Category Archives: LITERARY CRITICISM

FRAMING DEVICE AS A MEANS OF A COLLECTIVE IDENTITY QUEST
In the novel “The book of Mher’s door” by Levon Khechoyan

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of Levon Khechoyan’s novel “The Book of Mher’s Door”, focusing on the use of framing devices to explore the continuity of Armenian identity. The structural analysis reveals that the novel unfolds through two horizontally arranged narrative frames: a gradual, chain-like construction of lectures and diary notes. Each of these primary frames (diegeses), in turn, contains additional vertically arranged narrative frames.

The article closely examines all narrative levels, emphasizing their relationships and functions. It argues that, in exploring artistic approaches to national essence and the reconstruction, modernization, and continuity of identity, Khechoyan uses the framing device to deconstruct the overarching narrative of Armenianness. Specifically, he disentangles the myth of Little Mher from the grand narratives that shape it, aiming to deconstruct and revise the discourses of national ideology.

Based on the information obtained through the analysis, it is shown that, as a result of the correlation between the two diegeses and the many narrative levels in this novel, Khechoyan’s path is characterized by several stages: highlighting and interpreting the traditional form of collective identity; combining pre-Christian and Christian paradigms for the development of a new paradigm of national identity and “reconciliation”; and various discussions and reinterpretations of revived symbols and narratives.

In this way, and through epic — particularly the figure of Little Mher — Khechoyan overcomes fears of losing national identity by developing a new, overarching paradigm. In this paradigm, the value system, as a synthesis of both pre-Christian and Christian values, Agravakar as the institution safeguarding this new value system, and Little Mher as the embodiment of public functions and the defender of these new values all play important roles. Moreover, it is precisely through the weakening of the textual domains and metalepsis that one can ultimately perceive Khechoyan’s interpretation of Little Mher. Mher is neither a hero “disappointed with the world” nor simply a bearer of an exclusively savior function — he is the guarantor of the preservation of Armenian identity.

PRINCIPLES OF PARONYAN IN DEPICTING A BIG CITY

“A Stroll through the Streets of Polis”

The study is dedicated to the examination of the series of essays entitled “A Stroll Through the Streets of Polis” that occupies a unique place in the diverse and multi-genre literary work of the brilliant Armenian satirist Hakob Paronyan (1843-1891). As a classic example of physiological essay genre, it is noteworthy in the field of worldwide satire and, by the way, unique in the context of the whole Armenian literature.

Surprisingly, previous literary studies have not made this masterpiece a subject of special study and have been content with merely recording a few words of praise. Interest in “Stroll…” necessarily arose nowadays, and with the discovery and comparison of numerous newly revealed facts (25 new essay versions), a complete scientific history of that work was created for the first time. Meanwhile this masterpiece by Paronyan undoubtedly has a modern resonance: it allows us to restore the artistic biography of Constantinople located at the crossroads of East and West in the second half of XIX century filled with deep authenticity and a colorful environment. It is no coincidence that “Stroll…” was translated into Turkish and was published in Istanbul. In 2014, in Turkey, the book was included in the list of the best books recommended to readers for reading in summer time. As “Armenpress”, reported the list was compiled by the Turkish newspaper “Hurriyet” recommending reading it during the summer holidays, “as the best medicine for those readers who have decided to spend their vacation in Istanbul. In the book “A Stroll Through the Streets of Istanbul” Hakob Paronyan satirically depicts the public and courtyard life of 34 districts of Istanbul, the indifference of the Armenian leadership to the problems of the Armenian community and the contradictions created by class division. “Paronyan will help you to look at the past of the city, that has lost its colors, outline, image, and even most of its people,” with different eyes, – states the book’s announcement. And this study aims to uncover Paronyan’s principles of depicting a big city, the ideological and artistic features of the work in question and the value system.

