Stéphanie Prévost discusses what publishing an Armenian periodical in Paris & London, in another language than Armenian meant for the construction of an Armenian identity at the time of the national awakening (Zartonk).
Paris & London have often been regarded as cosmopolitan cities, especially at the turn of the 20th century. This paper reflects on the decision of the Armenian Patriotic Committee and of Minas Tchéraz, a member of the Armenian delegation to the 1878 Congress of Berlin, to launch Armenian periodicals in those two cities, in languages other than Armenian. Respecticely, 'The Haïasdan' (1888-1892) was bilingual, English-Armenian, including after it was taken over by the Anglo-Armenian Association in 1891; and Tchéraz published 'Armenia' (1890-1898), an English version of 'L'Arménie' (1889-1905) in which the resort to the Armenian language was minimal in both and even inexistant before 1891. What impact then did language choice have on the construction of an Armenian identity, especially on its scope (national, diasporic or cosmopolitan) and vis-à-vis its targeted readership?
