THE PERCEPTION OF WOMEN’S ROLE IN PATRIARCHAL FAMILIES IN 19TH CENTURY EASTERN ARMENIAN LITERATURE

This research examines the understanding and reimagining of women’s social role in 19th century Eastern Armenian literature․

The study analyzes how the patriarchal gerdastān (extended family) functioned as a closed system with its own legal, economic, and social structures centered around the cult of the hearth (ōjakh). The patriarch held absolute authority, while women, though oppressed and voiceless, were considered sacred guardians of the hearth and family traditions. Women’s education and upbringing prepared them exclusively for marriage and household duties, reinforcing their subordinate yet essential role in maintaining family honor and continuity.

Through literary works by Ghazaros Aghayan, Perch Proshyan, Leo, and Raffi, the research reveals how women internalized patriarchal norms through fear, obedience, and ritual practices. The “eldest mother” (mets mayr) emerged as a powerful figure who, after years of submission, gained authority over younger women, perpetuating cycles of oppression. However, the arrival of Enlightenment ideas and new socio-economic orders in the late 19th century catalyzed the dissolution of the gerdastān system, as individual desires and rights began to challenge collective family structures.

The study concludes that the primary causes of patriarchal family disintegration lay not merely in external socio-economic factors, but fundamentally in the internal contradictions of the patriarchal system itself—particularly the suppression of individuality that ultimately generated the forces for its own destruction.