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Syrian Armenians and the Turkish Factor

Kessab, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor in the Syrian War

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Combines fieldwork and interviews with archival and media sources (newspapers, social media, and academic literature)
  • Examines the ongoing Syrian conflict from a new perspective, that of the Syrian Armenian refugee community
  • Sheds new light on urban wartime events and diaspora issues through the lenses of transnationalism and memory studies

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology (PSUA)

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-v
  2. Introduction

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 1-29
  3. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: From Violence to Genocide

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 31-70
  4. Religious Affiliation and the Armenian Diaspora in the Middle East

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 71-99
  5. Armenian Communities in the Syrian War

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 101-133
  6. Deir ez-Zor and Its Lieux De Mémoire

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 135-164
  7. Aleppo Armenians at War

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 165-207
  8. Kessab in the Syrian War

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 209-241
  9. The Occupation of Northern Syria

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 243-285
  10. Conclusions

    • Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan
    Pages 287-293
  11. Back Matter

    Pages 295-309

About this book

This volume examines significant social transformations engendered by the ongoing Syrian conflict in the lives of Syrian Armenians. The authors draw on documentary material and fieldwork carried out in 2013-2019 among Syrian Armenians in Armenian and Lebanese urban settings. The stories of Syrian Armenians reveal how contemporary events are seen to have direct links to the past and to reproduce memories associated with the Armenian genocide; the contemporary involvement of Turkey in the Syrian war, for example, is seen on the ground as an attempt to control the Armenian presence in Syria. Today, the Syrian Armenian identity encapsulates the complex intersection of memory, transnational links to the past, collective identity and lived experience of wartime “everydayness.” Specifically, the analysis addresses the role of memory in key events, such as the bombing of Armenian historical sites during the commemorations of 24 April in the Eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor; the (perceived) shift from destroying Syrian Armenians’ material culture to attempting to destroy the Armenian community in urban Aleppo; and the informal transactions that take place in the border area of Kessab. This carefully-researched ethnography will appeal to scholars of anthropology, sociology, and political science who specialize in studies of conflict, memory and diaspora.

 

Reviews

“This book is a warning about an impending disaster — an impending tsunami wave seen in a small drop — remembering a similar past disaster.”

—  Levon Abrahamian, Professor of Anthropology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia

 

“This book asks excellent questions about the legacy of the Ottoman Empire. It opens a door between anthropology and conflict studies that helps to understand the international relevance of Armenian history.”

Emidio Diodato, Professor of Political Science, University for Foreigners Perugia

 

“Being focused on the Armenians of Syria, this book is an excellent historical and anthropological insight into the Syrian war as a chain of ethnic, religious and political games, identities and struggles, rooted back in the Armenian genocide.”

Yulia Antonyan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Yerevan State University

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ancient & Modern Civilizations Department, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Marcello Mollica

  • National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yereven, Armenia

    Arsen Hakobyan

About the authors

Marcello Mollica is Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at the University of Messina, Italy.

Arsen Hakobyan is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Syrian Armenians and the Turkish Factor

  • Book Subtitle: Kessab, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor in the Syrian War

  • Authors: Marcello Mollica, Arsen Hakobyan

  • Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72319-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-72318-7Published: 28 October 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-72321-7Published: 29 October 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-72319-4Published: 27 October 2021

  • Series ISSN: 2946-2436

  • Series E-ISSN: 2946-2444

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: V, 309

  • Number of Illustrations: 318 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Social Anthropology, Ethnography, Social Structure, Social Inequality, Political Sociology, Area Studies

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access