KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

The scientific conference dedicated to the 100^th birth anniversary of Paruyr Sevak kicked off at the Institute of Literature after M. Abeghyan of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia (NAS RA).

The two-day scientific conference is organized by the Faculty of Philology at the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU), the Armenian Studies and Social Sciences Unit at the NAS RA, the NAS Institute of Literature after M. Abeghyan, the Faculty of Armenian Philology at Yerevan State University (YSU) and the House-Museum of Paruyr Sevak.

In her opening remarks, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia, Chairperson of the ASPU Board of Trustees Zhanna Andreasyan. In regard to the series of events dedicated to the birth anniversary, the Minister attached importance to the joint scientific conference to be held and considered academic speech, the dialogue of researchers and the shaping of an environment for listening to each other and considering comments, versions and proposals as a major precondition for quality work.

Zhanna Andreasyan, who was also chairperson of the commission coordinating the anniversary events, voiced hope that the speakers will give thorough and multi-layered speeches addressing the rich legacy of Sevak. The Minister attached importance to these scientific conferences from the perspective of analyzing the entire legacy of Armenian artists and intellectuals based on different components and understanding the thoughts and observations left for us from the perspective of today’s problems. “Sevak represented integrity of thoughts and perceptions during my years of study as well, and it allowed me to get to know Armenian society better. These scientific conferences are also important in terms of opportunities for interdisciplinary dialogue in order to understand what the rich heritage of the Armenian literature we have, tells about us, what layers it opens and how that knowledge can be interesting and useful for not only as analysis in terms of literary criticism and art criticism, but also as a major material for public discourse. In this regard, the legacy of Sevak’s writings is also of special significance,” the Minister added.

Heriknaz Voskanyan, who is the Director of the NAS Institute of Literature after M. Abeghyan of the NAS and is moderating the session, emphasized that Paruyr Sevak is among the poets, whose poems became universally resonant, turning poetry into a form of self-expression; those poets spoke on behalf of everyone, and importance was attached to their words in general. The speaker noted that the path that Sevak took was extremely difficult. The words that he wrote were gradual and dazzling. He had a unique image since he used the endless opportunities that the Armenian language has to offer. He also had the ability to show the psychology of the nation through the art of speech, was concerned about innovative searches, and he had a way of thinking and creative programs. “Sevak was able to ‘excavate’ the soul of a person, get to know it and make it visible. He showed the mental states characteristic of a person who creates and the concerns about fairness and truth. What Sevak was searching for was light for the centuries, the nation and mankind.”

In her welcoming remarks, ASPU Rector Srbuhi Gevorgyan noted that even the ‘distance’ of a century does not make us distant from Sevak, but rather brings us closer to him day by day and hour by hour. Professor Gevorgyan refrained from giving professional evaluations, but noted that we don’t see many poets show the domain of social and general psychology and the approaches of Sevak that provide the opportunity to see within the person — within the characterizations of mental, cognitive processes, mental states and attributes of a person.

According to Srbuhi Gevorgyan, every one of his poems is characteristic of his abilities to analyze and compare and his philosophical approaches, and from the interdisciplinary perspective, there is nobody among poets who characterizes the psychology behind the situation with standards that are so precise, specific and serious.  She voiced hope that the scientific conference will help discover the great writer who is so old, yet so new.

During the plenary session, academician-secretary of the Armenian Studies and Social Sciences Unit of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia Yuri Suvaryan provided some information about the writer’s biography, characterizing Sevak as not only a major poet who became a classic in his living years, but also as a person who actively participated in literary life and was a scholar-literary critic and active public figure.

President of the Writers’ Union of Armenia Eduard Militonyan sadly noted that there is currently less interest in poetry in Armenia and fully hopes that these kinds of events will lead people to literature again. The speaker also talked about the events that the Union is holding to mark the 100^th birth anniversary of Paruyr Sevak during this year and provided details about the years when Sevak was Secretary of the Writers’ Union and his activities.

The event also featured welcoming remarks by Paruyr Sevak’s grandson, Sevak Ghazaryan, who is also the Director of the House-Museum of Paruyr Sevak. He provided brief information about the events dedicated to the writer’s 100^th birth anniversary that are being held in the Diaspora this year and emphasized that books have been published, the “Unsilenceable Belfry” poem has been completely translated into Persian, the Theater named after Sos Sargsyan has staged the play “Person in the Palm”, and films have been produced. Sevak Ghazaryan informed that Sevak’s bibliography will be printed in three volumes soon, and it is planned to print Sevak’s literature in 12 volumes, which will feature printed and original works, academic works, translations, etc. The writer’s grandson is certain that the scientific conference will convey something new to the area of studies devoted to Sevak.

“Paruyr Sevak is a great innovator, who made a turn in Armenian poetry of the mid-20^th century with his poems and found himself at the forefront of the classics of Armenian literature. What lies at the core of his innovation are the starting points of great Armenian medieval thinkers, in-depth knowledge of the centuries-old history of the Armenian people and the intellectual wealth of world literature that the thinkers of the East and West left for mankind as heritage,” corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Head of the Chair of Armenian Old and Medieval Literature and its Teaching Methods at the Armenian State Pedagogical University, Professor Aelita Dolukhanyan remarked in her speech and added that Sevak is a daring poet who broke many stereotypes and had a large army of followers with his works.

Head of the ASPU Chair of Armenian New and Modern Literature and its Teaching Methods Suren Danielyan touched upon the significance of Paruyr Sevak’s poetry in terms of literature and history.

The Professor emphasized that Sevak was a powerful phenomenon in the mid-20^th century of Armenian poetry and a breakthrough writer who introduced paths to overcome unilateral approaches to ideas. According to Suren Danielyan, it is safe to consider Zahrat and Zareh Khrakhuni as soul mates of Paruyr Sevak, and this affirms once again that no matter how different the environments are, the courses of Armenian literature can, to a great extent, be seen in the same flow.

In his speech devoted to the principles of “Non-poetic poetry”, Dean of the ASPU Faculty of Philology Ashot Galstyan mentioned that there is a memoir devoted to 20^th century poet Paruyr Sevak, the authors of which are mainly the writer’s contemporaries who have shaped his image with pleasure and warmth. “In the memoir, Sevak is characterized with different comparisons, circumlocutions, and nouns and adjectives become exceptional values while the image of the writer is shaped,” he said.

The scientific conference dedicated to the 100^th birth anniversary of Paruyr Sevak continued with discussions in different areas. During the two-day conference, representatives of Armenia’s scientific-educational institutions will touch upon the legacy of Paruyr Sevak in terms of art and science, the relationship between his works and literature and will discover Sevak in the arts and identify the current issues in the studies devoted to Sevak.