAU INTO THE VAST BEYOND, BOTH NEAR AND FAR, WHERE
ARMENIAN COLONIES, COMMUNITIES, AND DIASPORAS HAVE EXISTED FROM ANCIENT TO
MODERN TIMES. HISTORICALLY, THESE
EXPATRIATE ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES REMAINED LINKED TO THE HOMELAND THROUGH STRONG EMOTIONAL, NOSTALGIC BONDS, AND THEY ATTEMPTED TO
MAINTAIN THEIR COLLECTIVE IDENTITY THROUGH THEIR RELIGION, LAWS, DIALECTS, AND
CUSTOMS. THEIR MERCHANT CLASS AND
HIGH CLERGY HELPED TO PRESERVE THE BRIDGE WITH THE HOMELAND THROUGH THEIR
TRAVELS, CORRESPONDENCE, AND EXCHANGES. YET,
WITH ALL THEIR EFFORTS, CHURCHES, MONASTERIES, NOTABLE MERCHANTS, AND CREATIVE
WRITERS AND ARTISTS, THE DIASPORAN COMMUNITIES GRADUALLY SUCCUMBED TO
ACCULTURATION AND ASSIMILATION. OFTEN,
IN THE END ALL THAT REMAINED OF A PAST CONNECTION WITH ARMENIA WAS A RELIC OR
A NO-LONGER-INTELLIGIBLE HOLY BOOK. THUS,
AS WE KNOW, PROMINENT COMMUNITIES IN PLACES SUCH AS PRE-OTTOMAN EGYPT AND
ESPECIALLY IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE EVENTUALLY RECEDED INTO OBSCURITY,
THERE TO AWAIT SOME MIRACULOUS EVENT THAT MIGHT REAWAKEN THE SELF-REALIZATION OF BELONGING TO A COMMON HERITAGE WITH
OTHERS WHO HAD DESCENDED FROM THE LAND OF ARMENIA.
HOWEVER REGRETTABLE THE FATE OF MANY ARMENIAN DIASPORAN COMMUNITIES IN
THE PRE-MODERN PERIOD, THERE WAS NO PRECEDENT FOR WHAT OCCURRED AT THE TURN OF
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY—THE TOTAL EXCISION OF A PEOPLE FROM A LAND ON WHICH
ARMENIAN NATIONAL CULTURE AND HISTORY HAD EVOLVED FOR THREE THOUSAND YEARS.
IN FACT, EXCEPT FOR THE SMALL SOVIET ARMENIAN STATE IN THE EASTERNMOST
REACHES OF THE ARMENIAN PLATEAU, THE SURVIVORS OF THE GENOCIDAL DEPORTATIONS
AND MASSACRES FROM THE 1890s TO THE 1920s WERE CONSIGNED TO AN INVOLUNTARY
PAINFUL DIASPORAN EXISTENCE.
THE SURVIVOR GENERATION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LIVED WITH VIVID
MEMORIES OF THE HOMELAND, ALWAYS RETAINING THE ROMANTIC IMAGE OF A RETURN
SOMEDAY. THEY TRIED TO INFUSE
THIS SPIRIT INTO GENERATIONS BORN IN THE DIASPORA WHICH HAD NEVER SEEN THAT
LAND. THE SURVIVORS SPENT GREAT
ENERGY ON THE CREATION OF A DIASPORAN INFRASTRUCTURE OF CHURCHES,
COMPATRIOTIC, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND, WHERE POSSIBLE, DAY
SCHOOLS OR AT LEAST SATURDAY SCHOOLS TO PRESERVE THEIR LANGUAGE.
YET, HOWEVER GREAT THIS DEDICATION AND SACRIFICE, TIME AND DISTANCE
TOOK THEIR TOLL, AND NEW GENERATIONS EMERGING IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
UNDER DISPARATE CIRCUMSTANCES FOUND IT INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO PRESERVE A
STRONG LINK WITH THEIR PAST. FLUENCY IN THE NATIVE LANGUAGE WAS LOST IN MANY
COMMUNITIES, AND THE GRAND-CHILDREN OF THE SURVIVOR GENERATION GROWING UP IN
DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS COULD NOT EASILY COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER.
THESE SERIOUS CHALLENGES TO THE FUTURE OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE HAVE
ELICITED RESPONSES FROM THOSE PERSONS
AND GROUPS MOST CONCERNED WITH THE SITUATION.