HAOMA – SOMA
The Arian Sacred Drink in Armenian and World Literature

The article examines the depiction of the Zoroastrian equivalent of the Indo-Iranian sacred drink, Haoma, in Armenian and world literature. At the end of the 18th century, the Zoroastrian holy book ”Avesta” was translated into French for the first time. Over the next 250 years, this religion and its symbols remained a focal point for scholars, translators, and writers worldwide. Armenian authors also took an interest in it, paying attention to Haoma, a deity frequently depicted in Avesta and holding a significant place in ancient Iranian rituals. Haoma is the Iranian counterpart of the ancient Indian Soma.

The article is relevant because this topic has not been comprehensively analyzed and systematized in Armenian literature. Another reason for its significance is that the great Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents wrote the poem ”Soma” in 1918, which led to some scholarly study of the Indian manifestation of the sacred plant and liquid by Armenian researchers. However, to fully understand the mythological foundations of the poem, it is also necessary to study the Haoma mythological phenomenon as depicted in Armenian and world literature. This article represents the first attempt to examine Charents’s poem in the context of the Soma-Haoma mythological unity and its cult.

The study explores the reflections of Haoma and ”Avesta” in the works of Armenian writers and scholars from the 5th century to the present. Among the representations of the sacred Haoma drink, the works of Daniel Varouzhan, Leo, and Levon Khechoyan have been highlighted. The article also examines references to Zoroastrianism in the works of Raffi, Siamanto, and others. To accurately interpret Soma within a mythological context, traces of Zoroastrianism in Charents’s works are identified.

The research employs historical-comparative, comparative-contrastive, and mythological methodologies. Relevant phenomena in Armenian literature are compared with Zoroastrian mythology, classical historians (Herodotus, Plutarch), and writers from the Middle Ages and modern times (Ferdowsi, Gustave Flaubert, Georg Ebers). The depictions of Haoma in Armenian literary works and the representation of Soma in Charents’s poetry are compared with translations of ”Avesta” passages, particularly those dedicated to the sacred Haoma drink, by Russian Symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont.

One of the theoretical foundations of this study is comparative mythology. The author integrates observations by Armenian philologists and religious scholars with the ideas of renowned mythologists, particularly Friedrich Windischmann and Dmitry Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky. Interdisciplinary connections are also made with history, philosophy, and psychology. The views of Hegel and Carl Jung on the Haoma deity are referenced.

The main conclusion of the article is that Zoroastrianism, its sacred text ”Avesta”, and the Haoma sacred plant and drink hold a significant place in Armenian literature. The Armenian reflections of the Iranian Haoma, particularly its representation as the Soma deity introduced into Armenian reality by Charents, form a unified whole.

THE PHENOMENON OF PARUYR SEVAK
On the 100th anniversary of his birth

This article is dedicated to the centenary of the birth of the Armenian writer Paruyr Sevak: a distinguished poet, literary critic, and interpreter. It offers a renewed characterization and interpretation of his artistic universe, emphasizing the distinctiveness of his poetic and scholarly contributions. The analysis situates Sevak within the context of his time while underscoring the enduring relevance of his works beyond their historical moment, framed through the lens of contemporary literary thought. Sevak himself once remarked: “We are getting old, Paruyr Sevak, we are getting old, my dear.” However, he did not reach old age, remaining forever 47. Had his “scissored life” not been prematurely interrupted, it might have been possible to celebrate his centenary in his presence. Tragically, his premonitions regarding an untimely death materialized on June 17, 1971.

Paruyr Sevak is a multifaceted intellectual figure. As a poet of profound insight, he also made significant scholarly contributions to the fields of literary history—particularly medieval literature and Sayat-Nova studies—literary theory, and criticism. Additionally, he bequeathed to subsequent generations high-quality translations of works by Spanish, Russian, and European authors. These spheres of activity were complementary rather than discrete. As an innovative poet and accomplished theorist, Sevak opposed poetic self-sufficiency, insularity, and the repetitive tendencies of traditional ashugh-style poetry. Yet, he acknowledged the brilliance of Sayat-Nova, whom he considered a leading poet of the late medieval period. With deliberate intent, Sevak sought to enhance the artistic prestige of Armenian literature, striving to overcome its limitations and align it with the global intellectual and artistic developments of his time. His ultimate aim was to position Armenian poetry as a peer among the literary achievements of the world’s leading nations.

