These publications are not available from AIWA unless specifically noted.
Check your local library about where they may be found, or try an Armenian bookstore
such as the National Association for Armenian
Studies and Research or Narek.com (no
affiliation)
Edited works | Arts | Autobiography | Biography | Cookbooks | Health and Social Status | History | Literary Criticism | Literature other than poetry | Poetry | Religion | Science
Edited works; many subjects
Ararat
Ararat, a quarterly serial published by the Armenian General Benevolent Union
in New York, frequently publishes fiction, poetry, art, and essays by Armenian
women. A special feminist issue, edited by Arlene Avakian, was published in
the fall of 1988 (Vol. XXIX, No. 4).
Armenian Forum
This magazine of scholarship and commentary frequently publishes articles about
Armenian women. The first issue of 2003 contains a series of articles about
domestic violence and the role of NGO's in Armenia, and an article about Armenian
women's memoirs.
Armenian Women in a Changing World: papers presented at the first international
conference of the Armenian International Women's Association.
Available from AIWA Publications
Voices of Armenian Women, papers presented
at the 1997 international conference of the Armenian International Women's Association
in Paris, 1998.
Available from AIWA Publications
Arts
Abrahamian, Jackie. Conversations with Contemporary Armenian Artists
(Amana Books, 1991)
A collection of interviews with artists broadly defined including a number of
women.
Kasparian, Alice Odian. Armenian Needlelace and Embroidery. McLean,
VA: EPM Publications, 1983.
Also contains a brief autobiography.
Lima, Gregory. Costumes of Armenian Women. Tehran: International
Communicators, 1974.
Illustrated.
Also see Anthony Slide's Ravished Armenia under Autobiography,
below.
Autobiography
Altounyan, Taqui. Chimes from a Wooden Bell: A Memoir. London and
New York: Taurus, 1990.
A memoir by a half-Armenian, half-English woman, who grew up in Damascus. Lots
about mothers and fathers, and about identity formation issues.
Avakian, Arlene Voski. Lion Woman's Legacy: An Armenian-American Memoir.
New York: The Feminist Press at CUNY, 1991.
A pathbreaking second-generation memoir, of interest to readers looking for
writings on identity formation.
Inness, Sherrie. American Women and Ethnic Food. University of Massachusetts
Press, 2001.
Autobiographical essays, including one by an Armenian-American woman, Arlene
Avakian.
Jafferian, Serpoohi Christine. Winds of Destiny: An Immigrant Girl's
Oddyssey. Belmont, MA: Armenian Heritage Press, National Association of Armenian
Studies and Research, 1993.
A memoir by a Smyrna (Izmir) refugee who came to the United States via Cuba,
with a great deal of honest treatment of family and money difficulties.
Ketchian, Bertha Nakshian. In the Shadow of the
Fortress: The Genocide Remembered. Cambridge, MA: Zoryan Institute, 1988.
A survivor's memoir. Very good physical description of the village of Husenig
before 1915, including a map showing where various families lived.
Martin, Ramela. Out of Darkness. Cambridge, MA:
Zoryan Institute, 1989 (reissued in 1999 by Lost Coast Press)
A survivor's memoir by a woman who survived the genocide and an extended battle
with tuberculosis.
Najarian, Carolann. A Call from Home: Armenia
and Karabagh--My Journal. Arpen Press, 1999.
A doctor tells about her relief work in Armenia and Karabagh after the 1988
earthquake.
Slide, Anthony, ed. Ravished
Armenia and the story of Aurora Mardiganian. Lanham, MD and London: Scarecrow
Press, 1997.
An introductory essay about the 1919 film Ravished Armenia (also known
as Auction of Souls) starring Genocide survivor Aurora Mardiganian, is
followed by her autobiography as told to Harvey Gates, a filmmaker, which was
originally published in 1918, and reissued in 1934. Also included in this book
is the text of the Prologue to the film, and a list of subtitles. The film itself
has apparently been lost.
