The Social Semiotics of the "Migrant" Churches in Armenia
ru
Original Article
AbstractFull textReferencesFilesAuthorsAltmetrics
Yulia Antonyan (Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Yerevan State University)
Based on a field study of the Gegharkunik region of Armenia, the research addresses the process of building new churches in the context of contemporary social and economic life of the Armenian village. The main characters of the research are initiators and sponsors of the church construction, represented by several social types and, in particular, the type of an affluent emigrant, who thus wants to be represented at their home village with a new status. Building a church usually becomes a social project, through which they construct a positive image of themselves, strengthen the personal and family influence among local authorities and business people, thus becoming a part of the local elites, while being outside physically. Each new church has a “legend” which clarifies motives of the donator referring to such values as his piety, mystical connection to the saints, deference to the memory of ancestors, and compassion to people’s needs. The main places of cult in villages of the region have always been family shrines, usually constructed in a form of a small chapel and devoted to a saint-protector. Newly-constructed church, therefore, eventually takes on functions of such a family shrine, regardless its sizes.
Keywords: church, Armenian Apostolic Church, church construction, charity, gift exchange, cult of the saints, migrants, elite, power, церковь, Армянская Апостольская Церковь, строительство церквей, благотворительность, обмен дарами, культ святых, мигранты, элита, власть
Հայաստան [Армянские святые и святилища / Под ред. С. Арутюняна, А. Калан-таряна. Ереван: Хаястан], 2001. էջ 337-347.
Степанян Г. Ստեփանյան Գ. Իրականի անիրականի սահմանագծին. «Տան սրբերի» հայտվելու ձևերը տնեցիներին [На границе реальности и нереальности: пути открытия «домашних святых» жителям] // Հարությունյան Ս., Մարության Հ., Հոբոսյան Ս., Հայրապետյան Թ., Աբրահամյան Լ. /խմբ/. Ավանդականը արդիականը Հայոց մշակույթում [Традиция и современность в армянской культуре / Под ред. С. Арутюняна, А. Марутяна, С. Хобосяна, Т. Айрапетян, Л. Абрамяна], XVI, Ե.: Գիտություն, 2014. Էջ 249-257.
Abrahamyan, L. (2006) Armenian Identity in a Changing World. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda.
Andésian, S. (2010) “Introduction: Procès de foundation”, Archives de sciences sociales des religions 151: 10.
Antonyan, Yu. (2014) “Church, God and Society: Toward the Anthropology of Church Construction in Armenia”, in A. Agadjanian (ed.) Armenian Christianity Today, pp. 35-56. Farnham, GB: Ashgate.
Antonyan, Yu. (2015) "Political Power and Church Construction in Armenia", in A. Agadjanian, A. Jodicke, E. van Der Zveerde (eds.) Religion, Nation and Democracy in South Caucasus, pp. 81-95. London & New-York: Routledge.
Archives de sciences sociales des religions (2010), Juillet-Septembre, 151.
Brown, P. (1981) The Cult of the Saints. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Köllner, T. (2011) “Built with God or Tears? Moral Discourses on Church Construction and the Role of the Entrepreneurial Donations”, in J. Zigon (ed.) Multiple Moralities and Religions and Post-Soviet Russia, pp. 191-213. New York: Berghahn Books.
Manning, P. (2008) “Materiality and Cosmology: Old Georgian Churches as Sacred Sublime, and Secular Objects”, Ethnos 73(3): 327-360.
Marutian, Kh. (2001) "‘Dan so'wrp' er&o'wh't'y. Ago'wnqneri harcy & merorh'a trs&o'ro'wmnery" [The phenomenon of the "home saint": origins and contemporary manifestations], in S. Arutiunian, A. Kalantarian (eds) Hah'o'c srpery & srpavah'rery [Armenian saints and sanctuaries], pp. 337-347. Yerevan: Hayastan.
Siekierski, K. (2010) “Religious and National Identitites in Post-Soviet Armenia”, in I. Borowik, M. Zawila (eds.) Religions and Identities in Transition, pp. 155-157. Krakow: Nomos.
Stepanian, G. (2014) "Sdep'anh'an K. Iragani & aniragani sahmanakdzin. "Dan srperi" hah'dvelo'w tz&ery dnecinerin" [On the borderline of the real and irreal: ways the "home saints" reveal themselves to the houshold members], in S. Atuiunian, A. Marutian, S. Hobosian, T. Ayrapetian, L. Abrahamian (eds) Avantagany & artiagany Hah'o'c mshago'wh't'o'wm [Tradition and modernity in Armenian culture]. Vol. XVI, pp. 249-257. Yerevan: Gitutiun.
Tadevosyan, A. (2014) Migration and Everyday Life: Movement through Cultures and Practices. Yerevan: Gitutiun.
Tosheva, D. (2011) "Ot vosstanovleniia khrama k sozdaniiu obshchiny: samoogranichenie i material'nye trudnosti kak istochniki prikhodskoi identichnosti", [From church rebuilding to the creation of a community: material shortage as a source of parish identity], in A. Agadzhanian, K. Russele (eds.) Prikhod i obshchina v sovremennom pravoslavii: kornevaia sistema rossiiskoi religioznosti, pp. 277-297. Moscow: Ves' mir.
Times citedRecent citationsField Citation RatioRelative Citation Ratio
© Article. Yulia Antonyan, 2016.