Diaspora writers

After the genocide, Armenians were scattered all over the world. The neighboring countries of diaspora are Iran and Syria, Georgia, Russia, the countries of Europe - mainly Greece, France and Italy, and even distant – United States of America and Argentina. There were Armenian survivors of the turkish yatagan everywhere. Among them were many orphans, who were brought up in charitable shelters. Having found themselves far from their fathers' land, the Armenians tried to preserve their culture and language in all accessible ways. They tried to keep their writing - the children were taught the alphabet of Mesrop Mashtots first in families, and then, when the diaspora became more influential, they opened Sunday schools.

The Armenians of Diaspora's second generation of became bearers of two cultures: they were adapted in the country they came to, and as far as it was possible they did not get cut off from their roots. The most striking, most famous example is the world-famous American writer of Armenian origin William Saroyan. About the fate of the Armenian «gaghtakans», about the problems of their adaptation, one can judge from his stories - touching and very bright. But William Saroyan belongs to the world - his subjects are not limited to the Armenian topics, his works are read in all corners of the world. A similar fate belongs to the French director Henri Verneuil. The French scriptwriter and director had the name Ashot Malakyan at birth. Soon after his birth, the family moved from Turkey to Marseilles, where he gained world fame, the same as that of William Saroyan. Verneuil became famous for his adventure and crime films, the best actors of France - Jean Gaben, Yves Montand, Alain Delon starred in his movies. In 1991, Verneuil shot the film «Mairik» where he opened the topic of the Genocide and gaghtakans.

But life went on, new generations of Armenians were born, less and less related to the memory with their native land. Soviet Armenia was shielded from the world by the iron curtain and it was not so easy to visit it. After the war, the children of emigrants entered the adult life in the second generation. A Bulgarian writer of Armenian descent Sevda Sevan studied native language at home in a Sunday school, then graduated from Sofia University. Writer, laureate of many state prizes of Bulgaria, including the presidential ones, contributed to the Armenian culture. Her work «Der Dzor», dedicated to the Genocide, should be especially noted. Sevda is the first Ambassador of Armenia in Bulgaria.

However, it was wrong to believe that the writers of the Diaspora appeared only after the Genocide. For instance, in Russia, in Nakhijevani-on-Don (Rostov-on-Don) an amazing Armenian poet and publicist Raphael Patkanyan (1830-1892) lived and created. His poems and stories are devoted to the fate of the Armenian people, to their problems, Patkanyan appealed to the patriotic spirit and forced the reader to think about the future of Armenia.

Among well-known Russian-speaking writers, Marietta Shahinyan (1888-1982), a classic of Soviet literature, should be specially mentioned here. Poet-symbolist, novelist, author of novels with fantastic stories, Marietta Shahinyan is one of the best writers of Russia of her time. Sergey Dovlatov is also a Soviet and American writer (his mother was an Armenian). Dovlatov did not write in Armenian, but his special sense of humor, philosophical and ironic attitude to reality makes the writer get close with traditions of the Armenian literature, with the author using the witty fables of medieval writers, slightly sad elements full of bitter grin notes by Hovhannes Tumayan. Concerning the Armenian writers of Russia in the 2000s, we can note the names of Narine Abgaryan and Mariam Petrosyan. Their books are sold in Russia in large editions. Mariam Petrosyan's best-selling book «House in which» (2009) received six Russian literary awards.