Levon Shant's play. "The Chained One' (Shghtaivatse) was written in 1918. under the impact of the two Russian Revolutions of 1917. The play takes place in the medieval Armenian capital, Ani, in the 12th century AD. The Armenian prince, Pahlavuni, leading the Armenian masses of the city, brings down the Turkish emir. The political upheaval continues, however, after the expulsion of the foreign ruler. Many of the participants of the revolt, especially those from the lower classes, attempt to continue the struggle to attain social justice. Prince Pahlavuni feels obliged to use force to end the chaos and restore order. Shant uses two different versions of the ancient Armenian myth of Artavazd, mentioned in Classical Armenian literature, to symbolize two contradictory understandings of freedom. The playwright's conclusion is that the concept of freedom can only be realized when future generations can overcome their instincts to rule over and control others. The author of this article draws parallels between Shant's play and Les aubes by the Belgian writer, Emile Verhaeren.
Վաչագան Գրիգորեան· Haigazian Armenological Revi...· 0 citations
In this article Grigorian analyses the charactersitics of Hrant Matevosian's Nana Ishkhanuhu Gamurche (Princesse Nana's bridge) a short novel, which was written in the 1960s but first published in 2006.
Unlike the "Anhnidzor" essay, where Matevosian highlighted his worries about the negative changes in the village, this short novel raised broader questions immediately related to the economic management policies of the Soviet Union. The events presented in this short novel start in the 1918 and extend up until the early 1960s. They depict a complete picture of social destitution, which was to spread throughout the country in the next quarter of a century.
Grigorian notes that Ishkhan, who was to become a central character in Matevosian's literary works, was first introduced in this short novel. Indeed, Ishkhan, one of Matevosian's most important heros, is the precursor and harbinger of the writer's unique world perception that was to be further developed in his literary works of the coming years.
Grigorian stresses that alongside the impressive characters that stand out in this short novel, Matevosian has deeply examined the economic management policies of the time, as well as the consequences of the implementation of the ruling ideology. He concludes that irresponsibility, disorder and the shortfalls of economic management made men apathetic and generated an impasse. The situation was like a time bomb, ready to explode when controling it became impossible. The end result was the production of a society where men were both mentally and spiritually numbed and deceived. Furthermore, Grigorian underpins the fact that Matevosian mocked both Soviet superpower pride and its baseless humanism, which were brought into existence at the expense of too many human sacrifices.
Grigorian points out that the second part of this short novel had space for further development, but Matevosian had left it aside as the issue had "become old" in contrast to its fast maturation in real life. As such, it was seen to be a complete literary work that fell short of the author's intentions, so he had no inclination to return to it for further development.
Grigorian concludes that the questions raised in this short novel were so daring that it was simply impossible to publish it at that time.
Վաչագան Գրիգորեան· Haigazian Armenological Revi...· 0 citations