In the Context of Enlightening Paradigm of the Armenian Identity
Summary
Nane S. Movsisyan
Key words – historical past, national identity, self-awareness, historical-scientific and philosophical attitudes, Enlightenment paradigm.
The historical past in the project of the Enlightenment of the Armenian identity is viewed from two percpectives: historical-scientific and philosophical. The scientific-historical approach views the historical past from the perspective of development of history and emergence of historical facts. With the help of revival of the uninterrupted events it values national identity and affirms the unique place and role of the Armenian history (religion, language, art and science) in the history of world civilization. From the point of view of philosophy which views the historical past in the light of civilization not for the sake of just depicting certain facts at a certain period of time but to praise the history and assigns a civilizational value to it, and in the contrast to scientific-historical approach discusses historical past from the perspective of evaluation and is not just confirming it chronologically. The Armenian music, language, literature and philosophy are endowed with educational and civilizational capabilities. And the aim of this approach is to revive only those very facts and events which are and can be considered as cornerstones for the development of patriotism and love towards one’s own nation. The philoisophical approach is also guided by the idea of creating national ideals based on historical past.