Topalian, Naomi Getsoyan. Breaking the Rock
of Tradition. Watertown, MA: Baikar Publications, 2000.
An immigrant's story, this book has details about life in the Armenian communities
in Beirut and Greater Boston, and insights into a woman's struggle to establish
a home, family and profession in the United States.
Navasargian, Alice. Armenian Women of the Stage Glendale, CA?,
1999.
Extended biographies of over 50 actresses, singers and musicians from
the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Based on documents and, in
some cases, interviews. Color illustrations. A beautiful book, clearly
a labor of love by its author. Available from http://www.alicenavasargian.com
Verneuil, Henri. Mayrig. New York: St. Vartan Press, 1996.
The famed French director foregrounds his mother in this family biography. Translated from the French by Elise Antreassian Bayizian.
St. Gregory's Armenian Church, Cookbook Committee. Adventures in
Armenian Cooking. Indian Orchard, MA: 1973
Available on the web at http://www.cilicia.com/armo_cookbook.html
. Old-fasioned recipes, traditional to western Armenian cooking.
No illustrations.
Health and Social Status
Arevian, Mary, Noureddine, Sana, Kabakian, Tamar. A Survey of Knowledge,
Attitude, and Practice of Cervical Screening Among Lebanese/Armenian Women. Nursing
Ourlook, Jan. 1, 1997, volume 45, number 1, page
16.
(no abstract available)
Arevian M; Adra M; Kubeissi L "Risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) in Lebanese-Armenian women.". Health care for women international. [Health Care Women Int] 2004 Dec; Vol. 25 (10), pp. 933-49.Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death among women over 50 years of age. Preventive measures through lifestyle modification and management of CAD risk factors have contributed to a decrease in mortality from heart disease. The purpose of this article is to assess risk factors for CAD among the population of Lebanese-Armenian women, so that appropriate intervention strategies for risk reduction could be planned and implemented. A descriptive study to explore risk factors for CAD was conducted in a convenience sample of 83 women who attended a series of panel discussions about risk factors for CAD. Data collection was done using structured interviews and clinical/laboratory studies. Analysis of data was done using frequency distributions. The results indicated that a significant proportion of the sample manifested risk factors for CAD including age, menopausal status, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, high levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), and being overweight. In addition, hypertension was associated positively with age, total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels, lack of physical activity, propensity to anger, and family history of hypertension. The findings suggest the need for further research and health risk reduction programs.
PMID: 15513800
Author's Address:
School of Nursing, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. mb00@aub.edu.lb
Armenian,-H-K; Morikawa,-M; Melkonian,-A-K; Hovanesian,-A;
Akiskal,-K; Akiskal,-H-S. Risk factors for depression in the
survivors of the 1988
earthquake in Armenia. Journal-of-urban-health-bulletin-of-the-New-York-Academy-of-Medicine,
2002 Sep; 79(3): 373-82
MA: Most studies of psychopathology following disasters are concerned with posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD). The present analyses sought to assess the rate and determinants
of depression in adult survivors of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. Unlike previous
studies of earthquakes, the present analyses derive from a well-defined cohort
of survivors who underwent diagnostic interviewing to characterize psychiatric
morbidity. As part of a cohort study of 32,743 survivors of the 1988 earthquake
in Armenia, a stratified population sample of 1,785 persons was interviewed about
2 years following the disaster using a special questionnaire based on the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Disaster Interview Schedule/Disaster Supplement.
