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The memoir of Hovhannes Cherishian and the restoration of the Armenian hearth
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12905147 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nora Lessersohn (University College London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 565-575 |
| Publication date | 2019-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Memory Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1750-6980 • E-ISSN: 1750-6999 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1750698019870706 |
| OpenAlex | W2980159253 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
In this essay, I will analyze the memoir of Hovhannes Cherishian (1886–1967), an Ottoman Armenian shoemaker and genocide survivor from what is now southern Turkey, as an attempt to “restore the ruined ancestral [Armenian] hearth” and render “part of the lost legacy of [his] forebears” back unto “the possession of the Armenian community.” By analyzing examples of transcultural memories from Cherishian’s text, I will highlight the ways in which Cherishian uses his memoir to restore (and thus return to) a complex, multicultural, pre-genocide Ottoman Armenian existence. I will first locate Cherishian’s memoir in nostalgia and memory studies as a way to draw out his role as an author. I will then explore aspects of Cherishian’s text that reveal that which he lost to the genocide—and thus that which he restores through his memoir. In conclusion, I will discuss briefly the importance of memory sources for writing Ottoman and Armenian history
Ancient history · Armenian · Art · Art history · Genocide · Linguistics · Literature · Memoir · Political science · Possession (linguistics · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · History · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Philosophy · Turkey's Politics and Society
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |