Following the trail of oral history

A story of literacy with Armenian children

Authors

  • Hourig Attarian McGill University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v1i1.25

Keywords:

Armenian literacy, diaspora, language, identity, oral history

Abstract

This article explores language and identity issues within a small group of trilingual Montreal Armenian children in informal Saturday literacy group sessions. These sessions provided alternative avenues for the promotion of Armenian literacy. The participants attended Armenian heritage language day schools in Montreal. All had great grandparents who were 1915 Armenian genocide survivors. To pay a living tribute to their memory, we embarked on an oral history project, using a range of visual artefacts, such as photographs and old ID documents. The children were invited to explore their great grandparents’ family histories and share their findings within the group. A videotaped account of the session reveals fascinating evidence of the children’s engagement with the project, their collective meaning-making through dialogue, and their negotiations of language and identity issues as reflected in the weaving of their narratives.

References

Attarian, H. and Yogurtian, H. (2006) Survivor stories, surviving narratives: Autobiography, memory and trauma across generations. In Y. Jiwani, C. Steenbergen and C. Mitchell (eds) Girlhood: Redefining the limits 13–34. Montreal: Black Rose Books.

Panossian, R. (2003a) Courting a diaspora: Armenia-diaspora relations since 1998. In E. Østegaard-Nielsen (ed.) International migration and sending countries: Perceptions, policies and transnational relations 140–68. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Panossian, R. (2003b) The Armenian diaspora today: Lobby, politics and identity. Paper presented at the World Congress of Basque Centres or Clubs, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, July 14–19, 2003. Unpublished, 28 pp.

Tölölyan, Kh. (1996) Rethinking diaspora(s): Stateless power in the transnational moment. Diaspora 5(1): 1–36.

Published

2008-01-09

How to Cite

Attarian, H. (2008). Following the trail of oral history: A story of literacy with Armenian children. Sociolinguistic Studies, 1(1), 25-45. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v1i1.25