Armenological Paradigms and Yovhannēs Sarkawag's Discourse on Wisdom: Philosophical Understanding of an Armenian Renaissance?
Cowe, S. Peter · 1995
A contribution to the debate over applying Western or Eurocentric categories to Near Eastern history, re-examining whether the concept of 'renaissance' can properly be applied to Armenia in the eleventh to fourteenth centuries, with particular focus on the role assigned to Yovhannes Sarkawag's celebrated poem in that development. Cowe engages Edward Said's critique of orientalist presuppositions, noting that Said's paradigm, built around the representation of Arabs and Islam, is not fully transferable to Christian cultures of the region. He observes that the Christian faith of Armenians and Greeks made their relationship to Westerners more ambiguous: employed as commercial and diplomatic intermediaries, yet sometimes held in greater opprobrium than Muslims because they were deemed heretics and schismatics.
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Cowe, S. Peter 1995. Armenological Paradigms and Yovhannēs Sarkawag's Discourse on Wisdom: Philosophical Understanding of an Armenian Renaissance?. Revue des Études Arméniennes, Vol. 25 (1994-1995), pp. 125–155 (Peeters); DOI 10.2143/REA.25.0.2003778. https://doi.org/10.2143/REA.25.0.2003778
What this offers a reader
The methodological argument for reading Armenian history on its own terms: essential before you use words like 'renaissance.'
A landmark methodological essay engaging Said from within Armenian studies.
Why we should be careful about borrowing Europe's categories to describe ourselves.
Did Armenia have a renaissance? The question turns out to be about who gets to define the word.
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