IN SOME COUNTRIES, SUCH AS THE UNITED STATES, THERE WAS A BELATED
ATTEMPT TO OPEN ARMENIAN DAY SCHOOLS, TOGETHER WITH RENEWED EFFORTS TO
ORGANIZE SOCIAL, ATHLETIC, CULTURAL, AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES TO ENGAGE THE
YOUTH. IN THE FIELD OF HIGHER
EDUCATION, PROGRAMS IN ARMENIAN
STUDIES WERE INTRODUCED, SUCH AS THOSE OF THE ENDOWED CHAIRS AT HARVARD, UCLA,
COLUMBIA, MICHIGAN, FRESNO STATE, AND TUFTS UNIVERSITIES AND AT OXFORD
UNIVERSITY. IN
EUROPE, THERE WAS A MODEST REVIVAL OF THE WELL-ESTABLISHED
ARMENOLOGICAL TRADITION WHICH HAD WANED IN THE DECADES FOLLOWING THE ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE. NATURALLY, NONE OF
THESE EFFORTS ALONE CAN WITHSTAND THE POWERFUL DOWNSTREAM CURRENT, BUT WITH
THE WELL-DESIGNED USE OF RESOURCES AND HOPEFULLY THE ACTIVE COOPERATION OF THE
GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS OF A NOW INDEPENDENT ARMENIAN STATE, IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO PREPARE A DIASPORAN LEADERSHIP OR ELITE
THAT NOT ONLY CAN COMMUNICATE WITH ALL THE CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS OF THE
DISPERSION BUT ALSO WILL BE ABLE TO DEVISE PRACTICAL STRATEGIES FOR LONG-TERM
SELF-PRESERVATION AND AN ACTIVE, SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOME COUNTRY.
IT IS NOT BY COINCIDENCE THAT VENICE FORMS A STRONG LINK IN THIS CHAIN
OF ENDEAVORS. THE RELATIONSHIP OF
VENICE WITH ARMENIA AND THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE IS WELL KNOWN. ITS ROLE IN
MEDIEVAL ARMENIAN MERCANTILE, POLITICAL,
AND ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY HAS BEEN ETCHED IN THE ANNALS OF HISTORY.
AND IT WAS VENICE THAT BECAME THE HOME FOR THE PRIMARY CENTER OF THE
ARMENIAN CULTURAL REVIVAL BEGINNING IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY AND BLOSSOMING
IN THE EIGHTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES.
MANY LEARNED LUMINARIES OF THE MEKHITARIST ORDER LED THE WAY IN THE
REDISCOVERY OF THE IMPRESSIVE CLASSICAL COMPONENTS
OF THE ARMENIAN PAST AND THEN BROADENED THE SCOPE OF THEIR STUDIES TO
ENCOMPASS MANY ASPECTS OF HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, DRAMA, LINGUISTICS, LITERATURE,
THEOLOGY, AND ART. A SMALL
DIASPORAN COMMUNITY OF SCHOLAR-CLERICS WAS ABLE TO MAKE A STRONG AND LASTING
IMPRINT ON THE SHAPE OF ARMENIAN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY AND ON THE EVOLVING
NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE.
IN A STRANGE TWIST OF FATE, IT WAS NOW THE DIASPORA BEAMING LIGHT
TOWARD THE HOMELAND AND BECKONING THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE TO DRAW BACK THE HEAVY
SHADES THAT HAD OBSCURED THEIR RICH AND BRILLIANT HISTORICAL-CULTURAL
TRADITIONS.
BY A FORTUITOUS SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES, IT IS IN THIS SAME TRADITION THAT
A DEVOTED CLERIC, INTELLECTUAL, AND TEACHER HAS CONTINUED THE MISSION,
ADAPTING HIS METHODS TO TODAY’S
REALITY. I SPEAK OF FATHER BOGHOS
LEVON ZEKIYAN. HAVING PASSED
THROUGH THE MEKHITARIST RANKS, HE HAS DISTINGUISHED HIMSELF AS A SCHOLAR OF
FIRST ORDER. HIS ERUDITION IS
REFLECTED IN THE RANGE OF HIS PUBLICATIONS FROM PHILOSOPHY TO TEXTUAL
CRITICISM, ENLIGHTENMENT
AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE, ART HISTORY, AND THE CRITICAL ISSUES OF MODERNITY
AND IDENTITY. ALTHOUGH OUR
PERIODS OF SPECIALIZATION ARE NOT THE SAME, I HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE OF BEING A
FELLOW PARTICIPANT WITH HIM IN NUMEROUS ARMENOLOGICAL GATHERINGS, DURING WHICH
I HAVE WITNESSED HIS PRODIGIOUS SCHOLARLY TRAINING AND RESERVE. HE IS EVER IN
MOTION BETWEEN ORIENT AND OCCIDENT, A REFLECTION PERHAPS OF HIS UNEASY SPIRIT,
ALWAYS TRYING TO RECONCILE WHAT SOME BELIEVE TO BE IRRECONCILABLE.
IT WAS BECAUSE OF THIS INTERNAL DRIVE THAT FATHER LEVON WAS THE PRIMARY
INITIATOR AND MOVER OF THE ARMENIAN STUDIES SUMMER PROGRAM IN VENICE FIFTEEN
YEARS AGO. SUPPORTED BY THE
PADUS-ARAXES ASSOCIATION, HE INVITED YOUNG AND OLD FROM ALL THE DIASPORAN
COMMUNITIES, SUCCESSFULLY ATTAINING AN ADMIRABLE CROSS-SECTION OF PERSONS FROM
ALL SEGMENTS OF THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITIES.
