Inch Ka Chka and other paradoxical clues into Soviet Armenian society

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorMarcus, George E.en_US
dc.creatorGrigorian, Stellaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-04T06:58:58Zen_US
dc.date.available2009-06-04T06:58:58Zen_US
dc.date.issued1995en_US
dc.description.abstractDuring the twentieth century, Soviet Armenian society has been witness to numerous situations in which national identity has become an expression of cultural paradox. From the 1940's to the 1990's, Armenia has been in a transitory state, oscillating between seemingly contradictory categories of East/West, capitalism/communism, traditional/modern, past/present and death/survival. Despite this state of flux, Armenian self-representations insistently point to a collective identity that defines itself as firmly rooted, fixed in space and enduring in understandings. This project explores stories and histories, especially anecdotes collected in the course of fieldwork in Soviet Armenia conducted over two extended periods from 1987 to 1992. What was sought were mechanisms that lend to culture the malleability to bend and twist without radical rupture, allowing culture to reinvent itself endlessly in the face of social pressures and to allow space for new cultural constructions of meaning. I chart the deeply contradictory symbolic structure of Soviet Armenian society as an instrument by which these reworkings are achieved. In so doing, it becomes clear that contradiction does not lead to cultural paralysis. On the contrary, the articulation of contradiction within a narrative mode allows for mediation of difference in a manner that is non-divisive. Further, I trace the modern history of Armenia to reveal the ways in which Armenians manage the affects of Sovietization, of the Diaspora and repatriation, and of Armenian independence and emergence into a new geo-political matrix. Special attention is given to the Soviet Nationality Policy of the 1920's and 1940's and to the disastrous earthquake of 1988, both of which have led to a renewed sense of nationalism and of peoplehood among the Armenians. In tracing symbolic repertoires, I reveal the transitory character of meanings and their implicational associations as culture repositions itself and renegotiates contradictions in new settings.en_US
dc.format.extent202 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS ANTH. 1995 GRIGORIANen_US
dc.identifier.citationGrigorian, Stella. "Inch Ka Chka and other paradoxical clues into Soviet Armenian society." (1995) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19098">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19098</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/19098en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectCultural anthropologyen_US
dc.subjectAsian historyen_US
dc.subjectAustraliaen_US
dc.subjectHistory of Oceaniaen_US
dc.titleInch Ka Chka and other paradoxical clues into Soviet Armenian societyen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentAnthropologyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
9610647.PDF
Size:
8.45 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
Rice University Theses and Dissertations