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Hovaness
Toumanian |
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Hovaness
Toumanian (1869-1923) was born into the rural community
of Dsegh
in the Lori Marz mountains, and largely educated himself
before leaving for the prestigious Nersisian School in Tbilisi,
from which he was forced to leave two years before graduation
by the death of his father. To support the family, Toumanian
worked at several jobs he intensely disliked, but at 19
he married, in time fathering ten children. He became known
as a poet in 1890, when his first poetry collection
was published, and Toumanian then formed the `Vernatun'
(Upper Room), a literary circle that met weekly in his home
from 1902 through about 1908 in Tbilisi. He was imprisoned
from 1908 to 1909 for anti-Tsarist activities and again
from 1911 to 1912. Toumanian devoted himself to humanitarian
causes — organizing societies to help war victims,
orphans, refugees, seeking support for an Armenian statehood
and helping those fleeing the genocide
of 1915. To further those activities, he went to Istambul
in 1921, but fell ill, underwent several operations and
died in a Moscow hospital in 1923. His poetry, stories and
literary criticism, and conspicuous generosity to other
writers, made him the 'poet of all Armenia'. Many institutions
are named after him, and his work has been translated into
40 languages.
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Toumanian's
poetry |
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Literary
critics said of Toumanian that he brought a fresh spirit
to Armenian poetry. Universal, classic, melodious, his stories
and poems spoke to universal longings, especially in those
seeking national identity. An inner world of peace and harmony
characterized all his literary work, even the journalism
and everyday correspondence, and the work he left behind
is very considerable. Two of his best-known epic poems,
Anoush
and Almast,
have been used as librettos for operas that are still performed,
and his version of David of Sasoon is considered
the best. Among his most celebrated works are Hokehankisd
(Requiem), Akhtamar, The Dove Monastery, The
Capture of Tmpkabert, The Construction of the Railway,
Neso's Steam Bath and a host of fairy tales, among
which is Kach Nazar (Nazar the Brave). Toumanian
helped his countrymen discover the folklore in their own
and other cultures, weaving in images, plots and motives
that did much to enrich Armenian literature without endangering
its individuality. 'The closer the writer is to his own
nation and the deeper he delves into its folklore,' he said,
'the greater is the meaning of his work for mankind.' At
Yerevan is the Hovhannes Toumanian House-Museum with the
8000 volumes of his private library, but it is in the beauty
of the Caucasian countryside that Toumanian's poetry comes
alive, as it does with so many Georgian
and Armenian writers.
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Armenian
poetry |
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From Armenia
comes one of the earliest poems known: David
of Sassoun, which acquired Christian characteristics
in the 4th century, when an Armenian language was developed
for ecclesiastical poetry separate from Byzantine Greek.
Like neighbouring Georgia, but a little later,
an extended kingdom produced outstanding poets
in the 13th and 14th centuries: Gosdantin Erzengatzi, Hovhannes
Blouse and Katchadour Ketcharetsi, the last strongly influenced
by Persian
models. Armenia also had its share of invasions, becoming
part of the Ottoman and then Russian Empires, and suffering
the Turkish genocides of 1886
and 1915
and Soviet purges thereafter, these almost extinguishing
Armenian cultural life. Leaving aside the 17th-18th century
poets Nagash Hovnathan and Sayat Nova, Armenian poetry returned
to prominence only in the 19th century with Bedros Tourian
(1820-1901), Missak Medzarentz
(1886-1908), and Michael
Nalbandian
(1829-66). Tiflis produced outstanding poets in the next
generation: Hovaness Toumania
(1869-1923) and the lyric poets Avedik
Issahakian
(1875-1957) and Vahan Derian
(1885-1920), and there were important poets in Istambul:
Adom Yarjanian
(b.1878), Daniel
Varoujan
(b. 1884) and Roupen Sevag (b.1890), all of whom perished
in 1915. Soviet Armenian poetry appears in Eghishe
Charents
(1897-1937), and Gourgen Mahari
(1903-69), both victims of Stalinist repression. Succeeding
them came Hovaness Shiraz
(1915-85) and Barouyr Sevag
(1924-72). Poetry plays a large part in Armenian life today,
and several contemporary poets have been widely translated:
Gevorg
Emin (b.1915), Vahakn Davtian
(1922-96) and Hamo
Sahian (b. 1914).
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Reading the Armenian |
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The diaspora,
especially to the USA, and the fierce nationalism
of its people,
have ensured that Armenia
is well represented
on the web. The language
is not particularly easy to learn, but many books,
CDs,
tapes
and
language exchanges
exist, and these sites will help: haias,
armenian
lessons online, turtlefastarmenia:
online dictionaries are here.
More general sites include Armenian
research center, armeniapedia,
about
armenia, armenians,
learning.lib,
learnarmenian,
hot
lists and Armenian
links. Poetry in Armenian may be found at distance
learning, edmond,
armenianpoetry,
karapetian,
usanogh
and dermidjian.
Translations are at hyeetch,
haig,
little
Armenia, armenianhouse,
poems
and poetry and yanojan.
Armenian translations and parallel texts can be purchased
from Armenian
poetry and literature books, modern
poetry in translation, almisbah
and cilicia,
and via the usual online sources: Bookfinder,
Isbndb,
Alibris,
Amazon
and Abebooks.
There are many anthologies, e.g. Der
Hovanessian and Margossian, Hovanessian,
etc.,
and among critical studies these may be useful: H. Thorossian's
Histoire de la littérature armenienne (1951),
M.J. Arlen's Passage to Ararat (1975) and C. Walker's
Armenia: Survival of a Nation (1980).
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