52% met the criteria for major depression. Of these, a total of 177 cases of depression
with no other psychiatric diagnosis or comorbidity were compared with 583 controls
from the same interviewed group who did not fulfill the
criteria for any psychiatric disorder. Cases and controls were compared as to
data obtained independently at the aftermath of the disaster on a number of exposures
and characteristics related to the earthquake. More of the cases involved females
(odds ratio [OR] for males 0.7 [95% confidence interval [CI] 0.5-0.9]) and from
the city of Gumri, which had some of the worst destruction (OR for residents of
Gumri 5.9 [95% CI 4.0-8.8]). Being with someone in the same building at the moment
of the earthquake was protective for depression (OR for presence of other people
0.5 [95% CI 0.3-0.6]), and the risk of depression increased with the amount of
loss that the family sustained as a result of the earthquake (OR for highest level
of loss 2.5 [95% CI 1.3-4.8]). The use of alcohol was protective for depression
(OR for those who drink 0.5 [95% CI 0.3-0.8]). In various models of multivariate
adjustment and analysis, the increased risk of depression with loss, geographic
location, and female gender was maintained. Also, being with someone during the
disaster, receiving assistance and support after the earthquake, and alcohol use
were protective for depression in these multivariate analyses. Depression is a
common sequel to an
earthquake. As with our previous study of PTSD, we were able to relate intensity
of the disaster and loss to the risk of depression in a general population sample.
The role of social support during and after the disaster as a protective mechanism
against adverse psychological outcome was highlighted again. Whereas alcohol use
in our previous study was not related to PTSD outcome, it is noteworthy that in
the present analyses it emerged as a protective factor for depression.
Baghdasarian, Edik and Ara Manoogian, from the online newspaper Hetq Online: Investigative Journalists of Armenia:
Desert Nights 1 (Feb, 16, 2005)
Desert Nights 2: Armenians in the Dubai sex trade (Feb. 23, 2005)
Desert Nights: They Tricked Me (March 2, 2005)
Desert Nights: The Armenian Network in the Dubai Sex Trade (March 9, 2005)
Desert Nights: Dubai's charm is in its women (March 16, 2005)
In a sensational series, two Armenian journalists describe how Armenian women, mostly from small villages, participate in the lucrative sex trade in Dubai. Penalties for human traffickers are relatively light, corruption is rampant, and law enforcement is nonexistent. As a result, vulnerable women, some in their teens, are working in a dangerous and exploitative industry. From the introduction to the series:
Hetq has been investigating the problem of trafficking in Armenian women for more than a year now, trying to find out how these women get into the United Arab Emirates, what forces them to take this path and engage in prostitution, who runs this business in Armenia and the UAE and why they are not punished, and what steps law enforcement agencies in Armenia and the United Arab Emirates have taken to stop human trafficking. Our investigative team will provide some answers to these questions in a series of articles and in a video film entitled Desert Nights .
Boston Women's Health Book Collective: Menk ou mer marmine (Armenian translation/adaptation of Our Bodies, Our Selves). Boston/Yerevan, 2001.
Byrnes,
R. Social Implications of Capitalism on Armenian women's self-identity and familial
structure. Directed undergraduate research, Warren Wilson College Department
of Sociology and Anthropology, 2003.
A series of interviews with Armenian women in the United States and in Armenia
forms the basis for this discussion of the status and roles of women, with particular
attention on the role of the western media and western advertising on their
values.
Dolian, G., Ludicke, F., Katchatrian, H., Morabia, A.
Contraception and induced abortion in Armenia: a critical need for family planning
programs in Eastern Europe. American Journal of Public Health,
May 1998, volume 88, number 5, pp. 803-5.
Report of a study showing that "induced abortion is the major form of birth
control among parous Armenian women." Accompanied by an editorial by W. Chavkin
(pp. 732-3) in the same issue on the problem of unwanted pregancies in Armenia.
