As a new independent Republic of Armenia is established among the ruins of the Soviet Union, Armenians are rethinking their history-the processes by which they arrived at statehood in a small part of their historic homeland, and the definitions they might give to boundaries of their nation. Both a victim and a beneficiary of rival empires, Armenia experienced a complex evolution as a divided or an erased polity with a widespread diaspora.

Ronald Grigor Suny traces the cultural and social transformations and interventions that created a new sense of Armenian nationality in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Perceptions of antiquity and uniqueness combined in the popular imagination with the experiences of dispersion, genocide, and regeneration to forge an Armenian nation in Transcaucasia. Suny shows that while the limits of Armenia at times excluded the diaspora, now, at a time of state renewal, the boundaries have been expanded to include Armenians who live beyond the borders of the republic.

Members of a newly independent republic, Armenians are rethinking their history. Both a victim and a beneficiary of rival empires, Armenia Suny traces the cultural and social transformations and interventions that have created a new sense of Armenian nationality.

About the Author

RONALD GRIGOR SUNY is Alex Manoogian Professor of Modern Armenian History at the University of Michigan. A specialist in the history of the non-Russian peoples of the Soviet Union, he is the author of The Making of the Georgian Nation and editor of Transcaucasia, Nationalism, and Social Change.

Reviews
" ... a fine collection of scholarly articles ... " Library Journal "Professor Suny excels in his treatment of the political and social factors affecting the development of the Armenian nation." Academic Library Book Review "This book should rapidly emerge as the most reliable introduction available to the modern history of Armenia." Central Asian Survey " ... rich in new insights and fresh perspectives ... the first major work of post-Soviet Armenian historiography." Robert H. Hewsen, American Historical Review "Considered as a whole, this book is to a substantial degree unique in its objectivity. Read reflectively ... it should contribute to the evolution of a more constructive evaluation of the Armenian predicament than has prevailed in recent decades." Russian Review



Book Information
ISBN 9780253207739
Author Ronald Grigor Suny
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 481g