WE ARE MOST FORTUNATE THAT THE CA’
FOSCARI UNIVERSITY OF VENICE RECOGNIZED HIS MERIT AND THE VALUE OF
MULTI-CULTURAL STUDIES, INCLUDING ARMENIAN INSTRUCTION WITHIN THE DISCIPLINES
OF EURASIAN STUDIES AND LINGUISTICS. THE
FACILITIES PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION FOR THE SUMMER PROGRAMS
HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR HUNDREDS OF PARTICIPANTS TO BENEFIT FROM INTENSIVE
COURSE INSTRUCTION IN ARMENIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE WHILE AT THE SAME TIME
BECOMING BETTER ACQUAINTED WITH HISTORIC VENICE AND WITHIN IT THE HISTORIC
ARMENIAN SITES OF THE DISTRICT. FOR THESE YOUNG PEOPLE, THE PROGRAM HAS HELPED TO DEVELOP THE
CONSCIOUSNESS OF BELONGING TO A COMMON HERITAGE WITH A SHARED DESTINY.
IF I MAY BE ALLOWED A PERSONAL NOTE,
I WOULD ADD THAT MY OWN DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, SHORTLY BEFORE HER MARRIAGE,
ENROLLED IN THE SUMMER PROGRAM IN A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY OF HER
UNFAMILIAR ANCESTRAL LANGUAGE AND CULTURE SO THAT SHE COULD BRING THAT SPIRIT
INTO HER OWN HOME AS YET ANOTHER GENERATION IS BORN IN THE DIASPORA AND SEEKS
ITS PLACE IN THE LONG AND CONTINUING SAGA OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE. LET
IT NOT BE TAKEN AS A CONTRADICTION THAT I REGARD FATHER LEVON BOTH AS A
TRADITIONALIST AND A MODERNIST. DEDICATED
TO TRANSMITTING ARMENIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE, HE IS AT THE SAME TIME AN
INNOVATOR IN CONTEMPORARY METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.
THIS HAS BEEN WITNESSED, FOR
EXAMPLE, IN THE AUDIO-VISUAL
MATERIALS PREPARED UNDER HIS DIRECTION. FREQUENTLY, SO-CALLED “MINOR
LANGUAGES” ARE LEFT BY THE WAY-SIDE AS NEW TECHNIQUES ARE DEVELOPED TO
FACILITATE LANGUAGE COMPETENCE. EVEN
NOW AT MOST UNIVERSITIES OFFERING ARMENIAN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION,
THE OLD-FASHIONED METHODS OF PERIODIC CLASSROOM MEETINGS, WRITTEN
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS, AND ROTE LEARNING ARE COMMON.
THE MEDIA LABORATORIES ARE LARGELY ABSENT IN THIS PROCESS.
HENCE, IT IS ENCOURAGING TO NOTE THAT VENICE HAS DEVELOPED A PILOT
PROGRAM OF ARMENIAN INSTRUCTIONAL AUDIO-VISUAL RESOURCES. FATHER LEVON’S FLIGHTS OF IMAGINATION NOW PROPEL HIM TO
EXPLORE WITH ACADEMIC AND GOVERNMENTAL CIRCLES IN ARMENIA THE POSSIBILITY OF
ADOPTING AND ADAPTING THE TECHNIQUES THAT
HAVE BEEN USEFUL IN THE WESTERN DIASPORAN COMMUNITIES TO THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF
THE LARGE, DISPERSED COMMUNITIES IN THE LANDS OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.
THE POSSIBILITIES ARE MANY, AND IT IS HOPED THAT THESE WILL BE
RECOGNIZED BY FORWARD-LOOKING COLLEAGUES IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.
IT IS AN HONOR FOR ME TO BE A PARTICIPANT IN THESE CEREMONIES THAT
MARK AN IMPORTANT MILESTONE OF THE
ARMENIAN STUDIES SUMMER PROGRAM, OF
THE PADUS-ARAXES ASSOCIATION, OF CA’ FOSCARI UNIVERSITY, OF FATHER DR.
BOGHOS LEVON ZEKIYAN AND HIS COLLEAGUES,
AND OF THE STUDENTS AND SUPPORTERS, WITHOUT WHOM THIS PROGRAM WOULD NOT AND
COULD NOT HAVE COME INTO BEING AND BLOSSOMED.
LET US LOOK FORWARD TO THE FUTURE IN THE TRUST THAT THE SPIRITUAL AND
INTELLECTUAL NOURISHMENT OFFERED IN PROGRAMS SUCH AS THAT OFFERED IN VENICE
EACH SUMMER WILL INSPIRE AND MOTIVATE YET ANOTHER NEW GENERATION OF THE
ARMENIAN DIASPORA, HELPING TO SHAPE AND
FASHION TOMORROW’S LEADERS OF THE WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY THAT IS CALLED
“ARMENIAN.” |
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