Ishkanian, Armine. "Between Tragedy and Reality: Armenian Women's Labor Migration in the Post-Soviet Period." Anthropology of East Europe Review Autumn, 2002, Vol. 20 Issue 2, pp. 23-30
Jaycox,-L-H; Stein,-B-D; Kataoka,-S-H; Wong,-M; Fink,-A; Escudero,-P; Zaragoza,-C,
Violence exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder, and
depressive symptoms among recent immigrant schoolchildren. Journal-of-the-American-Academy-of-Child-and-Adolescent-Psychiatry,
2002 Sep; 41(9): 1104-10
OBJECTIVE: Many recent immigrant children are at risk for violence exposure and
related psychological distress resulting from experiences before, during, and
after immigration. This study examines the rates of violence exposure and associated
symptoms among recent immigrant children in Los Angeles. METHOD: 1,004 recent
immigrant schoolchildren (aged 8-15 years) were surveyed about their prior exposure
to violence and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
Participants included children whose native language was Spanish, Korean, Russian,
or Western Armenian.
RESULTS: Participants reported high levels of violence exposure, both personal
victimization and witnessing violence, in the previous year and in their lifetimes.
Thirty-two percent of children reported PTSD symptoms in the clinical range, and
16% reported depressive symptoms in the clinical range. Although boys and older
children were more likely to have experienced violence, girls reported more PTSD
and depressive symptoms. Linear multiple regressions revealed that PTSD symptoms
were predicted by both recent and lifetime violence exposure (p values < .001
and p < .05, respectively), when
depressive symptoms and gender were controlled. On the other hand, depressive
symptoms were predicted by recent victimization only (p < .001) when PTSD and
gender were controlled. CONCLUSION: These findings document the need for interventions
addressing the psychological sequelae of violence exposure in immigrant children.
Keenan, C.K. el-Hadad, A. Balian, S. A. Factors associated with domestic violence
in low-income Lebanese families. Image: The journal of nursing scholarship.
v. 30, no. 4, 1998. pp. 357-62.
(From the Medline abstract)Purpose: To analyze the cultural context of domestic
violence in low-income Moslem and Christian-Armenian families living in Lebanon.
Analysis also included an identification of family stressors, conflict management
strategies, and Moslem and Christian-Armenian cultural differences. The study
was part of a larger project designed to identify patterns of wife and child abuse
in low-income Middle Eastern families living in Lebanon and Egypt. DESIGN: Qualitative
content analysis of descriptive narratives by 60 low-income women who self-reported
spouse abuse in two urban Lebanese clinics during a 2-month period in 1992. METHODS:
Narratives describing exemplary incidents were obtained during a semi-structured
interview and recorded in the participant's native language then translated to
English for coding and content analysis. FINDINGS: Contextual factors for violence
included unmet gender role expectations, conflict with husband's relatives, and
alcohol abuse. Family stressors were: emotional, financial, and work. Women used
three types of conflict management: negotiation, taking initiative, and passive
resignation. CONCLUSION: From a cultural perspective, the analysis revealed both
strengths and vulnerabilities of Lebanese women who experienced domestic violence.
The study raised several questions, including whether it is appropriate to apply
Western-generated domestic violence theories to a Middle Eastern population. Culturally-specific
nursing interventions should be directed toward bolstering strong family and social
resources to cope with family stressors and to modify patterns of maladaptive
communication.
Melikian, George Levon. HIV Infection among Commercial Sex Workers in Yerevan:
Findings and Policy Recommendations. Armenian Forum: A Journal of Contemporary
Affairs. Volume 2, No. 1, Spring 1999.
Female prostitutes in Yerevan are significantly more likely than their counterparts
in Taipei, Mexico City, London, Sydney, and Atlanta to be infected with HIV, the
virus that causes AIDS, reports Yale University epidemiologist George Levon Melikian
in this study based on interviews with 200 prostitutes. The interviews revealed
that the women almost invariably engage in unprotected sexual intercourse with
their clients. Only ten percent reported consistent condom use. "More striking,"
Melikian writes, "was the finding that only 5.5 percent of respondents reported
frequent condom provision on the part of clients." The study draws attention to
cultural and economic obstacles to the use of condoms and to condom acquisition
by women. It also shows that more than half the women interviewed did not perceive
themselves to be at particular risk for HIV transmission.
