KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

At the initiative of the Faculty of Philology and the Chair of Ancient and Medieval Armenian Literature and its Teaching Methods of Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU), a republican conference dedicated to the great Armenian writer Perch Proshyan was held at the house-museum of Perch Proshyan in Ashtarak.

The participants were welcomed by Dean of the Faculty of Philology Ashot Galstyan who highly appreciated the literary legacy of the great classic writer [Perch Proshyan].

Prof. Kamo Vardanyan, Head of the ASPU Research Center, also emphasized the importance of the conference dedicated to the literary heritage of the classic writer and added that ‘the attendees will communicate with a great man who is not in the past and is not mortal; he [Proshyan] is still a great value. “With the help of retrospective analysis, we are able to give a modern interpretation to the characters of writers, understand what is hidden in the given work. Valuable is the work that does not know time," Mr. Vardanyan said.

Professor Ayelita Dolukhanyan, Head of the Chair of Ancient and Medieval Armenian Literature and its Teaching Methods, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, presented a report entitled "Arsen Terteryan as an Interpreter of Perch Proshyan's Works."

Prof. Dolukhanyan said that after delving into Proshyan's works, Terteryan emphasizes that according to Proshyan, the land, rather than money, was what mattered to a true Armenian. Terteryan said that ‘fair work and boundless diligence are the basis of human life, and that is the main ideology of Proshyan's works.’ “Proshyan criticized clericalism and was against cosmopolitanism. Terteryan says Proshyan also used the method of critical realism in his writings, but he prefered romanticism when depicting female characters. In his monograph "Perch Proshyan", Terteryan considers Proshyan "one of the eternal names of Armenian literature, whose main feature is his obvious sincerity, and literature was a mission for him," Prof. Dolukhanyan said.

In their reports the speakers presented interesting articles describing the life and literary legacy of Perch Proshyan, as well as new interpretations of Proshyan's prose.

Ashot Galstyan touched upon the linguistic structure of the novel "The Bread Problem" by Perch Proshyan. The professor stressed that as a follower of Khachatur Abovyan, Proshyan used the stylistic diversity of the word forms of modern Armenian in his novel "The Bread Problem," demonstrating the use of viable elements of modern Armenian in fiction.Ashot Galstyan also referred to use of Grabar (Old Armenian) and dialects in the novel, personal names and place names, folk words and sayings, idioms and comparisons, stating that the novel is a valuable work in Armenian literature.

Associate Professor Lilit Hovsepyan's report was about the relevance of Mikael Nalbandyan's critical work " Sos and Varditer", while Associate Professor Ruzan Dolukhanyan spoke about the different philological genres used in the novel "Sos and Varditer" and their educational value.

Ani Tonoyan, Director of the house-museum of Perch Proshyan, conducted an educational tour around the museum after the conference. The participants saw interesting items belonging to the Proshyan family, learned some facts about the writer's life, his relations with the great people of his time, and his literary heritage.

The conference concluded with the presentation of a collection of articles entitled "Perch Proshyan." The book is dedicated to the memory of the writer Perch Proshyan who opened the first school for girls in Armenia.