The article further examines the distinctive features of Sevak’s figurative thinking, addressing key ideological, thematic, and aesthetic aspects of notable works, including Anlreli Zangakatun and Eradzayn Patarag. Special attention is devoted to several pivotal poems from the collections Mardy Api Mej and Yeghici Luys, revealing their thematic depth and interpretative layers.

PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS OF GRIGOR ZOHRAP’S PESMISM – 2024-3

Aram G. Aleksanyan
Candidate of Philological Sciences

Keywords – Grigor Zohrap, pessimism, O. Comte, H. Spencer, J. J. Rousseau, A. Schopenhauer, conscience, paradox, philosophy of will, rationality of compassion.

Summary

 
Grigor Zohrap’s biophilosophy is combined especially with the study of pessimistic teachings. The monastic understandings in Zohrap’s views are, in fact, combined with J. J. Rousseau and A. to Schopenhauer’s philosophy of compassion, forming an original existential philosophy that is essentially pessimistic in nature. The problems of life, death, conscience, right, crime, law, forgiveness, moral, family, love, gender relationships are examined and formulated in the context of pessimistic logic, which considers “natural” and “biological” as the fundamental causes of human behavior. Moreover, Rousseau nature, and later Schopenhauer identify the will with the body. Zohrap’s recognition of the meaning of life, the advice of being, comes to the following generalization: a) life is suffering, b) life is futile, c) happiness is an illusion, deceptive and fleeting. Pessimism proposes several ways to overcome this situation, which are also present in the context of Zohrap’s novels. Manifestations of will are characterized by a certain gradation: a) blind, unconscious desire to live, b) self-awareness, c) self-denial. With the extinction of will, a person acquires a blissful state of being. If the will chooses self-denial in the terrible dilemma set before it, then, according to Schopenhauer, we enter, as the mystics say, the kingdom of bliss. According to them, it is the world of pure morality, where virtue begins with mercy and suffering and ends with asceticism, which leads to complete liberation, and the moral foundations that lead to it are sympathy, compassion, and mercy. The will in a person is the essence in itself, the grain and the root, and the intellect is secondary, conditional.

One of the means of liberation from suffering is considered by pessimists to be aesthetic discretion, which is observed in the desert of oasis life. Aesthetic enjoyment is essentially free will. The essence of things is revealed only in front of the aesthetic genius’s will free and unparticipated, that is, in front of a purely objective view. What is recognized in things is not the individual, but the eternal, not the temporal, but the idea of the thing. Art embodies that idea. It emerges not in relation to its body, not expressed in space, time and causality, but as the pure essence of things. Hence, to depict life means to consider it in relation to the deepest layer. Zohrap’s “life as it is” principle tends to the essence of things and phenomena, and that essence is the will itself.

THE CHARACTER OF CHARLOTTE SCHULZ IN THE KH. ABOVYAN’S “DORPATIAN DIARIES” And in the Ye. Charents’ poem “Towards Mount Masis” – 2024-1

Summary

Seyran Z. Grigoryan
PhD in Philological Sciences

The article examines the character of Charlotte Schulz in the “Dorpatian Diaries” by Khachatur Abovyan and in the poem “Towards Mount Masis” by Yeghishe Charents. Yeghishe Charents is the founder of the modern Armenian literature, and in his works, the literary heritage of Khachatur Abovyan, the founder of new Armenian literature, has played a special role.
On February 20, 1933, Yeghishe Charents wrote the poem “ Towards Mount Masis ”, which soon found a place in the “At the Crossroads of History” section of the “Book of the Way” collection. The poem is dedicated to the life and work of Khachatur Abovyan. The main focus is on the problem of Abovyan’s disappearance, but through the depiction of the last sleepless night and the dramatic thoughts of the hero, some important questions are raised. They include psychological issues in addition to political and intellectual ones. In the poem, Charents creates vivid images of Dorpat University professor Friedrich Parrott and the beloved girl of young student Khachatur Abovyan – Charlotte Schulz.

