This article examines the stylistic realizations, commonalities, and distinctive features of noun plural formation in Literary Eastern Armenian, German, and Russian from both structural and semantic perspectives. All three languages display a morphemic principle of plural formation, using regular and irregular plural markers, which may also be accompanied by stem restructuring, phonological alternations, and stress shifts. While Literary Eastern Armenian is characterized by a relatively uniform pattern of plural formation and a more homogeneous declensional paradigm, German and Russian demonstrate a more diverse pluralization system in terms of both morphemic marking and declensional patterns. The analysis shows that in all three languages the plural category sometimes functions not only as an expression of quantity but also as a means of distinguishing homonyms and as an indicator of semantic and stylistic nuances, conveying emotional intensification and temporal indeterminacy. These observations suggest that the plural category should be interpreted not merely as a simple grammatical feature but as a multilayered morphological and semantic system that, when realized differently across the languages under study, can serve as a stylistic device and a means of expanding lexical meaning.
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DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-194
EPIGRAPHICAL NEWS OF THE GANDZASAR MONASTERYfrom the Diary of a Priest
Co-author of the article, Father Bagrat Farishyan, 1989-1993 years was the spiritual shepherd of the Gandzasar monastery, a masterpiece of Armenian medieval architecture in Artsakh. During this time, he copied almost all the inscriptions from the monastery complex into his diary. They contain about seven dozen lapidary inscriptions, which for various reasons were not included in the works of previous researchers. These relatively new inscriptions complement the rich epigraphic heritage of the Gandzasar monastery, while at least their published version preserves them from possible vandalistic destruction.
These inscriptions are important primary sources not only for the study of the famous Gandzasar monastery, the Artsakh princely family of Hasan-Jalalyans, but also for the history of Armenia.
DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-217
THE ICONOGRAPHY OF ROYAL ATTIRE IN THE MINIATURE PAINTING OF THE PERIOD OF THE ARMENIAN KINGDOM OF CILICIA
The aim of the study is to present the types of royal attire of the Cilician Kingdom as depicted in secularized representations derived from Christological imagery, to identify the national elements expressed in them, and to compare them with Western and Byzantine court costume traditions. The topic is relevant, as the interpretation of the structural and decorative features of royal attire from a new perspective may contribute to a deeper understanding of Cilician Armenian culture. This research may serve as a guide for scholars of medieval Armenian manuscript illumination and traditional national costume.
DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-238
ARTASHES TER-KHACHATURYAN: SCHOLARLY LEGACYPart One: An Eminent Bibliographer of the Armenian Book
Having spent most of his life within intellectual and educational milieu of Beirut and Aleppo, Artashes Ter-Khachaturyan is known Armenian intellectual community primarily as a teacher and editor, while for a narrower circle of Armenologists in Armenia and abroad he is regarded as an undisputed authority in the study of the history of the Armenian book and press. In this context, following the publication of a comprehensive two-volume edition that consolidates his works, Ter-Khachaturyan’s scholarly legacy calls for thorough professional evaluation and reinterpretation.
The aim of this article is to analyze the empirical, structural, and theoretical-methodological significance of Ter-Khachaturyan’s scholarly research in the fields of the history of the Armenian book and bibliography, within the framework of contemporary Armenological and interdisciplinary academic discourse. The study is based on a comprehensive methodological approach that incorporates source criticism, comparative analysis, structural examination, and theoretical reinterpretation. Particular attention is paid to the fact that, for Ter-Khachaturyan, bibliography functions not as an auxiliary tool but as an autonomous system for the organization of knowledge.
The article elucidates Ter-Khachaturyan’s methodological position, grounded in the principles of the primacy of fact, chronological accuracy, and scholarly objectivity. This approach made it possible to overcome the mechanistic understanding of bibliography and to transform it into an effective instrument of historical and cultural analysis. Ter-Khachaturyan’s legacy constitutes an implicitly structured theoretical–methodological system, comparable to contemporary theories of cultural memory, book history, and public discourse. In his interpretation, the Armenian book functions as a material carrier of national memory, while bibliography serves as a mechanism for its organization and preservation.
These considerations allow one to conclude that the bibliographical legacy of Artashes Ter-Khachaturyan constitutes a system of foundational and normatively organizing significance for Armenian bibliography; consequently, it continues to retain its relevance and functional effectiveness for contemporary Armenian studies, providing a new generation of scholars with the opportunity to further develop the theoretical and methodological approaches of this outstanding bibliographer.
DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-149
THE SEMANTIC DEVALUATION OF THE LINGUISTIC UNIT IN CONNECTED SPEECH: Phenomenology of Linguistic Absurdity
This study examines the transformation of the semantic status of the linguistic unit within connected speech. The analysis is conducted not only from a linguistic perspective but also within the frameworks of philosophy of language and phenomenology. The central premise of the article is that meaning is not a pre-given property of objective reality; rather, it emerges through the cognitive activity of the subject and is organized by means of language.
The analysis demonstrates that, in isolation, the word functions as a relatively autonomous nominative unit associated with discrete components of reality. However, within connected speech, this autonomy is disrupted: the meaning of the word loses its localized character and undergoes structural reconfiguration. It ceases to function as a self-sufficient bearer of meaning and becomes an element embedded within a system of relations.
Simultaneously, a redistribution of meaning takes place, whereby functional units that do not possess a clearly defined meaning in isolation assume a decisive role in the semantic organization of speech. This dual process results in an asymmetrical distribution of meaning and disrupts the presumed correspondence between meaning and its carriers.
In this article, the phenomenon is interpreted as linguistic absurdity in its strict sense, that is, as a rupture in the logical structure of meaning attribution. From a phenomenological perspective, it manifests as an experience in which meaning appears without stable localization, as a mobile and relationally distributed phenomenon.
It is argued that language cannot be regarded as a simple system of reflection of reality. Rather, it constitutes an autonomous constructive field in which meaning is formed not within individual units, but through the dynamic organization of relations between them.
DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-117
”THE STORY OF A HORSE” IN LEO TOLSTOY’S NOVELLA “KHOLSTOMER” AND IN HRANT MATEVOSYAN’S SHORT STORY “ALKHO”
This article examines the artistic portrayals of horses in the novella “Kholstomer” by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) and the short story “Alkho” by the renowned Armenian writer Hrant Matevosyan (1935-2002). The aim is to compare the characters of the horses in the two works and identify their similarities and differences. These similarities stem from the influence of Tolstoy’s literary tradition on Matevosyan’s work, as well as the similarities in the worldviews of the Russian and Armenian writers. The relevance of this article stems from the importance of researching intercultural connections and interactions.
An analysis of the “horse stories” by Leo Tolstoy and Hrant Matevosyan reveals that Matevosyan’s Alkho is very similar in its characteristics to Tolstoy’s “Kholstomer.” A comparison of the horses’ characters reveals significant similarities between these works and their protagonists, despite a number of differences. The commonality stems from the influence of the Tolstoyan literary tradition on Matevosyan’s work, as well as the similarities in the worldviews of Russian and Armenian writers. Matevosyan’s “horsiness” and Tolstoy’s “equine sense” are synonyms, which are formulations of the individualization of the horse. To embody horseness, the authors employ the method of identification: Tolstoy identifies with Kholstomer, Matevosyan with Alkho. This is the essence of their desire to look at the horse “from the inside.”
The authors’ preference for animalistic themes, and in particular their use of the image of the horse, is determined by personal, literary-historical, ideological, artistic, and psychological factors. The most attention has been paid to the creative history of the two works, the real prototypes of the horses Kholstomer and Alkho, the appearance of the fictionalized horses, their work, their relationships with other horses and people, and the fate of the horses. The article is written using a combination of comparative and psychological literary studies methods. Particular attention has been paid to the psychology of animals and their inner world, the phenomenon of “horseness.” In addition to the literary originals, additional explanations by Tolstoy and Matevosyan, and supporting materials from Tolstoy studies and Matevosyan studies were also used.
DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-100
THE DISCURSIVE FUNCTIONS OF BIBLICAL INTERTEXT AND THE ESCHATOLOGICAL TURN IN CONTEMPORARY ARMENIAN PROSE (A Case Study of Arpi Voskanyan’s Not for Sale Collection)
In contemporary Armenian prose, biblical intertext functions as a vital mode of expressing the value crisis and as a carrier of cultural memory, manifesting itself through the deconstruction of biblical characters and narratives. In literary studies, this function of biblical intertext is closely connected with eschatological thinking (eschatology), as it enables reflection not only on the idea of the end of the world or of history, but also on the collapse of meaning systems, the crisis of faith, and transformations in value structures. In this sense, eschatology in contemporary literature ceases to be a purely dogmatic or theological concept and is transformed into a textual and metaphorical tool through which shifts in the value systems of the modern world and the modern individual are articulated.
