The seeds of memory: Narrative renditions of the Armenian genocide across generations

This dissertation is a socio-historically anchored piece which paints a picture of a diaspora community and the interpretation of a enduring segment of history across generations. This work examines how the narrative of the Armenian genocide is told, retold, and interpreted transgenerationally in Fresno, California, one of the oldest Armenian enclaves in the Armenian diaspora. This study spans a period of approximately three years in which data were collected through participant observation, and attendance at Armenian genocide commemoration ceremonies. The bulk of the analysis however concerns thirty-one interviews with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of Armenian genocide survivors. Interviewees were asked to tell what, if any, Armenian genocide narrative they were told while growing up. Narratives were audio recorded and field notes were kept.; Intergenerational comparison of Genocide narratives demonstrates how this culturally salient story has evolved across time. Children of Genocide survivors tell primarily historical narratives which exhibit detachment of their parents' experiences and memories. Grandchildren of Genocide survivors tell narratives which have liturgical aspects in which their grandparents are seen as Christian martyrs. Great-grandchildren of Genocide survivors tell narratives that have acquired a mythical connotation as the stories are intertwined with family history and political aspirations regarding the Turkish government. These findings are a result of narrative analysis and comparison in which the tools of linguistics, discourse analysis, and literary analysis were used to observe pronoun utilization, narrative evaluations, repetition in discourse, and evocation of details and imagery.; While certain sociologists have questioned the relevance of the past within the present with respect to persecuted people and traumatic events in history, this study illustrates how this particular event has, through time and space gained significance within the younger population of the community. The findings lend insight to the historical progression of memory through time, as well as the longevity of a diaspora community. Furthermore, this study is a testament to the emotional reverberations of genocide, and the specific role and place that oral histories occupy within education.