From the Editors 1

From the Editors (Volume 1, Number 1)

Armenian communities throughout the world face formidable new and old challenges on the threshold of the new millennium. Fortunately, they have a vast wealth of intellectual resources on which to draw as they confront these challenges: an increasing number of first-rate specialists in diverse fields of scholarship are choosing various aspects of Armenia, Armenian communities, and related topics as a focus of study.

The role of Armenian Forum is to bring together and disseminate the best of the research and analysis undertaken by these specialists. The journal serves as a showcase for new talent articulating new perspectives. It is a place where scholars with divergent views can face each other in productive, instructive exchanges.

Armenian Forum is meant to be an indispensable resource for journalists and policy makers. It is edited, however, with the general reader—the educated nonspecialist—in mind. It is intended to facilitate informed introspection and the development of new agendas. As such, it will include thought-provoking essays and reports on a wide array of topics ranging from economics to public health, from law to cinema, from politics to literary criticism. The journal will pay especial attention to the neighbors of Armenia and of Armenian communities. The review section will include reviews of CDs as well as books; it will include a feature called Classics Revisited, where scholars will revisit older books of lasting value.

The editors are committed to providing room to a multiplicity of views. A cursory glance at the essays in this issue will confirm that the authors disagree with each other on key points. Clearly, the views of the authors are their own. They are not endorsed by the members of the Editorial Board, the publisher, or the editors.

This, the inaugural issue, includes

• a speech delivered at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C., by Levon Avdoyan, Armenian and Georgian area specialist at the Library of Congress. Avdoyan looks at Armenian history for insights into the current state of affairs in Armenia, Gharabagh, and the Armenian diaspora.

• a series of Polaroids by Linda Ganjian, "exploring the tension of putting in a real setting a diasporan Armenian’s fantasy of what the motherland should look like" (to quote the artist)

• a conversation with political scientists Arthur Martirosyan and Robert Krikorian on the politics of Caspian oil and what they mean for Gharabagh and the Republic of Armenia

• a report on a panel discussion on the state of Armenian studies

• reviews of books and CDs

The centerpiece of this issue is an exchange on nationalism, sexuality, and Armenian diaspora identity. The 1988 film Back to Ararat is arguably the most compelling documentary ever made on the Armenian diaspora. Anahid Kassabian and David Kazanjian analyze it with some of the intellectual tools provided by critical theory, to explore "how national affiliation and sexual attachment interact with, constitute, or otherwise illuminate each other."

H. Aram Veeser takes issue with Kassabian and Kazanjian’s interpretations, and offers a different take on Armenian diaspora identity. Arlene Voski Avakian responds to Kassabian and Kazanjian by examining the effect of Back to Ararat on her own emotions. A third response, prepared by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, is slated to appear in a future issue of the journal.

The participants in the exchange have a lot to say about Ani and Raffy, two of the central characters in the documentary; a still portraying Ani appears on the cover. It is probably unnecessary to state that the discussion of these characters is not to be construed as a discussion of the actual people who appear as these characters in the film.

The Editors

Acknowledgments

Armenian Forum is off the ground because many people had faith in the concept, in the editors, and in the existence of a reading public. I am profoundly grateful to my parents, Karina and Gregory Lima, and to Martha Boudakian for their endless support and encouragement, for allowing me to bounce ideas off them at all hours, and for calling on their friends on the journal’s behalf. I am likewise grateful to my brother Eric and to Martha’s parents, Lita and Max Boudakian, for their encouragement.

Ara Sarafian has been an enthusiastic part of this project since day one. He arranged for the journal to enjoy the independence and economies made possible by working within the institutional framework of the Gomidas Institute. He drew on scarce personal resources to provide the operation with a computer to get things started. Our almost daily discussions constantly generate and give definite shape to new ideas and challenges.

Given our unyielding commitment to editorial independence, Ara and I consider ourselves most fortunate to have the support of donors whose primary interest is clearly the encouragement and dissemination of fresh, critical thinking on Armenian affairs.

We are most grateful to the Armenian General Benevolent Union for covering the expenses of this first issue in full, and for including an announcement of the journal in the widely distributed AGBU News. The president of the AGBU, Louise Simone, confronted us with hard-hitting questions; upon arriving at an informed judgment, she was unstinting in her support. She has all of our respect.

I knew Berge Bulbulian, of Fresno, California, only as a sane voice on the Internet when I happened to mention Armenian Forum to him almost two years ago. He asked for additional information, and the next thing I knew, he had sent in a check for a thousand dollars. That was before the Internal Revenue Service had recognized the Gomidas Institute as a tax-exempt entity, contributions to which are tax-deductible. For that leap of faith and for his continued support and counsel, we are most grateful.

Roland Telfeyan and Maro Azizian, both of Charlotte, North Carolina, good friends and members of the Gomidas Institute Board of Directors, made a significant timely donation that made it possible for our work to go into high gear. Attorneys Arsen Hanamirian and Mark Momjian, both of Philadelphia, kindly arranged for a generous gift from the Estate of Paul E. Charles. Vahagn and Mary Jo Agbabian of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, gave money and undertook vigorous fund-raising on the journal’s behalf. The journal received key financial support from the Sophia Chapter of the Armenian Renaissance Association; Arthur T. Gregorian of Concord, Massachusetts; Alice Haidostian of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; George and Chris Bohigian of Saint Louis, Missouri; John V. Pridjian and Gayane Markarian Pridjian of La Cañada, California; Nareg Hartounian of Fort Lee, New Jersey; and an anonymous individual. We are most appreciative of these supporters, whose contributions are covering many of the journal’s start-up costs as well as expenses associated with forthcoming issues.

Several people offered us counsel and made calls on our behalf. We are grateful to Annie S. Pampanini of New York City; the Reverend Karekin Kasparian of New Rochelle, New York; Nejdeh H. Aslanian of Tehran, Iran; Barlow Der Mugrdechian of the California State University, Fresno; and Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

The legal advice of Ned Purves, attorney-at-law, offered in cheerful spirits and free of charge, was instrumental in acquiring Internal Revenue Service recognition of the Gomidas Institute’s tax-exempt status.

I am grateful to Tatul Sonentz-Papazian for his mentorship during our years together at the Armenian Review.

We were able to go from "idea" to "project" when we received the wholehearted support of four exceptional colleagues: Ronald Grigor Suny, our teacher at the University of Michigan; George Bournoutian, Khachig Tölölyan, and Anahid Kassabian. Their support gave us the confidence to approach the other members of the Editorial Board, to each of whom we are grateful for their confidence.

The volunteers who have been part of our team have made it possible for us to believe that the project will have a long future. We would like to make special mention of Nicole Elise Vartanian, M. Lena Takvorian, Vicken Yegparian, and Sharistan Melkonian, all of Columbia University; Jennifer Telfeyan and Lucig Kebranian, both of New York City; Hasmig Kalajian of Cliffside Park, New Jersey; Isgouhi Kassakhian of the University of California, Los Angeles; and Jane Knar of Fresno, California.

The many friends to whom the editors are indebted are not, of course, in any way responsible for the shortcomings of the journal.

Vincent Lima

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