From this perspective, the prose of Arpi Voskanyan is particularly noteworthy, as biblical intertext appears there as a bearer of a cultural narrative that is subjected to critique, distortion, and at times ironic or parodic re-evaluation. The Bible thus functions not as a sacred authority, but as a framework of collective memory through which the changes and distortions present in contemporary life are revealed.
DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-54
THE PAULICIAN AND TONDRAKIAN MOVEMENTS IN SOVIET ARMENIAN HISTORIOGRAPHYPart one: Class struggle and social utopia
This article examines the representation of the Paulician and Tondrakian movements in Soviet Armenian historiography from a class-struggle perspective. While pre-Soviet scholarship approached these movements primarily within a theological framework, Soviet Armenian historiography — grounded in Marxist ideology and historical materialism — reinterpreted them as expressions of social struggle cloaked in religious form. Drawing on Engels’ interpretations of the 16th century Reformation and the German Peasants’ War, Soviet authors projected core concepts of Marxist historiography — such as class antagonism, social utopianism, and peasant resistance — onto the medieval Armenian context. As a result, the Paulician and Tondrakian movements were stripped of their religious character in favor of the ideological imperatives of the time.
The article interrogates the theoretical and evidentiary foundations of these claims, exposing the anachronistic language employed and demonstrating the limitations inherent in interpreting the Paulician and Tondrakian movements through a Marxist historiographical lens.
DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-38
OPPOSING PERCEPTIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN THE NEWSPAPERS “MSHAK” AND “TACHAR” IN 1915-1918The search for the “inner culprit” in the context of the ontological confrontation between the victim and the perpetrator
In the conditions of genocide, the confrontation between victim and perpetrator transcends the boundaries of mere physical annihilation, assuming the form of an irreconcilable ontological struggle. This article offers a comparative analysis of the opposing positions articulated in the periodicals Mshak and Tachar during the years 1915–1918. Within these publications, two fundamentally divergent approaches emerge: while the Armenian press of Tiflis foregrounded the political responsibility of the perpetrator, a dangerous tendency toward self-blame came to dominate the Armenian discourse in Constantinople. Drawing on the conceptual frameworks of Karl Jaspers and Paul Ricoeur, the article argues that the artificial internalization of “guilt” by the victim is, on the one hand, a consequence of totalizing oppression, and on the other, a manifestation of the fragmentation, or even dissolution, of subjectivity. This process, traces of which can still be observed today, may be understood as a continuous extension of genocide itself. Its function is to strip the victim of the moral legitimacy of self-defense and to retrospectively legitimize the actions of the perpetrator.
DOI: 10.57192/18291864-2026.1-15
POSTMODERN PERCEPTION AND THE POETICS OF THE FOLK FAIRY TALE:An Attempt at Comparative Analysis
The article argues that the canonical structure of the traditional folk tale contains elements of chaos, play, and simulacra, which are directly actualized within postmodern discourse. Particular attention is paid to the examination of the fairy-tale chronotope (time and space), where its ‘timelessness’ and the disruption of linear progression are viewed as archetypes for the postmodern concepts of fragmentation and the ‘eternal present’.
The aim of this research is to identify the structural and semantic affinities that link the traditional genre to contemporary literary discourse. Specific concepts-such as chaos, simulacrum, multiculturalism, and play-are highlighted and examined as typological commonalities existing between the folktale and postmodernism.
For the first time, this article attempts to examine the interconnections between the folktale as a folklore genre and the phenomenon of postmodernism, which is traditionally not associated with it.
The article places particular emphasis on the issue of the hero’s deconstruction, illustrating the transformations of the fairy-tale archetypal figure within the domain of postmodern fragmented consciousness.
The relevance of the article stems from the interdisciplinary nature of the subject matter, analyzed through the interconnections and relationships between literary theory, folklore studies, and philosophy, utilizing the appropriate methodological frameworks.
The factual basis of the study consists of published Armenian folktales recorded from various regions of historical Armenia-compiled in the ‘Armenian folktales’ and ‘Armenian Ethnography and Folklore’ series, as well as separate collections-alongside works by authors representing the typological landscape of postmodern prose.
The study was conducted using a combination of several methods. Specifically, descriptive, contextual, structural-semantic, historical-typological, synthetic-analytical, and comparative methods were applied.