PRESERVING ARMENIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE: MOVING INTO THE DIGITAL AGE
BY TAMAR BOYADJIAN
Monday, June 18th, 2012
Culture: Moving into the Digital Age
Collection of Armenian books from the turn of the 20th century,
including a rare edition of a
As someone who attended Armenian private school, I consider the
preservation of Armenian culture an extremely important matter.
Preserving Armenian culture, or hayabahbanum, was a constant topic
of conversation throughout my primary education – among friends,
in class, and in public lectures; it was keenly emphasized for us as
children and ingrained in our education.
Here are some of the ways in which hayabahbanum was defined according
to that education: speaking Armenian with family and friends; reading
and writing in Armenian; learning about Armenian history, culture,
and literature; memorizing and reciting the works of the great poets
of the 19th century; learning about the Genocide and being able to make
others aware of the story; being proud to be Armenian; and surrounding
oneself with Armenian friends while teaching non-Armenians about our
culture and history.
Rare edition of a geographical reference, published in Constantinople
in 1921
For many Armenians, this definition of cultural preservation remains
the prevalent one. But as we move deeper into the digital age, the
question of preserving Armenian history and culture necessarily takes
on an added meaning. The internet, for one, has dramatically improved
and accelerated our access to all kinds of information. Libraries
around the world have made books, manuscripts, and documents
retrievable through web-based depositories, allowing users to have
direct access to primary and secondary source materials. The last
decade has seen a continuous increase in the conversion of print
material into digital form, and in many cases, the creation of material
that has no non-electronic source or analog. Consider for example,
how many people around you prefer to read books on their Kindle
e-book reader or similar electronic device as opposed to a hardcopy,
or how many people bother to print copies of the digital photos they
take on their iPhones.
As a result, cultural preservation now has to encompass the broader
definition of the protection and conservation of Armenian manuscripts,
books, and archival material in both physical and digital versions,
in past as well as contemporary settings, while keeping in mind that
many physical archives still lack their digital counterparts. In
that regard, some collections around the world have a great deal of
Armenian material that has not been properly maintained. These books
and manuscripts, which house the stories of Armenian cultural and
literary history, are in desperate need of physical maintenance. But
as individual and collective archives are created organically in the
digital world, the question of preserving Armenian history and culture
must be re-defined and re-considered within their new and more complex
parameters. A crucial element for cultural preservation, therefore,
is the digitization of these archival materials.
Collection of Armenian books from the turn of the 20th century in
need of some form of preservation. These books are good candidates
of digitization, due to their deteriorating condition but also since
they are rare books
As I suggested above, a number of books and manuscripts present in
libraries, private archives, and other repositories around the world
contain critical accounts of Armenian cultural and literary history.
But since much of this “analog” material has simply never been
digitized, the act of preserving it in its physical form must now also
encompass the broader goal of creating, preserving and archiving its
digital versions. Unfortunately, due to budgetary restrictions, many
libraries around the world today simply do not have the necessary staff
with the expertise to properly maintain their Armenian collections. And
since there has been little in the form of advocacy to preserve and
digitize Armenian collections, the libraries don’t yet accept the added
responsibility of cultural preservation, which has expanded to include
the critical element of creating and preserving digital archives.
As preservation budgets suffer, therefore, the digitization process has
become ever more crucial for the conservation of analog historical and
cultural material. Take, for example, a rare book or manuscript that
has suffered significant damage to its pages or cover. Digitizing such
a codex, or manuscript, “freezes” the deterioration process, helping
assure the manuscript’s safety and longevity. Patrons interested
in the manuscript would then be able to view it in digital form,
in the process also limiting more damage to the original physical
manuscript while making it available for future generations in digital
form. Some scholars have expressed reservations about relying on
digital copies of manuscripts and rare books. According to them,
digital copies don’t necessarily provide codicological information
for every manuscript. And digital copies have their own preservation
needs – like physical copies, they need to be backed up and preserved,
following a “redundancy” protocol, in order to make sure they don’t
disappear into the virtual ether.
