Between Host-Countries and Homeland: Institutions, Politics and Identities in the Post-Genocide Armenian Diaspora (1920s to 1980s) by Vahe Sahakyan A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Near Eastern Studies) in the University of Michigan 2015 Doctoral Committee: Professor Kevork B. Bardakjian, Chair Associate Professor Carol B. Bardenstein Emeritus Professor Gerard J. Libaridian Associate Professor Ara Sanjian, University of Michigan - Dearborn Professor Ronald G. Suny Professor Khachig Tölölyan, Wesleyan University ©Vahe Sahakyan 2015 To my parents ii Acknowledgments The completion of this project owes much to a large number of scholars, academics and intellectuals, friends and family members. My academic journey in diaspora studies began due to my training as a sociologist at Yerevan State University, Armenia. My sociological curiosity was quick to capture the significant differences in how Armenianness was experienced and expressed in the diaspora, when I first encountered third-fourth generation Armenian-Americans upon my arrival at the University of Michigan as a Junior Faculty Development Program visiting scholar in Fall 2004. This generous grant I was awarded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs provided me a possibility to spend a year at one of the leading American universities, where my interest in Armenian diasporic identities and institutions took shape. Frequent and often endless conversations with Kevork Bardakjian and Gerard Libaridian provided additional impetus to my curiosity. It was due to their continued encouragement and support that two years after returning to Armenia I finally decided to apply and was admitted to the Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan to pursue my interest in Armenian diaspora studies. I thank my advisor, Kevork Bardakjian, for the guidance and encouragement, for invaluable advices and insights, for spending weeks on meticulous reading and commenting on this work, but more importantly, for helping me build strong background in Armenian history and literature. From my first day in the graduate program, Gerard Libaridan’s advice and insights have been iii indispensable in accomplishing this work. His home office in Ann Arbor, where we met more often than on campus, is the sole witness of hours long conversations and debates we had on various burning issues in Armenian history and historiography, on Armenian diaspora, as well as the politics in modern Armenia. The shaping of many ideas in this dissertation owe to these informal yet informative discussions and queries, for which I am indebted to Gerard Libaridian. I am very grateful for the expert advice and guidance of the other members of my dissertation committee: Carol Bardenstein, Ara Sanjian, Ronald Suny, and Khachig Tölölyan. Ronald Suny’s occasional inquiries and comments encouraged me, especially in the early stages of my work, to rethink and question the primordial perceptions of nation, and develop more critical approach towards notions of identity and ethnicity. Carol Bardenstein’s fresh look and thorough comments on my dissertation helped me to revisit some of my points and refine my arguments. I was especially fortunate to work closely with Khachig Tölölyan, who introduced me to the ongoing debates and discussions in Diaspora Studies, and whose scholarly works have been instrumental in defining the methodological framework and approach of this dissertation. To Ara Sanjian, I am especially indebted, whose help was indispensable during my research trip in Lebanon, who went through my manuscript with scrupulous attention to dates, names and events, providing comments on sources and events in Lebanese-Armenian diaspora. All remaining mistakes in this work are, of course, my own. I would like to thank the Department of Near Eastern Studies, the Armenian Studies Program, and the Horace H. Rachkam School of Graduate Studies for their financial and institutional support, without which all of this would be impossible to accomplish. I am grateful to the chairs iv of the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Michael Bonner and Gottfried Hagen, and to the administrative staff, especially Wendy Burr. I would especially like to thank Kathryn Babayan, the director of the Armenian Studies Program, whose advice, encouragement and support have been invaluable to me. I would also like to express my gratitude to my teachers and professors I worked with, especially to Sebouh Aslanian, Gabrielle Boccaccini, Alexander Knysh, Ellen Muehlberger, Alexander Semyonov and Geneviève Zubrzycki. Many people in Lebanon, France and in the United States have directly and indirectly contributed to the completion of my fieldwork and research. I would like to thank the leaders, directors and all other representatives of Armenian organizations and institutions in these countries, who kindly agreed to meet with me and answer my often uncomfortable questions about tensions and conflicts within their own communities. All of this, of course, would not be possible without the institutional and personal support I received in these countries. In Lebanon, I would like to acknowledge the support of Paul Haidostian, Arda Ekmekji and Antranik Dakessian from Haigazian University. In France, I would like to thank Anaid Donabedian- Demopoulos and Taline Ter-Minassian from INALCO, Patrick Donabedian from Aix-Marseille Université, Alexis Govciyan, the president of the AGBU in France, and Raymond Kevorkian from Bibliothèque Nubar. And finally, in the United States, I would especially like to thank Marc Mamigonian from NAASR, Talar Chahinian from CSU Long Beach, and Asbed Kotchikian from Bentley University, the editor of The Armenian Review. To my friends and family, this work owes a great deal. I am deeply indebted to Nora Nercessian (our Tikin Nora), whose hospitality and genuine interest in Armenia made my family feel always v welcome at the Libaridians, at home far from home. Informal conversations with her also have been inspiring and stimulating for this research. Quite symbolically in this respect, my research trip to Lebanon and France began from their house in Cambridge in 2012 and ended in their house in 2014, when I concluded my fieldwork in New England and New York. I would also like to extend my thanks to all my friends in Armenia, in Lebanon, in France and the United States, too many to name, but still dear and close, who made this journey easier and fun. Among them, I am especially grateful to Michael Pifer, whose peer support and tips on how to make the process more efficient have been instrumental for completing this work. My passion for education and scholarship owes to my father, Emin Sahakyan. Since my early school years, I remember him always reminding: “your job is your education,” even during the post-Soviet social-economic crisis in Armenia. The encouragement and support I received from my father, my mother, Tereza Ter-Simonyan, my brother, Hayk Sahakyan and my sister-in-law, Meline Minasyan, their love and patience in our long-distance weekly Skype sessions provided the energy for completing this work. I would also like to thank my parents-in-law, Janik Tumanyan and Anahit Vardanyan, whose help and support was essential especially in the final stages of my writing. My son Leo, whether he knows it or not, helped me a great deal with his funny baby talk (“papa doyts” [papa gorts] meaning “daddy is working”), with his smiles and cries, with playing and cuddling after long days of work. This journey, however, would be impossible to complete without the caring, encouraging, passionate and loving support of my lovely wife, Naira Tumanyan. I would like to thank her for the critical reading of some drafts of my chapters and for sharing with me the ups and downs of this journey. vi Table of Contents Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………... ii Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iii List of Maps ................................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. x Note on Translation and Transliteration ........................................................................................ xi Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... xv Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 Defining homeland .................................................................................................... 35 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................... 35 The Struggle for the Homeland: Armenia in the Nineteenth Century ........................................................ 37 Homeland Redefined? World War I, the Loss of Ottoman Armenia and the Republic of Armenia ................................................................................................................................................. 54 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................