Understanding Armenian identity, what shapes it and why, is necessary for understanding the Republic of Armenia. For it is this identity and its preservation that motivates the Republic of Armenia to create certain policies that agitate for measures that ultimately either improve or threaten stability within the Southern Caucasus as well as Armenian relations with the international community. This thesis utilizes the lens of memory to trace the evolution of Armenian identity through the Russian Imperialist, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods of Armenian history, seeking new ways to analyze and understand the factors that influence the formation of national narratives and to what end. It will explore the expansion of Russia into Armenian life, society, and culture and how this affected the ways in which Armenians were perceived and treated by the Empire. Imperialist perceptions, policies, and actions impacted Armenians’ understanding of themselves in the pre-Soviet era and ultimately created an environment that gave rise to an Armenian nationalism and its quest for nationhood. Furthermore, Armenian life in the Soviet Union and the influence of lingering memories of communism and the Soviet experience on the formation of Soviet and post-Soviet Armenian identity, as well as the post-Soviet resurgence and re-appropriation of historic memories and the reconstruction of a national identity grounded in ideals of historic exceptionalism, reunification, and self-determination, will be discussed. / text

This thesis, aims to provide an analysis of the perception of homeland of the Armenians in Istanbul and Armenians in Armenia of Anatolian origin in order to identify the meanings attributed to the concept of homeland in the formation of their identity. Based on the in-depth interviews, this thesis focuses on transformation of the homeland and questions where is &ldquo / home&rdquo / , &ldquo / homeland&rdquo / and &ldquo / diaspora&rdquo / . The analysis is based on data collected during fieldwork conducted in Istanbul, Turkey during the months of November 2011 to February 2012 and Yerevan, Armenia during September 2011.

Esta dissertação de início trata das particularidades do processo de mobilização pelo trabalho da imigração armênia no Distrito de Presidente Altino, localizado no município de Osasco, em relação com a capital paulista. Esse processo tem como referencial histórico de mobilização o Genocídio Armênio perpetrado pelo Império Otomano durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial (1914-1918), intepretada aqui a partir da mobilização geral (Gaudemar, 1981), momento histórico em que todos os esforços estão voltados para a produção, fazendo da guerra uma constante necessária à acumulação de capitais. Tentamos problematizar os desdobramentos históricos da relação social capitalista que foram transformando os sentidos da acumulação de capitais ao longo do século XX, bem como a dinâmica das personificações daí resultantes, até o contemporâneo capitalismo baseado na reprodução ficctícia do valor. Partindo da pesquisa histórica de trajetórias de mobilização aliada a observações feitas em trabalhos de campo, foram realizadas viagens à Argentina, Uruguai no intuito de apresentar as contradições perceptíveis entre a identidade armênia dessas localidades visitadas e a identidade observada em viagem à Armênia. / This dissertation deals with the particularities of the process of mobilization for the work of Armenian immigration in the District of Presidente Altino, located in the municipality of Osasco, in relation to the capital of São Paulo. This process has as a historical reference for mobilization the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during World War I (1914-1918), interpreted here using the concept of general mobilization (Gaudemar, 1981), historical moment in which all the efforts are directed to the production, requiring constant war to the accumulation of capital. We have tried to problematize the historical unfoldings of the capitalist social relationship that have been transforming the meanings of capital accumulation throughout the twentieth century, as well as the dynamics of the personifications resulting therefrom reaching the contemporary capitalism based on the fictional reproduction of value. Starting from the historical research of mobilization trajectories allied to observations made in field research. Travels were made to Argentina, Uruguay in order to present the perceptible contradictions between the Armenian identity of these visited localities and the identity observed during the travel to Armenia.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze Armenian ethnic identity construction, the dynamics influencing this process, and varying boundaries of this identity in Yesilk&ouml / y, which is one of the regions of Istanbul where Armenians prefer to live. The primordial as well as constructed aspects of Armenian identity in Turkey and the influence of objective and subjective definitions of Armenian collective identity constitutes the main themes of this thesis. From that perspective, homeland, history, myths, collective remembering, religion, language, rituals, the sense of being a member of a minority group, and perception of citizenship play a crucial role. Besides, relationalism, interaction with others, daily life practices, and relations with the nation-state appear as the other crucial elements of this identity construction process. Armenian identity in Turkey is multi-layered, situational and fluid. Together with the elements which provide the rigidity of identity such as religion, there are other loyalties such as ethnicity, traditions and language which give rise to plural and flexible identities. Armenian communities outside the national boundaries also serve for the self- positioning of the Armenians in Turkey.

Esta dissertação de início trata das particularidades do processo de mobilização pelo trabalho da imigração armênia no Distrito de Presidente Altino, localizado no município de Osasco, em relação com a capital paulista. Esse processo tem como referencial histórico de mobilização o Genocídio Armênio perpetrado pelo Império Otomano durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial (1914-1918), intepretada aqui a partir da mobilização geral (Gaudemar, 1981), momento histórico em que todos os esforços estão voltados para a produção, fazendo da guerra uma constante necessária à acumulação de capitais. Tentamos problematizar os desdobramentos históricos da relação social capitalista que foram transformando os sentidos da acumulação de capitais ao longo do século XX, bem como a dinâmica das personificações daí resultantes, até o contemporâneo capitalismo baseado na reprodução ficctícia do valor. Partindo da pesquisa histórica de trajetórias de mobilização aliada a observações feitas em trabalhos de campo, foram realizadas viagens à Argentina, Uruguai no intuito de apresentar as contradições perceptíveis entre a identidade armênia dessas localidades visitadas e a identidade observada em viagem à Armênia. / This dissertation deals with the particularities of the process of mobilization for the work of Armenian immigration in the District of Presidente Altino, located in the municipality of Osasco, in relation to the capital of São Paulo. This process has as a historical reference for mobilization the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire during World War I (1914-1918), interpreted here using the concept of general mobilization (Gaudemar, 1981), historical moment in which all the efforts are directed to the production, requiring constant war to the accumulation of capital. We have tried to problematize the historical unfoldings of the capitalist social relationship that have been transforming the meanings of capital accumulation throughout the twentieth century, as well as the dynamics of the personifications resulting therefrom reaching the contemporary capitalism based on the fictional reproduction of value. Starting from the historical research of mobilization trajectories allied to observations made in field research. Travels were made to Argentina, Uruguay in order to present the perceptible contradictions between the Armenian identity of these visited localities and the identity observed during the travel to Armenia.