Najarian, Carolann. A Call from Home: Armenia and
Karabagh--My Journal. Arpen Press, 1999.
A doctor tells about her relief work in Armenia and Karabagh after the 1988
earthquake.
Najarian,-L-M; Goenjian,-A-K; Pelcovitz,-D; Mandel,-F;
Najarian,-B, The effect of relocation after a natural disaster.
JN: Journal-of-traumatic-stress, 2001 Jul; 14(3): 511-26
Twenty-five women remaining in a city devastated by an earthquake were compared
with 24 relocated survivors and 25
comparison women. The women were administered a structured PTSD interview, the
Hamilton Depression Scale, and SCL-90-R. The women in both exposed groups showed
significantly more symptoms of avoidance,
arousal, and total PTSD than the comparison group. The women in the relocated
city had significantly higher depression scores than the women in the earthquake
city. On the SCL-90-R, relocated women were most symptomatic and comparison
group women were least symptomatic. Relocation after a disaster appears to be
associated more with risk
for depression than with PTSD in situations where recovery is delayed following
the trauma.
Nersesyan,-A-K; Boffetta,-P; Sarkisyan,-T-F; Zalinyan,-G-G;
Arutyunyan,-R-M. Chromosome aberrations in lymphocytes of
persons exposed to an
earthquake in Armenia. Scandinavian-journal-of-work,-environment-and-health,
2001 Apr; 27(2): 120-4
MA: OBJECTIVE: This study attempted to determine the level of chromosome aberrations
in lymphocytes of victims of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. METHODS: Chromosome
aberrations were measured in blood samples taken from 41 victims of the earthquake
that hit Armenia in 1988 and in samples of 47 reference blood donors. The victims
suffered from severe psychoemotional stress but were otherwise healthy. All the
samples were taken 2 to 3 weeks after the earthquake. All the subjects were lifetime
nonsmokers. The cells were scored blind as to the exposure status. RESULTS: The
subjects
exposed to the earthquake had a higher proportion of cells with chromosome aberrations
[3.1 (SD 2.1)%] than the referents [1.7 (SD 1.3)%, P-value for the difference
0.0009]. The difference persisted when the values were adjusted for age and gender
[relative risk (RR) 1.9, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.4-2.5]. The difference
was present for double breaks (RR 4.1, 95% CI 2.6-6.4), but not for single breaks
(RR 1.1, 95% CI 0.8-1.7). The exposed subjects also
had a lower percentage of cells with 46 chromosomes (P=0.03) than the referents.
CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests an increase in chromosome aberrations in the
lymphocytes of victims of a severe earthquake as compared with the levels of referents.
If not due to bias or confounding, the difference may reflect the effect of either
environmental exposures related to the earthquake or severe psychogenic stress.
The levels of chromosome aberrations found among the earthquake victims in this
study are comparable with those found in prospective studies of long-term cancer
risk.
Sibai,-A-M; Fletcher,-A; Armenian,-H-K. Variations
in the impact of long-term wartime stressors on
mortality among the middle-aged and older population in Beirut, Lebanon, 1983--1993.
American-journal-of-epidemiology, 2001 Jul 15; 154(2): 128-37
MA: The authors investigated the relation between exposure to wartime events and
cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in Lebanon, which recently
underwent a 16-year civil war. The study population comprised a representative
cohort (n = 1,786) of middle-aged and older men and women who, in 1983, participated
in a community-based health interview survey. In 1993, the authors traced 87.7
% of the original cohort (n = 1,567) and assessed their vital status, exposure
to war-related events, and, in case they had died, cause of death. War experiences
were aggregated into different clusters according to type of exposure, realm affected
(human vs. property losses), and person central to the event. Women, but not
men, had a significantly elevated CVD mortality risk for exposures to human traumas
that occurred to them (rate ratio = 3.37, 95% confidence interval: 1.41, 8.05)
or their families (rate ratio = 1.45, 95% confidence interval: 1.20, 1.74). Exposure
to property losses and work-related problems carried a greater mortality risk
for men, particularly those with lower levels of education, than for women. Subjects
displaced during the war had a significantly higher risk for CVD and total mortality.
