The Politics of Naming the Armenian Genocide

Language, History and ‘Medz Yeghern’

Vartan Matiossian (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

296 Seiten

2021
I.B. Tauris (Verlag)
978-0-7556-4108-6 (ISBN)

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This book explores the genealogy of the concept of ‘Medz Yeghern’ (‘Great Crime’), the Armenian term for the mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Armenian ethno-religious group in the Ottoman Empire between the years 1915-1923. Widely accepted by historians as one of the classical cases of genocide in the 20th century, ascribing the right definition to the crime has been a source of contention and controversy in international politics. Vartan Matiossian here draws upon extensive research based on Armenian sources, neglected in much of the current historiography, as well as other European languages in order to trace the development of the concepts pertaining to mass killing and genocide of Armenians from the ancient to the modern periods. Beginning with an analysis of the term itself, he shows how the politics of its use evolved as Armenians struggled for international recognition of the crime after 1945, in the face of Turkish protest. Taking a combined historical, philological, literary and political perspective, the book is an insightful exploration of the politics of naming a catastrophic historical event, and the competitive nature of national collective memories.

Vartan Matiossian is a historian and literary scholar living in the United States. He received his PhD from the Academy of Sciences of Armenia and has taught Armenian history and language in Buenos Aires and New Jersey from 1988-2004 on primary, secondary and college levels. He has authored four books in Armenian three books in Spanish, has edited or co-edited three volumes (Spanish, English, and Armenian), and translated 12 volumes from Armenian into Spanish.

Acknowledgments
A Note on Transliteration

Introduction Silencing the Name

Part I Language and History
Chapter 1 Yeghern until the Late Nineteenth Century
Chapter 2 Yeghern before and after 1915
Chapter 3 Medz Yeghern and “Genocide” in Armenia and the Diaspora

Part II Politics and Language
Chapter 4 Vatican: “From the Depths of the Metz Yeghérn”
Chapter 5 Turkey: “The Denial of the Great Catastrophe”
Chapter 6 United States: “Genocide of the Armenians” and “Meds Yeghern”
Chapter 7 From Uruguay to the United States: On Words of Recognition

Conclusion Unsilencing the Name

Appendix A The Meaning of Yeghern in Scholarship
Appendix B Yeghern and “Genocide” in Memorial Inscriptions

Bibliography

Erscheinungsdatum	22.10.2021
Reihe/Serie	Armenians in the Modern and Early Modern World
Sprache	englisch
Maße	162 x 238 mm
Gewicht	600 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
ISBN-10	0-7556-4108-6 / 0755641086
ISBN-13	978-0-7556-4108-6 / 9780755641086
Zustand	Neuware