Article

The politics of memory and commemoration: Armenian diasporic reflections on 2015

Details

Citation

Kasbarian S (2018) The politics of memory and commemoration: Armenian diasporic reflections on 2015. Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, 46 (1), pp. 123-143. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1347917

Abstract
The centenary year of the Armenian genocide witnessed an escalation in cultural production and both political and academic focus. This paper looks at some of the sites and spaces, physical and discursive, in which the centenary was marked. In particular, it seeks to assess how the centenary has challenged and possibly altered the context within which we approach the genocide and its continuing legacies. The paper is positioned in the diasporic space – while recognizing that this is fluid and embodies transnational sites between “homelands” in the form of Armenia and Turkey, and “host states” where diaspora communities have resided (at least) since the genocide, in effect their homes. This paper attempts to pick out some of the themes apparent in the discourse and in the activities during 2015, from the perspective of Armenian diasporan actors, and is based on the author’s observations and participation in centenary events in the USA, Lebanon, Turkey, Switzerland, and the UK, as well as interviews with participants and organizers.

Keywords
Armenian diaspora; diaspora; Turkey; commemoration; genocide

Journal
Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity: Volume 46, Issue 1

StatusPublished
Publication date31/12/2018
Publication date online18/09/2017
Date accepted by journal25/06/2017
URLhttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/26311
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN0090-5992
eISSN1465-3923

People (1)

Dr Sossie Kasbarian

Dr Sossie Kasbarian

Senior Lecturer, Politics