Armenian literature
Encyclopedia
Early literature
Armenian literature begins about 406 with the invention of the Armenian alphabetArmenian alphabet
The Armenian alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Armenian language since the year 405 or 406. It was devised by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader, and contained originally 36 letters. Two more letters, օ and ֆ, were added in the Middle Ages...
by Mesrop.
Isaac
Isaac of Armenia
Isaac or Sahak of Armenia was Catholicos of Armenia. He is sometimes known as "Isaac the Great," and as "Սահակ Պարթև / Sahak Parthev" in Armenian, owing to his Parthian origin....
, the Catholicos of Armenia
Catholicos of Armenia
The Catholicos of All Armenians is the chief bishop of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is one of the Oriental Orthodox churches that do not accept the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. The first Catholicos of All Armenians was Saint Gregory the Illuminator...
, formed a school of translators who were sent to Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
, Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
, Caesarea in Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
, and elsewhere, to procure codices both in Syriac and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and translate them. From Syriac were made the first version of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, the version of Eusebius' History and his Life of Constantine (unless this be from the original Greek), the homilies of Aphraates, the Acts of Gurias and Samuna, the works of Ephrem Syrus (partly published in four volumes by the Mechitharists of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
). In these first years of the 5th century were composed some of the apocryphal works which, like the Discourses attributed to St. Gregory and the History of Armenia said to have come from Agathangelus
Agathangelos
Agathangelos , appropriately so named, was a supposed secretary of Tiridates III, King of Armenia, under whose name there has come down a life of the first apostle of Armenia, Gregory the Illuminator, who died about 332. It purports to exhibit the deeds and discourses of Gregory, and has reached us...
, are asserted to be the works of these and other well-known men. This early period of Armenian literature also produced many original compositions. Eznik of Kolb wrote a "Refutation of the Sects", and Koryun
Koryun
Koryun was the earliest Armenian-language historian. Writing in the fifth century, his "Life of Mesrob" contains many details about the evangelization of Armenia and the invention of the Armenian alphabet.Some Armenian and European scholars, such as G.Alishan, O.Torosyan, G.Fintigliyan, A.Sarukhan,...
the "History of the Life of St. Mesrop and of the Beginnings of Armenian Literature". These men, both of whom were disciples of Mesrop, bring to an end what may be called the golden age of Armenian literature.
Folk literature
Armenia is known to have been a nation often occupied by nearby powers, such as the Sassanid EmpireSassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
. The beginning of the Medieval era was marked by the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
occupation of Armenia. The people then start to talk of a great hero who would be able to liberate them and reestablish Armenian sovereignty. David of Sasun, known as Sasuntsi Davit', is the medieval Armenian equivalent of Hercules. For over a thousand years the legend of David was passed from grandfathers to their grandsons thanks to the Armenian oral tradition, and it is difficult to classify his stories as ancient or medieval. In 1873, the story was first written down by Archbishop Karekin Servantzdiants, who copied word for word the tale as told by a peasant storyteller from Moush named Grbo. Other versions of the tale from various regions of Armenia were copied down in the ensuing years, and during the early Soviet era in Armenia, the stories were collated into a "united version"; a connected narrative out of dozens isolated episodes, fragments, and near-complete though differing versions of the legend. One of the most famous treatments of the story was the verse rendition made by Hovhannes Toumanian in 1902. His poem only covers the story of David, which is actually only one of 4 parts of the story, although the central portion.
The four portions of the story are named after their heroes: Sanasar & Balthazar (Sanasar yev Baghdasar), Lion-Mher (Aryudz Mher), David of Sassoun (Sassountsi Tavit), and Mher the Younger (Pokr Mher). Sanasar is the father of Lion-Mher, who is the father of David, who is the father of Mher the Younger. Mher the younger is cursed to never bear progeny and his superhuman powers are too much for the world to handle, so he is enclosed in a mountain cave where he waits until the end of the world to come out and restore order. (similar to the western legends of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
or Barbarossa
Barbarossa
Barbarossa, a name meaning red beard in Italian, may refer to any of these:-People:* Emperor Barbarossa or Frederick I , Holy Roman Emperor...
