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Diaspora vs Istanbul Armenians

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  • Diaspora vs Istanbul Armenians

    I always thought of why and how Istanbul and Diaspora Armenians differed greatly. Ethen Mahcupyan's recent article addresses this, I found this interesting.

    Turkish version could be reached from this link


    Istanbul Armenians

    It is hard to be an immigrant...These people rejected and isolated in their own country have to travel to an unknown country and culture, probably without sufficient financial means to survive.

    This adventure undertaken by them without knowing the language, rules, traditions of the country they are going to, leads them to lands in which they will be strangers and will always remain strangers... Their only hope and point of resistance is the new and secure life they will give to their children. The first generation sacrifices itself and expects this sacrifice to be praised even if it does not say it openly. However, even though it is somewhat possible to keep the next generation under cultural discipline, the grandchildren, in particular, adapt to this new culture and are detached from the traditional culture. Hence, alienation among generations surfaces and past sacrifices become a topic of conversation remembered only by its funny aspects. Elderliness for the first generation immigrants always implies sadness and solitude...

    Just as the elderly in the family perceive this act of scattering that takes place before the very eyes of the people as a kind of deculturalization, the immigrants also seek ways of becoming a community. Because a community means an organization producing common grounds and values. The communities established remind the immigrants of their language, religion and artistic accumulation and to teach their children about these. Marriages within the community make this common culture concrete and reinforce it. However, all these are not enough for the community to reproduce itself the same way: Facing the crushing effect of the host culture, the gap between home and street widens, the immigrant family becomes a stranger to the public sphere in the street, makes this alienation normal in its inner world and creeps into its own shell, into its home.

    This process triggers an identity need that exceeds the daily lifestyle which surrounds it and also makes it more meaningful. Because, every human being needs the “street,” that is to say, the public sphere and the public sphere that cannot be acquired in the new country is new being sought in the motherland... Social and political events of the abandoned country become more and more the basic focus of attention and a “diaspora” comes into being... This position peculiar to itself, uniting the policies of the old country and the daily life of the new one, produces an identity that is equal to the power of the motherland. Therefore, in examples where the motherland is weak, the diaspora turns to an additional source of identity, generally to history...

    However, I must confess that the night organized by Istanbul Armenians in Melbourne, Australia reflected more than this state of mind. I have just returned from this trip, and I will probably not be able to forget one of the peak points of the trip, that night when nearly 200 people danced the “halay” in the accompaniment of Armenian, Greek and Arabic songs, sang songs in Turkish in a chorus and wept... An elderly Istanbul Armenian young at heart, dropping his walking stick and dancing as the “misket havasi” ( a Turkish folk music) began, will remain engraved in my mind. Istanbul Armenians are both inside and outside the line that goes from immigrantship to the diaspora... It is impossible not to perceive a thousand-year Anatolian resistance behind all those years they have spent in another land; however, what is more important is their supporting this past as a whole, their becoming the real men of that land... This is what presumably makes them healthy...

    Dec 2, 2005

    12.03.2005


    e-mail:[email protected]

  • #2
    Interesting article. While the differences/similarities between Diaspora and Istanbul Armenians may be relatively distinct it would be interesting to read something about the cultural differences/similarities between Istanbul and Yerevan Armenians for example.

    Comment


    • #3
      TurQ, Thanks for sharing. Interesting article indeed.

      Originally posted by hitite
      it would be interesting to read something about the cultural differences/similarities between Istanbul and Yerevan Armenians for example.
      My thoughts exactly... I'd love to see that comparison/contrast.

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks

        I am following Ethen Mahcupyan's articles for years. He has good in dept sociological analysis for Turkish society. He is inside Turkish society but at the same time he is outside the dynamics that shapes Turkish society because he is a member of Armenian community. So his analysis for me has a value. Definitely this is same for the Armenian community and diaspora. HE is in Armenian society but he is out of the dynamics that have shaped diaspora in particular. This particular article described very well the the difference between diaspora and Istanbul Armenians.
        I can also see that difference in this forum, evn the words and approach of Istanbul Armenians is different in nature. As Machupyan points out very well this difference is the attachment that they feel for Turkey/Anatolia and TUrkish culture.

        I believe Turkey and TUrkish people should find ways to reach the ordinary diaspora Armenians and make ties with those who will eventually have attachments like those Istanbul Armenians. I believe this will help to decrease the tensions and mistrust towards Turks.

        Originally posted by Hovik
        TurQ, Thanks for sharing. Interesting article indeed.


        My thoughts exactly... I'd love to see that comparison/contrast.

        Comment

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