Armenian and American: The changing face of ethnic identity and diasporic nationalism, 1915--1955.
Item
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Title
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Armenian and American: The changing face of ethnic identity and diasporic nationalism, 1915--1955.
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Identifier
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AAI3169887
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identifier
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3169887
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Creator
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Alexander, Benjamin F.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Thomas Kessner
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Date
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2005
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, United States | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
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Abstract
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This dissertation traces the development of Armenian-American community life between 1915 and 1955, with a special emphasis on ideas and internal dialogue about the meaning of ethnic identity and the relationship between an ethnic group and its ancestral homeland. Going from the traumas of the 1915 Turkish genocide through the coming-of-age of much of the third generation, the study looks at the role of those ethnic institutions, especially the Armenian political parties, which profoundly influenced the nature of the Armenian-American experience. Special emphasis is placed on the concept of a symbiotic marketing relationship between the general ethnic populace, which increasingly included the American-born generations, and those organizations which needed their allegiance to stay in existence. The commodities being marketed were visions of peoplehood and ideas about collective identity, as well as the more literal products of newspapers and admission to sponsored social events.;Extensive attention is given to the special role played by a bitter partisan conflict between the militant-nationalist Tashnak party and a coalition of other factions, especially the Ramgavar party. An important part of this conflict was a sequence of events that occurred shortly after the genocide, when the Tashnak party in the eastern portion of historic Armenia played the dominant role in governing the short-lived Republic of Armenia from mid-1918 through late 1920. The nature of that republic, and the circumstances under which Armenia became a Soviet republic, spawned contested memories. Those contested memories led to an even fresher one in 1933 with the assassination of an archbishop. This dissertation also explores the role that integration into mainstream American middle-class life played in the ethnic and diasporic experience. The political parties, especially when they sponsored dances and other social affairs, helped to facilitate a smooth merger of the Armenian and the American worlds for their constituents. Ironically, they did so while remaining bitterly unreconciled across the lines of intra-ethnic faction.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.