[Nettime-ro] Fwd: DIMENTIONS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY AND POST-SOVIET WAYS OF MODERNIZATION IN ARMENIA (three seminars)

[stefan rusu <suhebator@gmail.com>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Susanna Gyulamiryan <s_gulamiryan@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 1, 2012 at 1:23 AM
Subject: DIMENTIONS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY AND POST-SOVIET WAYS OF
MODERNIZATION IN ARMENIA (three seminars)
To: Jakob Racek <jr@jakobracek.com>
Cc: "info@acsl.am" <info@acsl.am>


DIMENTIONS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY AND POST-SOVIET WAYS OF
MODERNIZATION IN ARMENIA
(three seminars)

1. Russian-Soviet Domination and Soviet Armenian Nationalism

2. 2000s: Certain (Re)Modernization Tendencies in Armenia

3. Conclusions: How to Become Post-Soviet

The series of seminars is led by cultural critic Hrach Bayadyan

The seminars are organized by Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory (ACSL).
www.acsl.am

Moderator: Susanna Gyulamiryan

June 3, 4, 5, 2012
Start time: 6pm


The seminars are organized in the framework of the international project
HEICO â Heritage, Identity and Communication in European Contemporary Art
Practices (www.atlantisprojects.eu)


This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
The press-release reflects the views of the author only, and the Commission
cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information
contained therein.

The seminars are organized with kindly support by the Ministry of Culture
of RA and  "Galentz" Museum




_____________

In these three seminars I try to give an overall summary of my recent
articles that concern the issues of Eastern Armenian cultural identity. The
main stimulus behind this work has been the desire to understand the
complex post-Soviet situation with its cultural, social, and political
aspects. This desire has led to an interest in the central themes and some
decisive developments of the past two centuries that have been, although
fragmentarily, reflected in my work. Here the core
theoretical-interpretationâal framework is the modernization, to the extent
to which the Eastern Armenian history of that period can be viewed from the
perspective of its relation, at least as a certain elitist project, to the
Western processes of modernization. This framework is used taking into
account the vast number of critical revisions done, particularly, from the
viewpoint of Postcolonial studies.

However, for the Eastern Armenians, the era of modernization was
inseparably linked to the Russian orientation, as it was also the era of
Russian-Soviet domination. Moreover, the Russian orientation goes beyond
being just an orientation and gradually conquers the whole
historical-cultural horizon of the Eastern Armenians (Russian Armenians).
In my opinion, this circumstance becomes highly urgent in the post-Soviet
Armenia and can be viewed as, for instance, a problem of overcoming the
Russian-Soviet cultural dominance or a problem of cultural decolonization.
If the extended viewpoint on modernity ("alternative modernities", for
instance) allows to consider the experience of Soviet Socialism and, thus,
the history of post-Soviet societies in the context of global
transformations of the time, then, at the same time, it implies adoption of
new theoretical-methodologicalâ approaches. In this regard, I will briefly
present those sectors of the research that seem to be most relevant for
this purpose: Postcolonial studies and Cultural studies. Moreover, we will
discuss a number of key concepts: postcolonialism, Orientalism, hegemony,
nationalism, and so on. (Hrach Bayadyan)




==========================â========

Hrach Bayadyan is a cultural critic living and working in Yerevan, Armenia.
He is a lecturer at the Yerevan State University, leading the
âCommunication, Media and Societyâ Masterâs programme at the Department of
Journalism. Along with other courses, he teaches "Media and Cultural
Studies". His recent articles are related to such issues as political,
social, and cultural implications of information and communication
technologies, post-Soviet media culture and transformations of urban
spaces, as well as Russian-Soviet orientalism and cultural identity. Among
his recent publications are: Articles "Boredom" and "Hierarchy" for the
book "Atlas of Transformation", JRP-Ringier, 2010 (Project "Monument to
Transformation 1989-2009", Tranzit, Prague); Becoming Post-Soviet, Series:
Documenta 13: 100 notes â 100 thoughts, No. 059, Hatje Cantz, 2012. PHD on
Mathematics.





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