Interregnum: Introduction to a Study on the Formation of Armenian Identity (ca 600-750)

by Nina G. Garsoïan

Armenian mediaeval historians, who have concentrated primarily on political high points, have tended to dismiss the more than four centuries dividing the two royal epochs of the Arsacids (ending, A.D. 428) and the Bagratids (inaugurated with the coronation of Ashot I, A.D. 884), as a 'Dark Age'. The intention of the present study, on the contrary, is to attempt the examination of a portion of the 'Interregnum' (600-750) as a period of religious synthesis and social renewal, as well as of intellectual and particularly artistic effervescence. In such an interpretation, the 'Interregnum', despite the unfavourable nature of its exterior and interior political setting, becomes the hypothetical locus during which, the identity of Armenia seems to have been forged, as that of a nation existing outside the framework of a political state. Consequently, the purpose of the present investigation is to eschew a political approach, which has proved at best episodic and fragmentary, in order to seek, in a period devoid of a centralized state, a different explanation for the continuous survival of 'Armenia', in spite of the numerous vicissitudes of its tumultuous history.

195 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2012

Reviews

[Anatolikon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eschewing any discussion of what constitutes identity, Garsoian argues that the period that saw the collapse of Sasanian power and the rise of Islam also witnessed the creation of the idea of Armenia. In the fifth and sixth centuries she argues that Armenia underwent an increasing separation of its church from Persian and Byzantine influence. Under the Arabs the Armenians were able to finish off this process of coalescence. The seventh century church was a major intellectual player by bringing both secular and sacred works into Armenia through translation. The building programme of the period showed that Armenia was not suffering economically in the seventh century, although some more archaeological material would be needed before this point can be fully accepted. The intellectual construction of Armenia is key to Garsoian's argument. She cites the "Epic Histories" where there exists a country of Armenia, and land of Armenia, and places of Armenian speeches. This is set in contrast to Ananias Siraketsi in the seventh century, who has the idea of one Armenian land and people. This change is certainly intriguing, although it raises questions about what it actually means for a people whose ties are primarily religious and linguistic rather than political, as Garsoian notes that the traditional localized bases of familial, princely power continue under the Arabs. The books sees the church as essential to the survival of Armenian identity, and this presents the second real problem with this book - when did we transition from the development of an identity to the survival of one? Garsoian looks ahead to dark days under the Abbasids (a point frequently made by never qualified) and as a result it is never clear if she's talking about survival under the Umayyads or Abbasids. The concept of Armenian survival is still interesting, though, especially since it took place with neither city nor state, which sets it into sharp relief to its neghbouring Byzantium, where survival was entirely about city and state. One wonders, though, to what degree we can actually speak of "national identity" in the seventh and eighth centuries. Still, if one scraps the word "national" the book raises interesting points for further discussion.