This site highlights an ongoing project concerning the Armenian diaspora communities. These communities emerged starting in the mid-11th century, following the demise of the Armenian state (the fall of capital Ani to Seljuk Turks in 1064). In the following centuries, many Armenians were forced to flee from their homeland into exile, creating distinct communities in neighboring countries. The Genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire increased considerably the number of these communities and expanded substantially their geographical scope.
The site is called Armenian Street because in many cities around the world, Armenian Street has symbolized the community’s presence in the city. The street has usually been at the heart of the Armenian neighborhood; the place where the main institutions such as the church and the school have been located. As such, Armenian Street has also symbolized the community’s "core"; the bastion of conservation of ancestral culture and traditions.
The project also looks beyond Armenian Street and studies the “peripheral” segments of the diaspora communities. These segments have usually been better integrated in their social contexts and have entertained extensive cultural exchanges with their host nations. The peripheral segments have included individuals and groups that have been at the forefront of cultural, political, economic and scientific progress in their host counties.
If the peripheral segments of the diaspora communities have been bicultural, and sometimes multi-cultural, it is wrong to assume that the core have been monocultural, “pure” Armenian, entities. Despite being rather inert and conservative social groups, the core have oftentimes embraced technological, cultural and social innovations in order to better serve their mission of preserving the ancestral heritage. One of the most striking examples for this would be the initiative that some Armenian priests took to publish Armenian books in various diaspora communities from 1512 onwards. This required the massive adoption of the printing technology and extensive collaboration with Dutch and Italian artists and craftsmen.
The project, therefore, studies the Armenian diaspora communities, both their core and peripheral segments, as bi-cultural/multicultural entities.
The project does not intend to study all the diaspora communities that are spread over 100 countries; it rather focuses on 15 main countries and regions (groups of countries). The regions were defined not only based on geographical proximity of neighboring countries but also the similarity of their Armenian communities in terms of their history; social and cultural structure; and dynamics of development/extinction.
To this date, the following eight countries/regions have been studied (click for access):
- The USA and Canada
- Russia and Ukraine
- The Levant (Lebanon and Syria)
- Greater Constantinople/Istanbul (Bosporus)
- Persia/Iran
- Georgia
- France
- Former British India (India, Bangladesh and Myanmar)
- Russia and Ukraine
- The Levant (Lebanon and Syria)
- Greater Constantinople/Istanbul (Bosporus)
- Persia/Iran
- Georgia
- France
- Former British India (India, Bangladesh and Myanmar)
The studies of the following seven countries/regions are incomplete:
- Former Shirvan, the city of Baku in particular
- Greece and Cyprus
- Former Galicia, Transylvania and Commonwealth of Poland
- The Nile basin (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia)
- Former Southern Levant and the city of Jerusalem in particular
- South East Asia
- The Southern Cone (Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil)
The project highlight (this site) represents a small percentage of the catalogued material. For each of the eight countries/regions, there is a brief history, a map selected randomly, and 10 entries also selected randomly.