These results suggest that, during prolonged wars, different elements of exposures
have a long-term impact on mortality, with effects varying by gender and socioeconomic
resources.
The Committee on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women of the United
Nations tracks the status of women in countries all over the world. The Republic
of Armenia submitted 1995 and 1997
reports to this Committee, which give extended analysis of the status of
women in Armenia, including some statistics. Keep in mind that these reports
derive from official Armenian government positions, and do not originate with
the UN or any other independent monitoring organizations.
Armenian, Harutune K., et al. Risk Factors for
Depression in survivors of the 1998 Earthquake in Armenia.: Journal of Urban Health.
2002 Sep; 79(3): 373-82.
Data is presented by gender. (from the MEDLINE Abstract:)Most studies of psychopathology
following disasters are concerned with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The present analyses sought to assess the rate and determinants of depression
in adult survivors of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. Unlike previous studies
of earthquakes, the present analyses derive from a well-defined cohort of survivors
who underwent diagnostic interviewing to characterize psychiatric morbidity.
As part of a cohort study of 32,743 survivors of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia,
a stratified population sample of 1,785 persons was interviewed about 2 years
following the disaster using a special questionnaire based on the National Institute
of Mental Health (NIMH) Disaster Interview Schedule/Disaster Supplement....
Berberian, Houri. "Armenian Women in turn-of-the-century
Iran: education and activism." in, Matthee, Rudolph P and Beth Baron, Iran and
beyond: essays in Middle Eastern history. Costa Mesa, CA:
Mazda Publishers, 2000
Kaprielian-Churchill, Isabel. Armenian refugee women:
the picture brides 1920-1930. Journal of American Ethnic History. Spring,
1993, volume 12, number 3, page 3.
Kaprielian,-Isabel. "Women and Work: The Case of Finnish Domestics and Armenian
Boarding House Operators." Resources-for-Feminist-Research / Documentation-sur-la-Recherche-Feministe;
1983-84, 12, 4, Dec-Jan, 51-54.
Addressed is the work experience of ethnic women in Ontario. Finnish domestic
servants & Armenian boardinghouse operators contributed their time, talents,
& energy to establish new roots in foreign soil. Both worked within the framework
of housekeepers & mothers; each, however, played a unique role. Reference is
made to the SE background of the Finns, their ages, marital status, & working
experiences. Employment as maids gave these women a sense of pride, a measure
of self-respect, & a feeling of independence. It is estimated that in 1910 approximately
50% of Finnish Fs in Toronto worked outside the home. The reverse was true of
the Armenians. In the Ottoman Empire, Armenian women had been under the constant
threat of abduction & forced conversion by Turks & Kurds. The resulting overprotectiveness
of Armenian Ms was transplanted to the New World, where it dictated the behavior
of Armenian Fs & influenced their methods of contributing to the family's economic
stability, especially after the genocide. In spite of such constraints, Armenian
women found avenues that enabled them to earn money while working within an
acceptable framework, which reconciled their earnings with their traditional
role of wife & mother. Using excerpts from taped interviews, insights are provided
into the world of these women, some of whom have poor English speaking skills.
(Abstract excerpted from Sociological Abstracts)
Merguerian, Barbara J. The Beginnings of Secondary Education for Armenian
Women: The Armenian Female Seminary in Constantinople. Journal of the Society
for Armenian Studies. 1990-1991, volume 5, pp. 103-124.
Merguerian, Barbara J. Mount Holyoke Seminary in Bitlis: Providing an American
Education for Armenian Women. Armenian Review. Spring, 1990, volume 43, number
1, page 31.
Okoomian, Janice. Becoming White: Contested History, Armenian American Women,
and Racialized Bodies
Melus (Publisher: Society for the Study Multi-ethnic Literature of United States.)
