USC’s ‘Artsakh Uprooted:’ Aftermaths of Displacement

Particularly appealing was a performance lecture, “Roots Across Diasporan Time,” by Dr. Aroussiak Gabrielian of the USC School of Architecture and Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief of Hyperallergic, who depicted the tree as a sacred spirit. Indeed, a tree is not held by its roots but by something deeper, something that goes beyond rationality, noted Gabrielian. Its roots are in the landscapes of our bodies and can thus migrate (metaphorically) through boundaries, across geographies and identities. It was interesting for me to learn that, as “silent witnesses,” trees have been designated as part of our cultural legacy. The musical accompaniment on the oud and the duduk — both instruments made from the wood of trees — evoked the power of music to give voice and was a touching reminder of the idea of continuity and of survival. We can also claim through language by naming that which we can no longer touch, noted the panelists: Tchinar ess (You are as tall as a plane tree—Komitas), Garin etc.

Equally fascinating was a conversation between the Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnamese-American author Viet Thanh Nguyen and filmmaker Eric Nazarian. Dr. Nguyen forcefully iterated the importance of the narrative resistance. Storytelling is an act of power, he said. It helps abolish the conditions of “voicelessness.” Empowering the survivors by contributing to platforms that amplify Armenian voices is crucial, affirmed Nguyen. Rebuilding our identity is a community effort.

The new perspectives and the insights were truly empowering and they were not all abstract and romantic notions of resilience, as is often alleged. There was indeed a healthy awareness of the challenges facing us and tips were offered to realistically pursue our cause.

Renowned legal scholar Hannah Garry, for example, formerly at USC Law, and currently at the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA (“We have even crossed USC-UCLA boundaries,” joked Dr. Shushan Karapetian, director of the Institute of Armenian Studies), noted that bringing demands for justice to the International Courts of Human Rights is not useless, as some reckon. Human rights institutions are being used more than ever, she stressed. On the other hand, raising awareness for Azeri crimes against humanity by calling out the names of the Armenian prisoners of war still held captive in Azerbaijan at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Summit to be held in Baku, demanding sanctions against Azerbaijan, and lobbying Congress to end military aid that contributes to Azeri war crimes could also help.

The fight of the Armenian people to rightfully claim what is theirs cannot fail. Destroying the ancient religious and cultural heritage of Artsakh to erase all trace of a millennia-old Armenian presence on their ancestral lands, and forging history by calling Armenia the Caucasian Albania cannot win. The truth emerges ultimately. “We have a deep yearning for the truth,” said Danell Jones, author of the recently published The Girl Prince: Virginia Woolf, Race and The Dreadnought Hoax, at the Annual International Virginia Woolf Society Lecture.

Yet, the truth is not all black and white. As noted by Nguyen, complicity in genocide needs to be foregrounded. Indeed, the only nugget of truth one left the symposium with was faith in the incredible power of family attachments and solidarity with the rest of the species. A day’s respite from the oppression gave one a wonderful sense of belonging and the courage to confront the darkness. To heal and to transform was possible. The steadily mounting investments in Armenia as “a future worth belonging to” are evidence of faith in that possibility.