The Digitization of Armenian Cultural Heritage

In its tradition of disseminating Armenian cultural heritage, the American University of Armenia (AUA) has digitized and made freely accessible over 60 volumes of Western Armenian literature penned by authors who perished in the Armenian Genocide. Project Director, Mr. Merujan Karapetyan, told an audience in mid-April that this is the latest stage in the digitization of Armenian literary treasures, launched by AUA in the 1990s as “part of the longstanding Armenian tradition of safeguarding Armenian cultural wealth.” Now, with the digitization of over 60 volumes of Western Armenian literature, it can confidently be said that Armenian literature is not only preserved but more widely available than ever. 

A Generation of Silence: Why Armenian Schools Matter

Sevana Panosian

 

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. – Ludwig Wittgenstein

The Armenian diaspora is slowly raising a generation of silence.

This statement may come as a shock, but it stems from the philosopher and linguist Ludwig Wittgenstein’s treatise on language where he states “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

I remember learning about his theories in graduate school while studying other linguistic theorists like Mikhael Bakhtin, but these words entered the “where are they now” files of my musings and memory until I heard my older daughter correct my younger daughter as she spoke about the importance of being Armenian and her pride in balancing her ability to code switch not only between English and Armenian, but also between Western and Eastern Armenian.