.)
Despite the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
flavor of the epic, numerous fantastic creatures, good and evil, influence the action.
One of the ancestors of the legendary David is the Lady Dzovinar, who agrees to marry the 90-year-old King of Baghdad in order to save her people. Sanasar and Balthasar were their two sons. Sanasar moves to Sassoun, the fortress-town of Armenia, now located in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. He has three children, the eldest of them being the Great Mher of Sassoun, with superhuman powers. Mher's veritable son is David of Sassoun. However, he also gets another son from the Arabic queen of Egypt. He is known as Misra Melik, which literally means "The sovereign of Egypt". He is probably the figure of all of what the Armenians resented; traitors, and foreign oppressors.
Throughout the years the half-brothers fought, and eventually David chops his nemesis in half.
Religious literature
Cyril of Alexandria
Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...
, from the pen of Stephen, Bishop of Syunik. It was two centuries later that the celebrated "History of Armenia" by the Catholicos John V the Historian
John V the Historian
Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi was Catholicos of Armenia from 897 to 925, and a noted chronicler and historian. He is called John V the Historian, and is known for his History of Armenia. It was printed at the end of the seventeenth century...
came forth, covering the period from the origin of the nation to the year A.D. 925. A contemporary of his, Annine of Mok, an abbot and the most celebrated theologian of the time, composed a treatise against the Tondrakians
Tondrakians
Tondrakians were members of an anti-feudal, heretical Christian sect that flourished in medieval Armenia between the early 9th century and 11th century and centered around the city of Tondrak, north of Lake Van in Western Armenia.-History:...
, a sect imbued with Manicheism. The name of Chosrov, Bishop of Andzevatsentz, is honoured because of his interesting commentaries on the Breviary and Mass-Prayers. Gregory of Narek
Gregory of Narek
Grigor Narekatsi is a canonized saint. He was an Armenian monk, poet, mystical philosopher and theologian, born into a family of writers. His father, Khosrov, was an archbishop...
, his son, is the Armenian Pindar from whose pen came elegies, odes, panegyrics, and homilies. Stephen Asoghtk, whose "Universal History" reaches down to A.D. 1004, and Gregory Magistros
Gregory Magistros
Gregory Magistros was an Armenian linguist, scholar and public functionary. A layman of the princely Pahlavuni family, he was the son of Vassak Pahlavuni. After Byzantium annexed the Kingdom of Ani, Gregory went on to serve as the Governor-general of the province of Edessa. The Byzantine Emperor...
, whose long poem on the Old and New Testaments displays much application, are the last writers worthy of mention in this period.
Cilician renaissance
The modern period of Armenian literature can well be dated from the renaissance of letters among the Armenians in the 12th century. The Catholicos Nerses surnamed the Gracious, is the most brilliant author in the beginning of this period. Besides his poetic works, such as the "Elegy on the Taking of Edessa", there are prose works including a "Pastoral Letter", a "Synodal Discourse", and his "Letters". This age gave us also a commentary on St. Luke and one on the Catholic Epistles. Of note, too, is the Synodal Discourse of Nerses of LambronNerses of Lambron
Saint Nerses of Lambron was the Archbishop of Tarsus in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia who is remembered as one of the most significant figures in Armenian literature and ecclesiastical history.-Life:...
, Archbishop of Tarsus, delivered at the Council of Hromcla in 1179, which is anti-Monophysite in tone. The 13th century gave birth to Vartan the Great, whose talents were those of a poet, an exegete, and a theologian, and whose "Universal History" is extensive in the field it covers. Gregory of Datev in the next century composed his "Question Book", which is a fiery polemic against the. Catholics.
Under foreign rule
The 16th century saw Armenia in the hands of Persia, and a check was for the time put on literature. However, in scattering the Armenians to all parts of Europe; the Persian invasion had its good effects. They established printing shops in Venice and Rome, and in the following century (the seventeenth) in Lemberg, Milan, Paris, and elsewhere. Old works were republished and new ones given forth. The Mechitarists of Venice have been the leaders in this movement; but their publications, although numerous, have been often uncritical. Their brothers, the Mechitarists of Vienna, have been likewise active in this work and it is to their society that Balgy and Catergian belong, two well-known writers on Armenian topics. Russia, Constantinople and Etchmiadzin are the other centres of Armenian literary efforts and the last-named place is especially worthy of note, imbued as it is today with German scientific methods and taste. Looking back over the field of Armenian literature, we note a trait the national character displayed in the bent Armenians have had for singing the glories of their land in history and chronicles. Translations have ever been an important part of Armenian literature. Again, the standpoint is religious, and even history seems to have been written rather for its doctrines than for the facts themselves. A last feature is that the golden age came early and with the passing of centuries the Armenian writers grew fewer and fewer.Armenian troubadours
Divided between the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and Safavid Persia, the Armenians developed the troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
tradition. A troubadour, called աշուղ (ashough) in Armenian, would go from village to village, and town to town, and would recite his literature to the people. More successful ones, such as Sayat Nova, would participate in competitions in the courts of Georgian Kings or Armenian Meliks. They would often talk about their feelings for their women by using the popular language that was riddled with foreign influences, instead of Classical Armenian, which was obsolete outside churches and schools.
19th century and early 20th century
Notable writers from this period include SiamantoSiamanto
Atom Yarjanian , better known by his pen name Siamanto , was an influential Armenian writer, poet and national figure from the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was killed by the Ottoman authorities during the Armenian Genocide.- Life :He was born in 1878, in the town on Ağın on the...
, Hagop Baronian
Hagop Baronian
Hakop Baronian was an influential Ottoman Armenian writer, satirist, educator, and social figure in the 19th century...
, Vahan Tekeyan
Vahan Tekeyan
Vahan Tekeyan was an Armenian poet and public activist.-Biography:Tekeyan has worked as a newspaper editor in Beirut and Cairo, a teacher, and a social worker....
, Levon Shant
Levon Shant
Levon Shant , was an Armenian playwright, novelist, poet, and founder of the Hamazkayin National Cultural Foundation.- Biography :He was a life-long member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and is the namesake of the ARF's Shant Student Association.Attended Armenian school at Scutari until...
, Krikor Zohrab
Krikor Zohrab
Krikor Zohrab was an influential Armenian writer, politician, lawyer and philanthropist, living in Constantinople...
, Rupen Zartarian
Rupen Zartarian
Rupen Zartarian or Roupen Zartarian was an Armenian writer, educator, and political activist. He was killed by Turkish authorities during the Armenian Genocide.- Life :...
, Avetis Aharonyan, Garegin Nzhdeh, Atrpet
Atrpet
Sargis Mubayeajian , better known by his pen name Atrpet , was a prolific and multifarious Armenian writer....
, Gostan Zarian
Gostan Zarian
Gostan or Kostan Zarian was an Armenian writer.- Biography :Kostan Zaryan was born in Shamakhy, on February 2, 1885...
and Nigol Aghpalian.
The Revivalists: Armenian Romanticists
The 19th century beheld a great literary movement that was to give rise to modern Armenian literature. This period of time during which Armenian culture flourished is known as the Revival period (Zartonk). The Revivalist authors of ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
and Tiflis, almost identical to the Romanticists of Europe, were interested in encouraging Armenian nationalism. Most of them adopted the newly created Eastern or Western variants of the Armenian language depending on the targeted audience, and preferred them over classical Armenian (grabar).
The veritable creator of modern Armenian literature was Khachatur Abovian
Khachatur Abovian
Khachatur Abovian ; ) was an Armenian writer and national public figure of the early 19th century who mysteriously vanished in 1848 and was presumed dead. He was an educator, poet and an advocate of modernization...
(1804–1848). Abovian was the first author to abandon the classical Armenian and adopt the modern for his works, thus ensuring their diffusion. Abovian's most famed work, The Wounds of Armenia, returns to the theme of the Armenian people's suffering under foreign domination. Abovian dedicated his life to writing and educating others on the subject of Armenia and her people. Mikael Nalbandian
Mikael Nalbandian
Mikael Nalbandian was an Armenian writer who dominated 19th century Armenian literature, author of the Armenian national anthem text.-Biography:...