But such reservations don’t undercut the need for digital preservation
so much as reinforcing its significance as a way of providing a
backup as well as an additional medium for enjoying the physical
manuscript materials.
Perhaps the most overlooked benefit of digital archives is precisely
their ability to provide additional access to far-flung physical
archives. The growing efforts of libraries and universities to digitize
their major collections of documents, rare books, and manuscripts
have provided rare access to the literary and historical culture of
the Middle East, the Near East, the Caucasus, and other areas of the
world sometimes overlooked by traditional scholarship.
These digitization efforts have therefore provided both academic and
cultural support to recent trends toward expanding the definition
of worthwhile scholarship beyond its often narrowly Euro-centric
perspective. The expanded access that digital archives provide has
also broadened and deepened textual conversations among scholars
working in fields traditionally kept apart, increasing the number and
reach of projects that are trans-cultural and interdisciplinary in
nature. Armenian material has seldom received the same treatment. As
such, digitizing it would provide the added benefit of exposing
Armenian archival material not only to Armenian scholars, but more
importantly to their counterparts in other fields, moving the study
and preservation of Armenia culture and history beyond the confines
of its contemporary discussion in Armenian schools and circles and
inserting them into larger inter-cultural conversations.
Examples of rare and early editions of English literary works
The process of digitizing archival material has seen considerable
advances over the last decade, though unfortunately less in the
Armenian case. The National Academy of Sciences in Armenia recently
released a report regarding its own digitization efforts with rare
Armenian books, through the British Library’s Endangered Archive
Program. Efforts have also been made at the Charles E. Young Research
Library at UCLA to digitize the Caro Minasian Armenian materials
collection, currently being processed by me and Persian and Armenian
cataloger Nora Avetyan. UCLA acquired the collection of Dr. Caro
Minasian, an Armenian physician working in Isfahan, Iran, in 1968.
This rich collection includes correspondence, photographs, maps,
books, and other material related to the Armenians of Isfahan and
Southeast Asia.
Of course, the benefits of digitization are not limited only to
the areas of rare books and manuscripts. UCLA’s acquisition of the
Minasian archive underscores the importance of extra-literary accounts
of Armenian culture and history – Armenian newspaper accounts, maps,
correspondence and other cultural artifacts and historical documents
are vital to the development and preservation of Armenian cultural
history. It is imperative not only to preserve such archives but also
make them widely available to future generations, both non-Armenian
students and scholars around the world but also, and perhaps
especially, in places around the world with an already vital Armenian
community – Los Angeles, Boston, Montreal, Beirut, Tehran, Paris,
Marseille, London. Without the benefit of digital preservation, it
is difficult to imagine how else the richness of Armenian culture and
history would be fully preserved beyond its present historical moment.
Digital copies may very well never replace physical ones; analog is a
fundamentally different way of reading material than the digital. One
cannot smell or feel a digital book, although some efforts are being
made in this direction, as well! And while such efforts are exciting,
the fundamental challenge is making analog material more widely
available through digital technology, a powerful tool for survival and
enhanced accessibility and scholarship, extending information to all
those who seek it, all over the world. As Armenians in the digital
age, therefore, it is crucial for us to consider what I have called
“the future of our past.” How can we possibly talk about Armenian
history and culture, discussing both its great authors and everyday
exemplars, while expanding that conversation to those outside our
own circles, without relying on the books, manuscripts, newspapers,
and other cultural artifacts on which this cultural history was
once written? Let’s make sure to broaden and deepen our preservation
efforts, as we move rapidly into the digital age.
Tamar Boyadjian is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at UCLA, where she
recently received her PhD from the Department of Comparative
Literature. She or any of the other contributors to Critics’ Forum
at [email protected]. This and all other articles published
in this series are available online at To
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