Exile and Lamentation in the Armenian Historiographical Tradition of the 16th and 17th Centuries

Abstract

The objective of this article is to explore the metanarrative of Armenian discourse, in Armenian called łaribut’iwn or pandxtut’iwn, generally translated as the concept of exile and uprootedness, and its profound significance in the Armenian historical and literary discourse. Motif of exile is closely associated with the idea of homeland (Erkir). Being in łaribut’iwn describes the state of nostalgic yearning for something unachievable – lost homeland, past glory, abandoned family etc.; oscillating between inner and outer exile, between real or symbolic one, between the experience of deportations, wars and massacres or self-alienation. This paper focuses especially on the so-called panduxt and łarib period of mass migrations from the Armenian Erkir (today’s Eastern Anatolia) to west and on the medieval reflection of forced deportations and laments. Primary sources as Armenian chronicles and colophons dating from 16th–17th period are analyzed.