Karen Hamada: ‘Nerses Shnorhali’s Words Worked as Therapy for Me’

Yes, I worked on that topic when I studied at the Russian State University for Humanities in Moscow (2009-2010). Then I realized that Nerses Shnorhali is the first Armenian theologian whose work was fully translated into Russian. An Armenian diplomat and translator Alexander Khudabashev translated his encyclical letters in 1847 and it had an important role to prove the orthodoxy of the faith of the Armenian Church, because at that time Russian theologians considered the Armenian Christianity as a heresy. Since then I became interested in Nerses Shnorhali and tried to read his works, first in translation, then in original grabar (Classical Armenian) text. Especially I was impressed by his poem “On the Heaven and its Ornaments.” Only first some stanzas of this poem were translated into Russian during Soviet era and I found it accidentally in a library. Though the translation was not accurate, but I was fascinated by its unique style that the heaven talks about himself and explains how the world was made by God.

Do you intend to translate Shnorhali and other medieval Armenian authors into Japanese?

Yes, I do. Chisen Shokan, the publisher of my book, has already asked me to translate Nerses Shnorhali’s theological letters. I also intend to translate works of other medieval Armenian authors, such as Grigor Narekatsi and Yovhannes Erznkatsi. It will be a long-term project.

What could a modern Japanese person find interesting in studying medieval Armenian literature?

It depends on people’s own concerns. Most of readers of my book are academics — Byzantinists or Medievalists. They are interested in medieval Armenian literature because they are rich sources of their own study. However, I think it will be interesting even for non-academic readers because it contains emotions and experiences that can be linked to current situation. For example, Nerses Shnorhali wrote “Lament on Edessa” to console people in deep grief when Edessa was seized by Muslim troops in 1144 and many citizens, including Armenians, were killed and captured. Moreover, Nerses himself was a refugee, who escaped from his own homeland to Hromkla because of war. When the war in Artsakh and later in Ukraine broke out, I was so deeply depressed and hurt, but Nerses Shnorhali’s words worked as therapy, at least for me.