Includes bibliographical references (pages 238-268) and index.
Contents:
Acknowledgments -- A Note on Transliteration -- Introduction: Silencing the Name -- Part I Language and History -- Chapter 1 Yeghern until the Late Nineteenth Century -- Chapter 2 Yeghern before and after 1915 -- Chapter 3 Medz Yeghern and "Genocide" in Armenia and the Diaspora -- Part II Politics and Language -- Chapter 4 John Paul II: "From the Depths of the Metz Yeghern" -- Chapter 5 Turkey: "The Denial of the Great Catastrophe" -- Chapter 6 United States: From Ronald Reagan's "Genocide of the Armenians" and "Meds Yeghern" -- Chapter 7 From Uruguay to the United States: on the Words of Recognition -- Conclusion: Unsilencing the Name -- Appendix A The Meaning of Yeghern in Scholarship -- Appendix B Yeghern and "Genocide" in Memorial Inscriptions -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
Summary:
"This book explores the genealogy of the concept of 'Medz Yeghern' ('Great Crime'), the Armenian term for the mass murder and ethnic cleansing of the Armenian ethno-religious group in the Ottoman Empire between the years 1915-1923. Widely accepted by historians as one of the classical cases of genocide in the 20th century, ascribing the right definition to the crime has been a source of contention and controversy in international politics. Vartan Matiossian here draws upon extensive research based on Armenian sources, neglected in much of the current historiography, as well as other European languages in order to trace the development of the concepts pertaining to mass killing and genocide of Armenians from the ancient to the modern periods. Beginning with an analysis of the term itself, he shows how the politics of its use evolved as Armenians struggled for international recognition of the crime after 1945, in the face of Turkish protest. Taking a combined historical, philological, literary and political perspective, the book is an insightful exploration of the politics of naming a catastrophic historical event, and the competitive nature of national collective memories."-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.