The source of the image of Charlotte Schulz was a memoir called “Dorpatian Diaries”, written by Khachatur Abovyan in simple grabar from 1830 to 1835. As a work of memoir literature, the diary depicts the acquaintance and love of the characters in the Baltic village of Ponimon (Panemune), the meetings, relationships, and feelings of an Armenian student and a young beautiful German woman. Charlotte Schulz is the adoptive sister of Khachatur Abovyan’s closest friend, Theodor Grass. Khachatur Abovyan writes the name of the heroine in the forms Lotte or young lady Schulz. Real facts and images of documentary prose in the poem “Towards Mount Masis” are used by the principle of poetic generalizations. Charents does not recreate the details of a love story, not details and circumstances, but the essence of the characters and their feelings.

At the time of writing the poem, Khachatur Abovyan’s “Dorpatian Diaries” was not published yet. It was first published in 1955 as a separate book and in the 6th volume of the complete works of Khachatur Abovyan. In this article we assume that as a source for creating the character of Charlotte Schulz, Yeghishe Charents could have used Nerses Ter-Karapetyan’s study “Khachatur Abovyan”, where there are many quotes and retellings of diaries based on the manuscript of this work. Another version is that Yeghishe Charents, like Nerses Ter-Karapetyan, was familiar with the manuscripts, which were then still kept by the writer’s descendants.

An important role in the poem is played by one reliable artifact preserved in the archive of Khachatur Abovyan. That is Charlotte Schulz’s souvenir. Its source is also the writer’s diaries, but in the poem, it has a special artistic meaning. Through it, the main poetic principle of the poem operates – the synthesis of the real and the artistic. The poem focuses on the dramatic separation of lovers. The article makes an attempt to clarify this ending with the help of real biographical facts of Khachatur Abovyan and Charlotte Schulz.

REFERENCES
1. Abeghyan A. , Abovyani sirayin aprumnerĕ Dorpatum (Mi ĕj mer “Abovyan yev Dorpat” ashkhatut’yunits’), “Hayrenik’” orat’ert’, Boston, 1975, t’iv 18940,marti 16 (In
Armenian).
2. Abovyan Kh. A. , Yerkeri liakatar zhoghovatsu ut’ hatorov, hat․ 1, Yer.,
Haykakan SSR GA hrat., 1948 (In Armenian).
3. Abovyan Kh. A., Yerkeri liakatar zhoghovatsu ut’ hatorov, hat․ 6, Yer.,
Haykakan SSR GA hrat., 1955 (In Armenian).
4. Ch’arents’ Ye., Girk’ chanaparhi, Yer., Petakan hrat., 1933 (In Armenian).
5. .Ch’arents’ Ye., Yerkeri zhoghovatsu vets’ hatorov, hat. 4, Yer., Haykakan SSR GA hrat., (In Armenian).
6. Ch’arents’ Ye., Yerkir Nairi, Yer., Petakan hrat., 1926 (In Armenian).
7. Hakobyan P., Abovyanĕ yev Bakunts’ĕ, “Banber Yerevani hamalsarani”, 1980, t’iv 2 (In Armenian).
8. Hakobyan P. H., Khachatur Abovyan., Kyank’ĕ, gorts’ě, zhamanakĕ (1809-1836), Yer., HKhH GA hrat., 1967 (In Armenian).
9. Ter-Karapetyan N., Khachatur Abovyan, Tp’khis, Tparan M. Sharadze yev ĕnk. Nik: 21, 1897 (In Armenian).

THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE POET’S SOUL – 2023-4

The unpublished pages of Avetik Isahakyan’s notebooks

Shoghik B. Khachatryan

In 1977 A. Inchikyan prepared Avetik Isahakyan’s “Memoir” for publication, collected and organized notes from the poet’s various notebooks – in fact creating a complete manuscript. Within the framework of the scientific publication of Isahakyan’s works, Avik Isahakyan filled in the blank sections of the “Memoir” with other diaries and selected diary notes. However, even after the publication of the complete diaries, a large number of the poet’s notebooks remained unpublished.

Notebooks contain a variety of notes in various booklets, or individual sheets. Mainly, they present the poet’s thoughts, ideas, judgments about various realities and different aspects of life. A considerable part of them have the value of aphorisms and popular expressions.

But the more interesting notes are those which, in one way or another, relate to Isahakyan’s original work, opening up various layers of his literary workshop. How the writer’s style and the peculiarities of his literary method are formed, how raw material, a fact, an event are developed and transformed into artistic reality! Here is a non-exhaustive list of issues that may be covered by notebook notes.

Thus, the poet’s notebooks, in terms of both their content and significance in the creative work process, and the nature of their notes, deeply reflect the author’s personality, and the biography of his soul.

THE CONSERVATIVE RESPONSE OF THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FEUDAL LIFESTYLE – 2023-4

In the novels “Sos and Varditer” and “Bread problem” by Perch Proshyan

Aram G. Aleksanyan

The article examines the historical, economic and cultural prerequisites for the collapse of the patriarchal caste system.

The historical process, masking the defensive confrontation between the moral worldview and the psychology of a corrupt society, is artistically expressed in the novels of Perch Proshyan. Literature partly manifests itself as a kind of cultural and defensive confrontation. This reality, in turn, gives rise to conservative
and libertarian thinking in public life with corresponding epistemological attitudes.

If, thanks to the enlightenment movement, traditional thinking, the values that organize patriarchal life, the nature of human relations and the emotional manifestations of psychology have radically changed, then conservative culture had a completely traditional epistemological context. Enlightenment attitude formed in
the minds of a new structure of perception of time, revived the order of the future, making it the main focus of activity. In the context of this worldview, history has already been perceived in the past, present and future dimensions of time. Meanwhile, conservatives envisioned the future as a sprawling present. And traditionalists perceived defamation as damage to morality and the traditional way of life. All the ideological content and emotional depth of Proshyan’s works is an artistic expression of this historical process. It is characterized as a unique defensive cultural confrontation with artistic potential, character building, and a historically unique storytelling typology.

RAFFI’S LITERARY CRITICISM – 2023-3

Ashot N. Hayruni

Raffi considered the writer a “man of the times” who should also guide public thoughts and ideas. Without diminishing the necessary condition of artistic perfection, he is guided in the evaluation of artistic works by the criterion of the primacy of ideological content, essential in terms of the functional significance of literature. In this regard, as well as the capacity and wide expressive possibilities, he particularly emphasizes the need for the development of aesthetic prose, especially the novel genre, in the Armenian reality.

HAKOB PARONYAN’S WORKS WRITTEN IN TURKISH LANGUAGE BY ARMENIAN LETTERS – 2023-2

Maro V. Ghukasyan

The following paper discusses Armenian genius humorist Hakob Paronyan’s works written in the Turkish language by the Armenian letters. In this publication the author gives answers to the question “Why Paronyan decided to write in the Turkish language by Armenian letters?” and introduces the motives for writing in the Turkish language by the Armenian letters. It is affirmed that writing in the Turkish language by the Armenian letters was not his purpose, but means to attain the purpose of saving the Armenian nation living under the control of the Ottoman Empire from the loss of their national language and nationality in general.