Abriss! You have a wonderful site.

As for Jack K. I find that what you are saying is very sad, although you no doubt care about Armenian culture. Why is Armenia doing badly today? Not because of the Turks, god bless, but because of our OWN corruption…sure the blocade hasn’t helped, but even dedictaed people ushc as Vatche Manoogian,. Kirk kerkorian and many others have even stopped sending philanthropic aide there because Hayasdantsis continue to run their country in a backwards, currupt, backwardly patriarchical way. We should strive to be lik ethe JEWS: and by that I dont mean the Orthodoxof Hassidic ones, I mean the liberal, progressive Jews who have produced thousands of university professors, thinkers, directors, writers. Apart from a few Armenians here and there, all we have done is make money and be merchants, mekht eh. What we have today in teh USA for example is: no free press, barely a presss to speak of, 6 mediocre high schools, and a 3rd rate regional museum in Wtertown…and it has nothing to do with 1915, does it? It i snot because we were refugees 90 years ago or even 30 (my father was Zaheltsi) that when we establish amuseum in a very wealthy Armenian community, that is has to be so low quality? Same with museum sin armenia: in the National Gallery all the Sureniants are falling apart , cracking…
As for us being a “Middle Eastern” people, you equate that with being misogynistic, antequatedly religious, and clannish, which I find REPULSIVE…even the Egyptians and Arabs are rebelling against this Medieval attidtude and culture.

And by the way, I speak my language fluently and write it as well although I am only half armenian.
I am not sure also where you get offf insulting or criticizing Ara Baliozian who is a SATIRIST and brilliant.

Jack, if I may suggest that you read the writings of Father Servantsdiants, who first codified Sassountsi Tavit (1840s) and later the Mehyan Group (Varoujan, Oshagan et al-1900) they were already complaining about Armenians being a “homeless nation.” What is straneg about that? Th fact that they were from Anatolia and Istanbul!!! Much of their literature was an attempt to “find a center” to “find one Armenian language, not dialects” etc. My point? We need more intellectuals, we need to move beyond our mediocre churches and supposed community leaders and begin to THINK THE DIASPORA: how do we organize DIFFERENTLY than in the past? How do we make ourselves symbols for progressive, innovative thinking? Otherwise we will be discussing the exac same problems in another 100 years…

How long has it been since 1915? For a North American, the year is so long ago that it is incomprehensible. For people from the Middle East it is yesterday. Have we recovered? No. Have we had a chance to gather our breath? No. What has been the main focus of the community? Survival. Has there ever been any force used to keep those who reject the culture in the community? No — the door is open, assimilate into the wonderful, soul-less materialist culture of North America, please do not let us stop you; a name change is easy to get and dropping even the occasional use of the language is even easier.

I have read this approach before, it is an updated version of the self-hating discourse of Ara Balozian. When I tried to point out to him that he is addressing an absolutely traumatized population, he accused of being a latter day Herman Goering. And it is not simply the trauma of the Genocide.

Many Armenians became double and even triple refugees in two generations — the Lebanese Armenians and the Armenians of Iraq to name but a couple of such communities.

Even when migration was for economic purposes, the reality is that Armenians found themselves more often than not unhinged without their networks of mutual support in a culture that virulently attacks ethnic difference (check out the TEA Party) and mocks it.

Armenians do not need to self-flagellate and they certainly do not need their intellectuals to do to the culture. Ara wanted to browbeat the community out of any remaining attempt at joviality by attacking “Kef Time” music, which ironically is a possible bridge to Turks and other Muslim populations.

Armenians are a Middle Eastern people, with all that the term implies in terms of patriarchy, traditionalism and sometimes mindless conservatism. We are who we are — change is always inevitable and always certain despite our ingrained traditions.

Armenia is something else as well. It is a post-Soviet state with all the social, economic and political problems that go with being the child of “the god that failed.” Its culture was also full of images of the diasporan as “a wannabe Armenian” — a perspective that “Hagopig Jan” reminded us of in earlier posts. Its government crushed the religion, it crushed traditions, and it crushed differentiation with other communities in an effort to build a new Soviet man. Did they succeed? Yes partially but failed totally.

As a result, Diasporans — even those from the RoA — are truly a homeless population. Armenia is being made into a global Armenian homeland, but it is not one yet, because the Diasporan is not seen as an Armenian there either.

He faces the Shahnourian abyss of disappearance. “Willingly or unwilling,” in the words of Shahnour, he looks ahead and sees extinction. Out of fear, he (and it is mostly he, but sometimes she) clings on to what he imagines to be the essence of the heritage — itself dreamt and imagined. And yes, part of this means fearing the other, especially the other responsible for his dislocation, unhinging, and existential worry.

Coaxing him to change and to begin living in his context starts from understanding him and his fears. It does not start by harping on the shortcomings of the culture he purports to defend. It does not stem from the abolition of difference or the acceptance of the exclusion and mockery of Anglo culture either.

Solutions within the culture will start to manifest themselves with the deep institutionalization of Armenianity in America, with networks of hospitals, colleges, charities, schools and churches. The systems of mutual support must re-emerge whether or not the mainstream tolerates them.

To that extent, it is helpful to have friends from communities that have done this.

A few clarifications –

Manuk – if you read my editorial above, you will see that this site is financed by no one but me. As far as Asbarez not being on my links list, you will notice that almost all of the links are under-represented sites, not mainstream Armenian media. When and if I do update the links section, I will be sure to include more links. I have a good relationship with Asbarez, no combat zone here.

bee bee – This man’s parents are from Cyprus, perhaps I should have clarified that he was born and raised in Armenia. Look around on this site, I don’t censor comments. I censor spam, harassment and non-constructive hateful commentary that is irrelevant to the topic at hand. Every major media outlet does this. For reference, here’s New York Times policy: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/about-comments-and-moderation/

Thanks again!

Still, India is a big country with big problems and Armenia is a small country with biiiiig problems. – I have replaced US by India in this sentence 1st used by Ara Baliozian.

PS. On the other hand: Who is financing this website? And… why isn’t there a link to http://www.ASBAREZ.com to be found under “LINKS”? – I am not Dashnak and I was born in a Dashnak-free Western European country and was raised by non-political Armenian parents who grew up in the Near East knowing only church choirs and church councils as community organizations. Still, I wonder why there is not a link to ASBAREZ? Is IANYANMAG already in the combat zone?