Biljana M. Đurašinović
biljana.djurasinovic@gmail.com

doi: 10.19090/cit.2020.36.73-88
No. 36 (May 2020), p. 73-88

Armenian Written Tradition: Sixteen Centuries of Script, Books and Libraries

Summary

It is not unusual for a member of a nation that inherits its tradition and religion, though with local characteristics, from Byzantine cultural circle, to get the idea of a more detailed exploration of Armenian society and culture. Noting that there is no relevant literature in the Serbian language, this paper represents, among other things, an attempt to highlight the characteristic stages of the development of Armenian culture, in the first place the written one and especially that of the Middle Ages, in which the influence of the Eastern Roman Empire – Byzantium is very visible. This primarily concerns the maintenance and organization of monasteries, scriptoriums and production of manuscripts. Due to the geographical position of Armenia in the Middle Ages, the appearance of manuscripts was influenced by both Western monarchies and Oriental cultures. In this context, the occupation of Armenia by the Ottoman Empire, which lasted for several hundred years, is another element of similarity between the Armenian and Serbian people.
The work deals with the period from the 5th century AD to the modern age. Particular attention was paid to the monastery scriptoriums and libraries which were, for several centuries and especially in the Middle Ages, the most significant and very often the only guardians of the book and reading cult among the Armenians. Printing and publishing among the Armenians have been developing since the 16th century, and the first book was published in 1512. In the first half of the 19th century, a printing press was opened in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Until then, books were printed in big trade centers abroad, like Amsterdam, New Julfa, Smirna.
National Library of Armenia was established in 1832. The other types of libraries have been founded since the 19th century. Special, university and public libraries were founded during the first three decades of the 20th century. Modern Armenian librarianship is developing under the influence of new information technologies, without neglecting the written tradition, which has been nourished continuously, for a thousand and six hundred years.

Keywords:

Armenia, Christianization, script, book, educational centers, monasteries, scriptoriums, libraries, 5th–20th centuries, printing, publishing

Submitted: 31st January 2020
Correction to the manuscript: 22nd March 2020
Accepted for publication: 2nd April 2020

Armenian Written Tradition: Sixteen Centuries of Script, Books and Libraries by Biljana M. Đurašinović is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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