From Natives to Foreigners: Enduring Erasures of Armenians in Turkey

Let op: deze lezing is in het Engels.

This lecture introduces the concept of “denativization” to explore how Armenians in Turkey underwent this transformation. Denativization goes beyond human rights violations, addressing the systemic erasure of Armenian presence, identity, and history that continues long after the genocide, even as the vast Anatolian landscape has been emptied of Armenians. Through an examination of historical events, policies, and cultural shifts, this lecture illustrates how Armenians, once integral to the social and cultural fabric of Anatolia, were systematically marginalized and rendered alien in the land of their ancestors.

Denativization intervenes in historiography by challenging the genocide-centered framework that traditionally marks a definitive end to Armenian presence in Anatolia. Instead, it represents the afterlives of the Armenian genocide, showing that the erasure and marginalization of Armenians did not conclude with the genocide but persist through various forms of cultural and historical denial and revisionism. This approach shifts the narrative from a singular catastrophic event to a continuous process of erasure and survivance, highlighting the enduring impact of these historical injustices on the Armenian community. Through this lens, the lecture seeks to broaden the understanding of ethnic and cultural erasure, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced approach to addressing such historical injustices.

Over Hakem Al-Rustom

Hakem Al-Rustom bekleedt de Alex Manoogian leerstoel voor moderne Armeense geschiedenis, en is assistant professor geschiedenis en antropologie aan de University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Hij doet onderzoek naar de sporen van ongedocumenteerde geschiedenis en herinnering als methodologie voor het onderzoeken van historische etnografie in de nasleep van geweld. Hij is co-redacteur van de bundel Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation (University of California Press) en Enduring Erasures: Afterlives of the Armenian Genocide (Columbia University Press), verwacht in 2025.

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