Julien, in the Marseilles district, his list focused on contemporary works on the Armenian condition within Soviet Armenia
"It was then that
ofthe
great Armenian writers," observed Arzoumanian. ParenthEses published
Paruir Sevak, a poet who suffered Soviet repression, in French. This was Que la lumiCre soit [Let there be light].It also published Yeghishe Charent s, La maison de
criminal."
When Max Kilndjian,
a
young
Marseillais, was arrested and tried in 1981 for the attempt to assassinate the Turkish ambassador in Berne, Switzerland, a
support group prepared his ParenthBses published
case.
book recording the proceedings ofhis trial-/z s Armdniens en a
cour d'assises. Terroristes ou risistants? [The Armenians in a court of law : Terrorists
or freedom fighters??) The years of terrorism were also those of action over political prisoners in the USSR, like Azat Arshakian, likethethrepArmenians shot in
Moscow
and-
two dissidents, future
members of the Parliament of Armenia, Paruir Hairikian and Ashot Navasartian. "When Yerevan erupted in 1987," says Arzoumanian, "we felta certain weariness. It was theexpulsion of Paruir [Hairikian] in July 1988 thatgalvanizedus inroacrion. The beginning of the year had been a period of
uncertainty for us, faced with wholly
the
PRODUSUONS,INC.
Hairikian collective
was founded. We timed our action around Armenia: every Friday, just like in Opera Square in Yerevan, we stood in front of the Soviet consulate to call for his release. We kept it up: 180 demonstrations, and a tract a week, without a break. Whatever was happening-Sumgait, the earthquake, rain or shine, there might be four of us or there might be 200.
"Translations of contemporary writers
rCiducation, Erevan I 926- I 927, [The rehabilitation center, Yerevan I 926- I 927 l "aliterary testimony as much as the story of an error, the error of a communist who drugged himself and became a common law
TEI.EUISION
comprehension.
and in the Diaspora. are few and far between,as are those
ARI\,IENLAI.I
unexpected occurrences beyond our
"Finally, when Hairikian's name was put
on the second list of Gorbachev's
rehabilitations, and he was able to return to Armenia, in November 1990, we called a halt: the aim had been achieved. "After that we did humanitarian work,
like everyone else: adopting orphans,
sending parcels, sending money. So much
for the militant side of things. The book work was going on at the same time. When we do something-including humanitarian work, it is political. "Today the "Arm6nies" series is the portion of the business that is running at a loss: print runs are down from an average of 3,000 in the 1980s to 1,500. It is a community problem: people have become less involved; they feel they are going around in circles. The generation in its 20s is taking no part in political action-or in French civic life in general, Here, the book situation reflects the people's mental state and
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motivation."
THE ABiIENIES SERIES Of the 90 titles published by Editions Parentheses, l5 are in the "Arm6nies" series.
They include documents, such
as
Enqu6te sur la n6gation d'un g6nocide
alkabout thcmand carry the WE4, fu r reanorc of s tste #, rt tbal with thosc topics for tt e Whercas if Armenia is not V. vlqbh, it is because it is not * Ytat; alrha slob&l: P w,ble nt
ffiffacrlryiilrasgq #iifa#frarra. Thegdp l,s*w,ass*txbly-tfne
back ts,t* *i;. eeoultr? r:lfu
llnvestigation into the Denial of
a
Genocidel, by historian Yves Ternon; sources of tradition, such as Les an ciennes roy anc e s anninienne s lAnc ient Armenian Beliefsl, by Avetis Aharonian,l* Livre des c
prinoms arminiens [The Book ofArmenian Surnamesl; and literature, such as Le bois de_Vincenne s [The Fo re s t of Vincenne s ], by Nicolas Sarafian. Projects include Diaspora poetry, a book
on Paradjanov's art, and a book on Armenian dissidents-theknown as well as the unknown. "A treasury of imagination. Paruir Hairikian was in the KGB prison in Moscow for nine months: he was interrogated every day, and every word he uttered was noted down. Today, these archives are accessible," says Arzoumanian. Thinking ahead, he adds. "If it is not written soon, the history of the democratic movement will disappear."
llvlng ln Parls. Translated lrom the French by Ullta,p
Clgume ls a lreelance wrlter
Tony Berrett
AIM, JUNE - JULY 1994
AIM for Educotion Bring AIM iro your clossroom where issues of interest to the Armenion community ond the world con be srudied, discussed, questioned ond finolly, serve to fucilitote mutuol understonding. Let us
shoryou ho,,rlOrder complimentrcry copies of 'AIM For Educolion" br o
bocher;ou
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