ARCHAG & ANAHID: CULTIVATING ARMENIAN LITERATURE IN FRANCE
By Jennifer Manoukian
ianyan magazine
Feb 7 2012
With so much attention focused on the French-Armenian community in
recent weeks, it is an excellent time to remember the role that France
once played as the center of Armenian literary and cultural activity
in the diaspora.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the capital of Western Armenian intellectual
life shifted from Constantinople to Paris. During the Ottoman period
of social reform in the mid-nineteenth century, it was common for
affluent Armenian families to send their sons-and, in very few
cases, their daughters-to Paris to finish their schooling. These
young Armenians would generally return to the Ottoman Empire after
graduating with the hope of applying their knowledge and skills to
help improve the social and political situation of their community;
nevertheless, by the turn of the century, a small, yet influential
group of around 3,000 Armenians had settled in Paris. These Armenians
were often writers and activists who, threatened by Sultan Abdul
Hamid II’s increasingly authoritarian rule, chose to seek refuge
abroad where they could express themselves more freely without fear
of imprisonment or aggressive surveillance.
Of the small community of Armenians in fin-de-siècle Paris, one of the
most notable and well-respected members was Archag Tchobanian. Born
in Constantinople in 1872, Tchobanian attended the Guetronagan
School-known for producing some of the finest Armenian literary
minds-and began writing and translating from Armenian to French at an
early age. At twenty-three, he founded the literary journal “Dzaghig”
(“Flower” in Armenian) and, soon after, left Constantinople for
Paris where he established himself as key figure in French-Armenian
intellectual life for over a quarter of a century.
Celebrated as the ambassador of Armenian letters in France, this poet,
writer, translator and editor earned the respect not only of his fellow
Armenians, but also of some of the most prominent French writers and
politicians of the time. Through his relationship with people like
Anatole France and Georges Clemenceau, Tchobanian raised awareness
about the plight of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire and
garnered support among the French public for their cause.
Tchobanian was however very mindful of the danger of portraying
Armenians merely as a victimized people and challenged this image
by showcasing examples of their literary and cultural heritage to a
largely unfamiliar French public; he regularly published translations
of Armenian folktales in the French literary journals, organized
cultural events-memorably inviting Gomidas to perform in Paris in
1906-and hosting conferences and lectures on Armenian history and
literature.
The French-Armenian community of the time was also greatly indebted
to Tchobanian’s efforts to resist acculturation by fostering Armenian
literary production in the diaspora. His most enduring contribution to
this effort was the creation of the literary, artistic and scientific
journal, “Anahid,” in 1898.
With this journal, Tchobanian sought to instill in Armenians admiration
for their own cultural achievements and continue the literary and
intellectual legacy of the previous generations in the diaspora. He
understood “Anahid” as a means through which to conserve, perpetuate
and reconstruct Armenian identity in exile, especially with the
expansion of the community in the 1920s.
Each issue of the journal was composed of poetry, prose, translations,
literary criticism and an eclectic mix of articles on topics ranging
from architecture to music. Although poems by well-respected figures
like Siamanto or Taniel Varoujan were published in Anahid, Tchobanian
actively sought out and published works by emerging writers as well;
some of these young minds, like Zabel Yessayan and Zareh Vorpouni,
would later become leading figures in Armenian literature.
Despite an 18 year interruption from 1911 to 1929 and a brief hiatus
during the Nazi occupation of Paris in the 1940s, Anahid provided
an outlet for the artistic expression of a diasporan people for 33
years, in a way unrivaled by any other publication. The last issue
of Anahid was published in 1949 and was soon followed by the death
of its devoted editor in 1954.
Jennifer Manoukian is a recent graduate of Rutgers University where she
received her B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and French. Her interests
lie in Western Armenian literature and issues of identity and cultural
production in the Armenian diaspora. She also enjoys translating and
has had her translations of writer Zabel Yessayan featured in Ararat
Magazine. She can be reached at [email protected]