Armenian literature lecture kicks off Fall Lecture Series

~ By Barlow Der Mugrdechian, coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State

A lecture on “Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France: A Zenith of Diasporan Literature,” by author and translator Christopher Atamian at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, is the first presentation in the Armenian Studies Program’s 2017 Fall Lecture Series, supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation.

Atamian will discuss “Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France: A Zenith of Diasporan Literature” in the University Business Center’s Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus.

“Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France” was published as Volume 6 in the Armenian Series of The Press at California State University, Fresno in 2016. Atamian’s translation of Krikor Beledian’s “Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France: 1922-1972” brings this important work to the English-reading public for the first time.

Atamian will trace the history of a group of Armenian writers who lived in Paris after the Genocide and the great impact of those writers.

Copies of the translated “Fifty Years of Armenian Literature in France” will be available for sale at the lecture.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in Lots P6 and P5 near the University Business Center, Fresno State. Permits are not required for parking on Friday evenings after 4 p.m.

The next event of this semester is “Armenians and Greeks: A People’s History of the Ottoman Empire,” with the participation of eight prominent scholars on Friday, Sept. 22, and Saturday, Sept. 23. All the presentations of this international conference will take place in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus. This event also features free admission.

On Friday, Sept. 29, the Armenian Studies Program and CineCulture film series will sponsor a special screening of “The Promise” at 5 p.m. in the Peters Education Center Auditorium (5010 N. Woodrow Ave. in the Student Recreation Center).

Filmmaker and “The Promise” associate producer Carla Garapedian will be present as a discussant and to answer questions after the screening. She is the director of “Screamers,” a documentary film which focused on the problem of genocide in the world.

“The Promise” opened in theaters in April 2017 and tells the story of the Armenian Genocide through a love story involving Michael (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant medical student, who meets Ana (Charlotte Le Bon). A romantic rivalry emerges between Michael and Ana’s boyfriend Chris (Christian Bale), a famous American photojournalist dedicated to exposing political truth.

As the Ottoman Empire entered World War I and the Armenian Genocide began, their conflicting passions were deferred while they joined forces to try to protect the Armenians and survive themselves. “The Promise” was directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Terry George.

Admission is free, but seating is limited. The screening is open to the public, and free parking is available at any of the adjacent Fresno State parking lots (near the corner of Shaw and Woodrow Avenues).

On Monday, Oct. 9,  Dr. Boris Adjemian will discuss  “The AGBU Nubar Library in Paris: Safeguarding Western Armenian Heritage through Documentation, Research, and Publication.” Adjemian is the director of the AGBU Nubar Library. This discussion will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus. Admission is free.

Adrienne Alexanian will give a talk titled “Forced into Genocide: Memoirs of an Armenian Soldier in the Ottoman Empire” at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191 on the Fresno State campus.  More details are coming soon.

For more information about the lecture or other events, please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, or visit the Armenian Studies Program website.