Ani
Ouzounian
English
114B
Sean
Pessin
Hybrid
Essay: The Armenian Culture
Informing others on the Armenian culture was a highlight
for me this semester in English class. I
was able to do this by the creation of a blog.
The blog was made in order to inform others about a specific topic
interesting to the writer. The topic I
chose was one that was very important to me simply because it was what
identified me. My blog was basically
about the Armenian culture and what goes into each celebration or event in
order to make it so significant. My goal
was to discuss music, dance, food, traditions, and people. Since this was a cultural blog, it was
important for me to provide enough information without being too prideful. My
inspiration for choosing this specific topic was a quote by William
Saroyan. Throughout my life I have heard
this quote about a hundred times and it really meant something to me each time
I read or heard it. I knew that I could
have written a story based off of this quote, a story with pictures, videos,
and more. This blog was what created
that story.
The
Armenian and The Armenian by William Saroyan
"I
should like to see any power of the world
destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people,
whose
wars have all been fought and lost,
whose
structures have crumbled,
literature
is unread,
music
is unheard,
and
prayers are no more answered.
Go
ahead, destroy Armenia.
See
if you can do it.
Send
them into the desert without bread or water.
Burn
their homes and churches.
Then
see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again.
For
when two of them meet anywhere in the world,
see if they will not create a New
Armenia."
To start off, I found articles that were great resources
about the many different traditions of the Armenian culture. Each article provided enough information
about constructing a cultural Armenian wedding or celebration. Other than articles, I found videos that
might have been interesting for others to watch. It was just easier to show others how
Armenians dance rather than describe it.
I also continuously added photos of the setting in which a wedding may
take place and remarkable instruments
like the duduk. I really enjoyed
talking about Shabash and shalaxo because in my opinion, these are two
important aspects of a cultural Armenian event.
The shalaxo is one of the most famous dance performed by Armenians and
the Shabash is a big piece of Armenian tradition. I concentrated on dance and heritage more
because I knew that's what made my topic so unique.
A
large group of Armenians are dancing to shalaxo music at a traditional sweet
16. In Armenian dance, arms are always
raised high and there is a lot of fast footwork. This picture has Armenian written all over
it. One look is all it takes for the viewer to understand that it's some type of celebration. Since my goal was to demonstrate Armenian
dance and music along with Armenian people, this photo was worth showing.
Most of my posts had to do with the significance and
uniqueness of the topic except for three of them. These three posts were against my topic and
how my topic isn't important. I thought
that these posts might start an argument because of the rude articles I found
supporting it. The articles were
criticizing many aspects of the topic and it could have produced an argument
with any of my audience. The first one
criticized Armenian music and described it as crappy. The second article aimed towards the Armenian
genocide and how it should just be left alone because it is part of history. Food was the discussion of the last article I
summarized. The theme of the article was
that Armenian food was stolen from the Azerbaijanis. This wasn't my goal originally but I had
planned to post these articles in order to show others how much criticism my
topic receives and yet it is still able to be incomparable. Although there could have been many
disagreements, they weren't addressed.
There was a lot more that I wanted
to further explore on my topic. I wanted
discuss more about food and music. Although
I had the chance, I focused more on the traditions, styles of dance, and
history. There are over a hundred types
of Armenian food that I could have touched up on but did otherwise. There are many famous Armenian singers who
had sold out concerts at the staples center and have sold thousands of
albums. These artists are worthy of
talking about and there is a lot of information I could have provided about
famous Armenian singers. If I had done
so, it could have interested others to listen to Armenian music and even try
some Armenian food.
Although
I didn't talk much about the variety of Armenian food, I knew that it was
necessary to share about it at least once.
It was my goal in the beginning but there was so much that I could talk
about that I didn't have the chance to discuss my ethnic food. Starting from the kabobs to the wrapped grape
leaves, Armenian food is flavorful and divine.
It distinctive taste manages to stay in your mouth for a while.
When I first chose my topic, I thought I knew all there
was about the Armenian culture. As I
continued to research, there was so much that I learned along the way. I enjoyed sharing my culture with others and
allowing them to be versatile with their choice of food, dance, music,
etc. I know that the Armenian culture
isn't so widespread in the United States and so I wanted to share the
extraordinary conditions that make up successful and traditional Armenian events,
whether it's a wedding or a funeral.
Work
Cited
"The Armenian
Culture." Web log post. Blogger.com. Ed. Ani L. Ouzounian. N.p.,
n.d.
Web. 29 Apr. 2013.
<http://aniouzounian94.blogspot.com/>.
