The Armenian Genocide in Perspective

Seven decades after the destruction of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire, the Armenian genocide remains largely ignored by governments and forgotten by the world public, even though the annihilation of Armenians was headlined around the world in 1915. Scholarly investigation of the Armenian genocide is just beginning, made more difficult by the tendency of many establishment figures to rationalize the past and the attempt of perpetrator governments and their successors to deny the past. This volume is a pioneering collective attempt to assess and analyze the Armenian genocide from differing perspectives, including history, political science, ethics, religion, literature, and psychiatry. Focusing on the general implications of denial, rationalization, and responsibility, it is particularly important as a precursor to the study of the Holocaust and other genocides. Contents: Israel Charny, Preface; Terrence Des Pres, Introduction; Richard G. Hovannisian, The Historical Dimensions of the Armenian Question, 1878-1923; Leo Kuper, The Turkish Genocide of the Armenians, 1915-1917; Robert Melson, Provocation of Nationalism: A Critical Inquiry into the Armenian Genocide of 1915; Richard Hrair Dekmejian, Determinants of Genocide: Armenians and Jews as Case Studies; Marjorie Housepian-Dobkin, What Genocide? What Holocaust? News from Turkey, 1915-1923: A Case Study; Richard G. Hovannisian, The Armenian Genocide and Denial Patterns; Vigen Guroian, Collective Responsibility and Official Excuse Making: The Case of the Turkish Genocide of the Armenians; Leo Hamalian, The Armenian Genocide and the Literary Imagination; Vahe Oshagan, The Impact of the Genocide on Western Armenian Letters; Levon Boyajian and Haigaz Grigorian, Psychological Sequelae of the Armenian Genocide; Donald E. Miller and Lorna Touryan Miller, An Oral History Perspective on Responses to the Armenian Genocide.