Armenian literature
Following its decline in 1045, the Armenian state found renewed formation in Cilicia and Zakarid Armenia, emerging as a novel hub for literary advancements.
[5] Mikhail Diakonoff and O. Kudryavtsev proposed the notion that Armenians possessed specialized secret writings as early as the 3rd-1st centuries BCE, which were employed for composing temple books and chronicles.
[12] Among the most ancient preserved Armenian legends, tales and myths are Hayk, Aram, Ara the Beautiful, Tork Angeh, Artavazd, Vahagn, Tigran, Azhdahak, Yervand and Yervaz.
The preserved epic passage narrates the story of Artashes II, the King of Greater Armenia (2nd century BC), and his beloved Satenik.
Some folklore tales reveal a Proto-Indo-European cultural layer, such as "The Birth of Vahagn",[14] while others are linked to the Urartian past, as seen in medieval Armenian songs depicting the cult of the tree of life.
[16] Elizabeth Redgate noted that the church actively hindered the spread of pre-Christian oral traditions, viewing them as a challenge to its ideology.
[12] The poetic epic "David of Sassoun," taking shape between the 7th and 10th centuries, expresses social and religious protest against Arab oppression[19] while preserving echoes of the pre-Christian past,[20] rooted in the common Indo-European origins of Armenian mythology.
[21] Only a handful of fragments have survived from the most ancient Armenian literary tradition preceding the Christianization of Armenia in the early 4th century, largely preserved by Movses Khorenatsi.
[25] The Golden Age also includes the Histories of Elishe and Movses Khorenatsi, although it has been suggested that the works of these authors may have been composed at a later date.
For over a thousand years the Daredevils of Sassoun was passed from grandfathers to their grandsons thanks to the Armenian oral tradition, and it is difficult to classify his stories as ancient or medieval.
About the same time appeared the translations of the works of several of the Fathers, particularly of St. Gregory of Nyssa and Cyril of Alexandria, from the pen of Stephen, Bishop of Syunik.
It was two centuries later that the celebrated "History of Armenia" by the Catholicos John V the Historian came forth, covering the period from the origin of the nation to the year A.D. 925.
A contemporary of his, Annine of Mok, an abbot and the most celebrated theologian of the time, composed a treatise against the Tondrakians, a sect imbued with Manicheism.
Stepanos Asoghik, whose "Universal History" reaches down to A.D. 1004, and Gregory Magistros, whose long poem on the Old and New Testaments displays much application, are the last writers worthy of mention in this period.
The 13th century gave birth to Vartan the Great, whose talents were those of a poet, an exegete, and a theologian, and whose "Universal History" is extensive in the field it covers.
Their brothers, the Mechitarists of Vienna, have been likewise active in this work and it is to their society that Balgy and Catergian belong, two well-known writers on Armenian topics.
Russia, Constantinople and Etchmiadzin are the other centres of Armenian literary efforts and the last-named place is especially worthy of note, imbued as it is today with German scientific methods and taste.
They would often talk about their feelings for their women by using the popular language that was riddled with foreign influences, instead of Classical Armenian, which was obsolete outside churches and schools.
More recent writers include: Macada Tagachian, Alicia Ghiragossian, Violet Grigoryan, Shushan Avagyan, Marine Petrossian, Vehanoush Tekian, Maroush Yeramian.
Notable writers from this period include Siamanto, Hagop Baronian, Vahan Tekeyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Levon Shant, Krikor Zohrab, Rupen Zartarian, Avetis Aharonyan, Garegin Nzhdeh, Atrpet, Gostan Zarian, Hrand Nazariantz and Nigol Aghpalian.
Mikael Nalbandian's poem "Song of the Italian Girl" inspired the Armenian national anthem, "Mer Hayrenik".
Writers such as Arpiar Arpiarian, Levon Pashalian, Krikor Zohrab, Melkon Gurjian, Dikran Gamsarian and others revolved around the said newspaper.
Despite these facts, Armenians weren't allowed to use words like Armenia, nation, fatherland, liberty, and progress in their newspapers and other written productions.
As Armenian history of the 1920s and of the Genocide came to be more openly discussed, writers like Paruyr Sevak, Gevork Emin, Silva Kaputikyan and Hovhannes Shiraz began a new era of literature.
With the decline in Soviet censorship, Modernist and Avantgarde artists emerged, and poets, like Henrik Edoyan and Artem Harutyunyan were producing poetry that neither was rhymed nor fitted Socialist Realism.
The lack of independent, objective literary criticism makes it difficult to cover this most modern era of Armenian literature.
Among the more popular of present era writers addressing issues of social dystopia and political corruption are Vahram Sahakyan and Vahe Avetian.
Melikian has disavowed allegiance to Armenian culture or literature following his exile and ostracism, yet his most recent work "Journey to Virginland" published in the United States in 2010 garnering eleven literary awards deals with some of the most fundamental issues plaguing Armenian society, such as gender relations, religious orientation, and political corruption.
