Main description:

For almost nine decades, since their mass-resettlement to the Levant in the wake of the Genocide and First World War, the Armenian communities of Lebanon and Syria appear to have successfully maintained a distinct identity as an ethno-culturally diverse group, in spite of representing a small non-Arab and Christian minority within a very different, mostly Arab and Muslim environment. The author shows that, while in Lebanon the state has facilitated the development of an extensive and effective system of Armenian ethno-cultural preservation, in Syria the emergence of centralizing, authoritarian regimes in the 1950s and 1960s has severely damaged the autonomy and cultural diversity of the Armenian community. Since 1970, the coming to power of the Asad family has contributed to a partial recovery of Armenian ethno-cultural diversity, as the community seems to have developed some form of tacit arrangement with the regime. In Lebanon, on the other hand, the Armenian community suffered the consequences of the recurrent breakdown of the consociational arrangement that regulates public life. In both cases the survival of Armenian cultural distinctiveness seems to be connected, rather incidentally, with the continuing 'search for legitimacy' of the state.

Contents:

List of Tables Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Origins of the Armenian Presence in Lebanon and Syria: a Brief Historical Account

Introduction

The Armenian Homeland

Armenian Migration to and within the Middle East: The Pre-Ottoman Era

The Armenians and the Ottoman Empire

The Era of Massacres: The End of the Empire and the Armenian Genocide

Chapter 2. (Re)constructing Armenia: The Armenians in Lebanon and Syria during the Mandate

Introduction

Religious Policy under the Mandate and the Re-establishment of the Armenian Churches

Armenian Politics and Public Participation under the Mandate

Armenian Associations during the Mandate

Armenian Culture and Media during the Mandate

Armenian Education during the Mandate

The Socio-Economic Position of the Armenians during the Mandate

Chapter 3. Coping with Political Change: The Armenians in Lebanon and Syria during the First Two Decades of Independence (1946-1967)

Introduction: The Armenians and the Post-Mandate States of the Levant

Armenian Politics and Armenian Public Participation in Lebanon and Syria (1946-1967)

Religious Policy and the Armenians in Independent Lebanon and Syria (1946-1967)

Armenian Education in Independent Lebanon and Syria (1946-1967)

Armenian Cultural Production between Flourishing and Decline: The 1950s and the 1960s

Armenian Associations and the State in Lebanon and Syria from Independence to the 1960s

Political Economy and the Social Position of the Armenians in Lebanon and Syria from Independence to the end of the 1960s

Chapter 4. War, Migration, and Strategies of Survival: The Armenians between the Collapse of the Lebanese State and the Construction of Asad's Syria (1967-1989)

Introduction

Armenian Politics in the Levant From the Mid 1960s to the End of the Lebanese War

The Armenian Churches in Lebanon and Syria in the 1970s and 1980s

Armenian Education in Lebanon and Syria: The 1970s and 1980s

Armenian Associations and the State in Lebanon and Syria: The 1970s and 1980s

Armenian Culture and Media in Lebanon and Syria during the 1970s and 1980s

The Armenian Communities and the Lebanese and Syrian Economy in the 1970s and 1980s

Chapter 5. Difficult Recovery and Uncertain Future: The Armenians in Lebanon and Syria in the 1990s and Beyond

Introduction

Armenian Political Participation in Contemporary Lebanon and Syria

Armenian Churches and the State in Contemporary Lebanon and Syria

Coping with Economic Crisis: The Socio-Economic Position of the Armenians in Contemporary Lebanon and Syria

Armenian Associations and the State in Contemporary Lebanon and Syria

Armenian Education in Lebanon and Syria during the 1990s and Early 2000s

Armenian Cultural Production and the State in Contemporary Lebanon and Syria

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index