Closing conference on the research entitled Cultural Memory. Soviet Past and Its Reflection in Literature
Konrad Adenauer Foundation jointly with ARI Literature Foundation successfully implemented a project entitled Cultural Memory. Soviet Past and Its Reflection in Literature.
Three researches were carried out throughout the project, the aim of which was to study the cultural memory reflected in the Soviet and post-Soviet Armenian literature. The researches will shortly be published on the websites of ARI Literature Foundation and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
The closing conference was held on November 15th in Yeghishe Charents house-museum to sum up the results of the researches and present them to the public.
The topics of the researches and the research groups chosen are as follows:
- Literary Resistance and Intellectual Freedom in 60s and 70s. Research group: Hrach Bayadyan and Mariam Karapetyan
- Urban Memory: Vernacular Yerevan in the Context of Soviet Literature. Research group: Tigran Amiryan and Sona Kalantaryan
- Literature Textbooks as a Tool for Creating Homo-Soveticus: Armenian Literature in Soviet Schools. Research group: Vahram Danielyan and Arthur Mirzoyan
In her opening speech Arevik Ashkharoyan, the founding director of ARI Literature Foundation mentioned that it was important for them as a literary foundation to have the opportunity to carry out a literary research project, literature being the best documentation of life, and literature research being a way to understand and re-evaluate the past.
The director of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung South Caucasus Mr. Stefan Mallerius mentioned that the researches brought up a lot of questions and that they could be used as a tool for researching Armenian identity on the basis of memory and remembrance.
Afterwards films summing up the researches were presented to the guests of the event. Each research group along with the moderator presented their work and answered the questions of the audience.
