On Thurs., Feb. 11, Dr. Rubina Peroomian will present a lecture titled “And Those Who Continued Living in Turkey after 1915” at the Armenian Cultural Foundation (ACF) in Arlington, Mass. The event is organized by the Boston Chapter of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society.
The recent political developments in the world have created a new atmosphere whereby the events of 1915 and the plight of the Armenian survivors in Turkey, be they Christian, Islamized, or hidden, have been espoused and fictionalized in the literature of Turkey. Artistic expressions echo the continuing trauma in the life of these “rejects of the sword,” a Turkish moniker for Armenians, having “undeservedly” escaped from death. The stories that Turkish writers unearth and the daring memoirs of Turkish citizens with an Armenian in their ancestry, as well as obscured references to these same stories and events in Turkish-Armenian literature, have unveiled the full picture of survival, with an everlasting memory of the lost ones, but also of forced conversions, of nurturing the “enemy” in the bosom, and of the dehumanization and sexual torture of men and women.
A multifaceted image, an identity, of what is broadly generalized as Turkish-Armenian, thus emerges—a phenomenon that contradicts the long-researched and explored concept of the Diasporan Armenian post-genocide ethnic identity. Nevertheless, the sociopolitical and religious impositions and the hegemony of Muslim identity have not yet been fully challenged. External pressures may influence the metamorphosis of the Turkish state, but the real change should come from within the Turkish society. That change may be underway. Peroomian’s recent book And Those Who Continued Living in Turkey After 1915 addresses the issues of the psychology of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide who remained in Turkey, their lifestyle after the tragedy, and the struggle to preserve their identity. What happened to the women and the children who were kidnapped during the massacre? What happened to those Armenians who were forced to adopt Islam? How does the Armenian community of Istanbul live, and what does it do to preserve its Armenian identity?
Peroomian, a lecturer of Armenian language and literature, is currently a research associate at UCLA. She is the author of several books, textbooks, chapters in books, and research articles in scholarly journals on Armenians and the Armenian Genocide. Her major publications include Literary Responses to Catastrophe: A Comparison of the Armenian and the Jewish Experience (1993); Armenia in the Sphere of Relations between the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and the Bolsheviks, 1917-1921 (1997) in the Armenian language (translated and published in Russian); The Armenian Question, a series of textbooks in Armenian for grades 10-12 (1990-99); and a comprehensive textbook of the History of the Armenian Question for high schools in Armenia (2000). And Those Who Continued Living in Turkey after 1915 (2008) is her most recent publication. Peroomian has lectured widely and has participated in several international symposia. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Armenian Educational Foundation and the Mesrob Mashtots Medal with an encyclical by His Holiness Aram I Catholicos of Cilicia.
The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m., and is free and open to the public. The Armenian Cultural Foundation is located on 441 Mystic St. in Arlington. For more information, call (617) 924-8849 or email info@hamazkayin-boston.org.
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Hamazkayin-Boston aims to uphold the ethnic identity and cultural heritage of the Armenian community in the Greater Boston Area by cultivating and promoting local, national, and international Armenian arts; celebrating important educational and cultural milestones in our history; and engaging the youth and young professionals in educational and cultural issues of importance to the Armenian community, thereby cultivating the next generation of local and national community leaders.
Hamazkayin-Boston holds bi-weekly meetings on Monday evening at the Hamasdegh Library, located on the second floor of the Armenian Educational and Cultural Center (ACEC) on 47 Nichols Ave. in Watertown. Their meetings are open to all who would like to help promote our cultural treasures. For more information, visit http://hamazkayin-boston.org or email info@hamazkayin-boston.org.
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