Winter 2009

HISTORY - 594.001

Early Modern Armenian History, 1622-1800

Armenian historiography has largely ignored recent discussions in World History on the "Early Modern" as a distinct period in World or Global history, and even the vital issue of periodization in history has not attracted much attention in the field. The purpose of this graduate seminar/workshop is to introduce Armenian scholars to key debates in World history around periodization, in general, and the “Early Modern” in particular. Using the theoretical literature on the Early Modern as a point of departure, the seminar will interrogate the usefulness of this periodization scheme for Armenian history. Does Armenian history, in so far as it was "interactive" with other larger histories, share in the traits usually associated with early modernity or does it develop "autonomously" from World History? Relying on a number of primary and secondary sources, we will explore how the Early Modern as a coherent period in Armenian history begins roughly in 1622 (the fall of Hormuz from the Portuguese to the Safavid empire and the consequent expansion of global Armenian sea-borne trade networks linking the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean basin) and ends in 1800 when Armenian sea-borne trade was eclipsed by global processes centered in and led by Europe. Within this periodization scheme, the seminar will address key issues in Armenian Early Modern history including but not limited to: 1) the growth of Julfan Armenian maritime trade and the impact of its capital accumulation on Armenian cultural production in Armenian communities in Mediterranean and Northwest Europe, the Safavid, Ottoman, and Mughal empires in West and South Asia; 2) the role of the Mekhitarist congregation of erudite Catholic Armenian monks in Venice in the “revival” of Armenian culture and scholarship; 3) the spread of Armenian print culture and technology from Venice and Amsterdam to West and South Asia; 3) the development of Armenian travel literature as a reflection of the Early Modern; and 4) the origins of Modern Armenian nationalist discourse and national identity in Madras, India and its ties to the maritime mercantile networks of Julfan Armenians. The texts for the seminar will consist mostly of sources in Armenian (some primary sources including unpublished manuscript travelogue texts in grabar and secondary sources in modern Armenian and grabar). The format will be mostly discussions and presentations by seminar/workshop participants as well as some lectures.