2002, volume 27, no. 1, pages 213-237. (see citation below under
Literary Criticism)
Sanasarian, Eliz. Gender Distinction in the Genocidal Process: A Preliminary
Study of the Armenian Case. Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 1989, volume
4, number 4, p. 449.
Sarafian, Ara. United States Official Documents on the Armenian Genocide.
Watertown, MA: Armenian Review, 1993 -
A series that includes (to date) "The Lower Euphrates" (Volume 1), and "The
Peripheries" (Volume 2). Although the series does not focus on women, the indexes
contain entries under the heading "Women" in each volume, and may be of use
to historians looking for primary source material on the treatment of women
during the Genocide and deportations.
Zeitlian, Sona. Hay knoj dere hay heghap‘okhakan sharzhman mej /Role
of Armenian Women during the Revolutionary Movement Los Angeles, Hraztan
Sarkis Zeitlian Publications, 1992
In Armenian.
Villa, Susie Hoogasian, Mary Matossian. Armenian Village Life before
1914. Wayne State University Press, 1982.
A valuable source of information about women and their role in village life, based
on interviews with immigrants to the Detroit Area from Western Turkey who left
before 1914. Especially useful for its information about holiday rituals and customs.
Wright, Nadia H., Respected Merchants: the history of Armenians in Singapore and Malaysia. Ammasia Publishing, Middle Park Victoria, Australia
Contains a chapter on Agnes, an Armenian woman who bred the orchid that would later become the national flower of Singapore: Vanda Miss Joaquim.(book may be ordered at www.amassia.com.au.
Literary Criticism
Nichanian, Mark. "Zabel Esayan: The End of Testimony and the Catastrophic
Turnabout. pp. 187-242 in Writers of Disaster: Armenian Literature in the
Twentieth Century, Vol. 1, The National Revolution. Princeton, London:
The Gomidas Institute, 2002.
A review of Zabel Esayan's "In the Ruins" (about the 1909 pograms) and "Forces in Retreat" (about the 1915 Genocide) in the context of an extended discussion of the relationship between Eastern and Western Armenian perceptions of the role of the national movement in the Catastrophe. A translation into English by G. M Goshgarian of excerpts from "In the Ruins" appears as part of the appendix (pp. 315-345).
Janice
Okoomian. Becoming white: contested history, Armenian American women, and
racialized bodies. MELUS (Publisher: Society for the Study Multi-ethnic
Literature of United States.) 2002, volume 27, no. 1, pages 213-237.
One of the few works to treat issues of both race and gender with respect to
Armenian identity. The relationship between the Armenian Genocide, the American-Armenian
diaspora and Armenian racial identity is discussed, accompanied by an overview
of the Hallajian naturalization court case of 1909 and its implications. An
original treatment of the novel Rise the Euphrates by Carol Edgarian
comprises the second half of the article, in which Okoomian argues that Edgarian
uses the Genocide to undermine the stability of Armenian racial whiteness and
to rewrite what has become an assimilated ethnic female body.
Peroomian, Rubina. Literary responses to catastrophe:
A comparison of the Armenian and Jewish experience. Atlanta,
GA: Scholars Press, 1993.
Contains a chapter on Zabel Esaian (aka Yessayan).
Rowe, Victoria. A history of Armenian women's writing, 1880-1922.
(London, Cambridge Scholars Press, 2003)
Includes discussion of Srpouhi Dussap, Sibyl, Mariam Khatisian, Marie Beylerian,
Shushanik Kurghinian and Zabel Yesayian.
Kalpakian, Laura. Stone Stories.
This autobiographical essay by a writer of popular fiction, is adapted from the text of Ms. Kalpakian's talk at the AIWA Annual Meeting in the spring of 1992.
Agabian, Nancy. Princess Freak: poems and performance texts. Los Angeles:
Beyond Baroque Books, 2000.