's poem "Song of the Italian Girl" may have been the inspiration for the Armenian national anthem, Mer Hayrenik
Mer Hayrenik
Mer Hayrenik is the national anthem of the Republic of Armenia. Adopted on July 1, 1991, it was also the national anthem of the Democratic Republic of Armenia , the first modern Armenian state....
. Raffi
Raffi (poet)
Hakob Melik Hakobian , better known by his pen name Raffi , is a renowned Armenian author born in 1835 in Payajouk, an Armenian village situated in the Salmas province in Persia. He died in 1888 in Tiflis...
(Hakop Melik-Hakopian) was the grand romanticist of Armenian literature. In his works, Raffi revived the grandeur of Armenia's historic past. In the story "Gaizer", the heroes fight for the liberation of their people. This theme of oppression under foreign rule is also evident in the works "Djelaledin" and "Khente".
The Revivalist period ended in 1885-1890, when the Armenian people was passing tumultuous times. Notable events were the Berlin Treaty of 1878, the independence of Balkan nations such as Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, and of course, the Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
The Hamidian massacres , also referred to as the Armenian Massacres of 1894–1896, refers to the massacring of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, with estimates of the dead ranging from anywhere between 80,000 to 300,000, and at least 50,000 orphans as a result...
of 1895-1896.
Armenian Realists
Newspapers
Arpiar Arpiarian
Arpiar Arpiarian was an influential 19th century Armenian writer, the pioneer of realism in Armenian literature and a political activist.- Early life and education :...
, Levon Pashalian
Levon Pashalian
Levon Pashalian , is a famed Armenian short story writer, journalist, editor, novelist, and politician.- Biography :...
, Krikor Zohrab
Krikor Zohrab
Krikor Zohrab was an influential Armenian writer, politician, lawyer and philanthropist, living in Constantinople...
, Melkon Gurjian, Dikran Gamsarian, and others revolved around the said newspaper. The other important newspaper at that time was the Hayrenik (Fatherland) newspaper, which becomes very populist, encourages criticism, etc.
Despite these facts, Armenians weren't allowed to use words like Armenia, nation, fatherland, liberty, and progress in their newspapers and other written productions.
Realist ideology
After 1885, Armenian authors were interested in depicting a realistic representation of life, along with all of its nudities. However, there are some authors that have kept some romantic influences, although most of them didn't.
Under Soviet rule
The literary tradition of Khachatur Abovian, Miakel Nalbandian and Raffi was continued even as Armenia came under Communist rule. This revival of tradition was carried out by such writers and poets as Hovhannes TumanyanHovhannes Tumanyan
Hovhannes Tumanyan , is considered to be one of the greatest Armenian poets and writers. His work was mostly written in tragic form, often centering on the harsh lives of villagers in the Lori region.-Biography:...
, Yeghishe Charents
Yeghishe Charents
Yeghishe Charents was an Armenian poet, writer and public activist. Charents was an outstanding poet of the twentieth century, touching upon a multitude of topics that ranged from his experiences in the First World War, socialism, and, more prominently, on Armenia and Armenians.An early champion...
and the like. This revival took place under the Communist system, much restricting the freedom of expression of the writers. In the late 1960s, under Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
, a new generation of Armenian writers emerged. As Armenian history of the 1920s and of the Genocide came to be more openly discussed, writers like Paruyr Sevak
Paruyr Sevak
Paruyr Rafaeli Ghazaryan was an Armenian poet. He is considered one of the greatest Armenian poets of the twentieth century. -Biography:...
, Gevork Emin, Silva Kaputikyan
Silva Kaputikyan
Sirvard Barunaki "Silva" Kaputikyan was a 20th century prominent Armenian poet, writer, academian and public activist....
and Hovhannes Shiraz
Hovhannes Shiraz
Hovhannes Shiraz was a notable Armenian poet.- Biography :He was born Hovhannes Karapetyan in the city of Alexandropol, then part of the Russian Empire . His first work called Beginning of Spring was published in 1935...
began a new era of literature.