Valda Salmiņa: ‘I Lived with Narekatsi’s Texts for 15 Years’

I have lived with Narekatsi’s texts for about 15 years. At the request of my colleagues, I published separate chapters. The process was challenging both in terms of language and content, but the outcome was rewarding. People were thrilled to read and listen to these texts, and they shared their delight with me. Thanks to Narekatsi’s translation, I was able to establish connections with prominent Narekatsi researchers and translators such as Levon Boghos Zekiyan, Jean-Pierre Mahé, and others, who provided me with valuable additional literature. I even participated in two AEIA (International Association of Armenian Studies) conferences with the support of its members.

Let’s talk about a topic that may not be pleasant, but is worth addressing. You studied in Armenia during the Soviet era, when society was closed here. The late Marytė Kontrimaitė, a Lithuanian translator of Armenian literature, recalled that it was difficult for a young Baltic girl to live in Yerevan at that time. I assume your experience must have been hard too.

I don’t want to go into more detail on this subject here. I can imagine what you’re thinking. There were certainly difficult situations that put my safety in question. But I was very young and did not fully comprehend the risks. There were times when I cried to my parents, saying I would not return to Armenia. But my parents were firm: I had to finish my university studies. 

However, what positive memories do you have, and what did Armenia give you, besides the profession of an Armenologist?

Living in Yerevan was interesting, but financially challenging because I was far from home. I loved the mountains, the nature, the vibrant colors, and especially the view of Mount Ararat. It was also difficult for me since I had just started learning the language. I was unable to establish lasting friendships with my classmates because I only joined them in my second year, by which point everyone had already formed close bonds. However, I had wonderful teachers, who took great care of me with genuine warmth and selflessness. Linguists Lusik Maksudyan and her daughter Mariam Kirakosyan worked separately with me in the spring of 1983, when I first came to Armenia. Lusik Maksudyan also helped me when I had to defend my diploma thesis. My teacher Arshaluys Papazyan was a classmate of one of our poets in Petersburg, and through him, we got acquainted. I had just learned the Armenian alphabet in Riga. We studied together at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences, where he was working at that time. We would read Koryun’s The Life of Mashtots in contemporary Armenian and analyze the verb forms. I had to prepare thoroughly for each lesson, about six hours, so that I could read the text properly. Later, I always consulted Arshaluys whenever I was preparing any report; her knowledge always amazed me and was trustworthy.

I also want to emphasize that I appreciated the Eastern calmness in the approach to life. I liked that people were not in a rush. I would watch how the elderly, holding their prayer beads, would walk in the parks. We, northerners, are always in a hurry, under stress.

Now, it seems that Yerevan has become a commercial city, at least the center… 

What are your plans for this year?

I hope to secure funding for the translation of a work by a contemporary Armenian author. However, the selection of works for translation is usually done by the publishers, not by me.

I would also like to find an institution in Latvia that would be willing to publish the famous poet Rainis’s article The Most Unfortunate Nation about Armenians, with corrected Armenian names and data. The article contains many inaccuracies, as they were taken from the Russian manuscript. This article, which addresses the fate, history, and literature of the Armenians, was written in the Slobodsk exile, where Rainis met the Armenian intellectual Ashot Khumaryan, and together they conceived the idea of writing notes about Armenia. This article can be found in Armenian in the collection of Rainis’ works published in Yerevan in 1959.

I received funding from the Ministry of Culture of Armenia to translate Hovik Afyan’s book, The Red. I am happy to be able to practice Armenian.

Additionally, I would love to work on a project with Armenian partners, perhaps within the framework of the Creative Europe program…