A remarkable collection of candid and moving first-person pieces from an Armenian-American
artist, musician, poet and third-wave feminist.
Ahnert, Margaret Ajemian. The Knock at the Door: A Journey through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide. (Beaufort Books, 2007)
A memoir of the author's mother, a survivor of the Armenian genocide, interspersed with the author's own feelings and reflections.
Avakian, Anne. Armenian Folklore Bibliography. University of California
Press, 1995.
Especially useful for its citations to research in the Armenian language.
Ayvazian, Leslie. "Nine Armenians" in Women Playwrights:
best plays of 1996. Smith and Kraus, 1997.
An Armenian family through three generations.
Edgarian, Carol. Rise the Euphrates. New York: Random House, 1994.
An extended saga in which three generations of Armenian women confront the legacy
of the Genocide. See Janice Okoomian's treatment of the novel in MELUS, op cit.
Kherdian, David. The Road from Home, HarperTrophy, 1979. (ALA Newbery Honor book)
Kherdian, David. Finding Home, HarperTrophy, 1981.
A young girl escapes the genocide and finds new life in America. Moving books for a juvenile audience (young teens). The Road From Home is available in paperback.
Kricorian, Nancy. Zabelle. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1998.
An Armenian-American immigrant's story.
Khachatrian, Hayk. Queens of the Armenians: 150 biographies based on history
and legend. 2002.
This book is a new English translation of an Armenian work which covers legends, poetry and folk tales about Armenian queens. Available from AIWA Publications
Skrypuch, Marsha Forchuk. The Hunger. Toronto, Dundern Group, 1999.
A novel for teenagers about a teenage girl who finds her way out of a near-fatal
cycle of bulimia and anorexia by inhabiting the body of her great-grandmother
and reliving the experience of the Armenian Genocide.
Yessayan, Zabel. The Gardens of Silihdar and other writings. Selected
and translated by Ara Baliozian. New York: Ahod Press, 1982.
This much-appreciated translation brings the lyrical work of Yessayan, a Turkish-born
Armenian writer who emigrated to Soviet Armenia and was eventually purged by
the Stalinists, to English readers.
Weblogs
4-ft-tall grandmother and armenian girl from "Takeoffs and Landings"
Poetry
Der Hovanessian, Diana. How to choose your past. New York: Ararat
Press, Armenian General Benevolent Union, 1978.
Identity formation issues are foregrounded in this collection of poetry by an Armenian-American poet .
See a more complete bibiliography of her works.
Kurghinyan, Shushanik. I want to live: poems. translated by Avagyan, Shushan. Watertown: AIWA Press, 2006.
Bilingual edition of poetry by a pre-revolutionary and Soviet-era feminist poet. ( Read more about poety Shushanik Kurghinyan.)
Tolegian, Aram, ed. Armenian Poetry Old and New. Detroit: Wayne State
University Press, 1979.
Contains poetry by Silva Gaboudikian and Maro Markarian. Bilingual.
The Other Voice. Various authors, translated by Diana der Hovannessian. Watertown, MA: AIWA, 2005.
The anthology, titled The Other Voice: Armenian Women's Poetry Through the Ages , provides an overview of verses composed by Armenian women beginning with old lullabies and ancient magic chants, continuing with poems from the eighth century, and proceeding through time to works by contemporary poets. Over 65 poets are represented in this anthology, with approximately 200 poems. [Read more about this book.]
Science
Danagulyan, A. and Ganabekian, A. "Women Physicists in Armenia." Women in Physics: 2nd IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics ( Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), 23-25 May 2005) Editor(s):Beverly Karplus Hartline and Ariel Michelman-Ribeiro. AIP Conference Proceedings, October 17, 2005, Volume 795, Issue 1, pp. 87-88. doi:10.1063/1.2128276
A brief summary of activities by women physicists in Armenia.
All annotations by Karen Merguerian. Opinions are my own. Last updated 16 May 2007