St. Anthony's College, Oxford

382 Pages·2012·5.88 MB·English

HAGOP BARONIAN'S
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SATIRE
by
Kevork Bardakjian
Thesis submitted for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy
St. Anthony's College, Hilary Term,
Oxford
ABSTRACT
Hagop Baronian (1843-1891) was an outstanding Armenian literary
figure, whose satire reflected the political and social realities
of Western Armenian life in the 1870s and the 1880s. This thesis
is the first systematic attempt to study his social and political
views. No such studies exist in the West, and the attempts of
Armenian writers are on the whole hasty, incomplete, and restricted
in scope. For this thesis, extensive research has been made into
the political and social realities of Armenian life in the Ottoman
Empire in the 19th century in order to analyse and evaluate
Barcnian's political and social ideas in their proper context.
Chapter I sketches Baronian's biography. Chapters II, III, IV
and V form the first part of this thesis and deal, in chronological
order, with Baronian 1 s political views which, hitherto, have been
given little attention. Chapter II is devoted to the study of
Baronian's view of the Armenian Constitution which he initially
supported for having introduced a large degree of secularisation
and democracy to the government of the community. However, Baronian
soon came to realise that the Constitution was an inadequate tool.
This led him to join forces with some Armenian leaders to propose
substantial amendments for the document, which was however never
in fact revised.
The Polozhenie (Statute) which regulated the affairs of the
Armenian Church in Russia is also discussed in Chapter II. Baronian
was bitterly critical of the document as restricting the rights of
the Armenian community and of the Armenian Church, and bringing the
latter under strict control of the Russian government.
Chapter III analyses Baronian's criticism of Ottoman internal
policy which he held responsible for misgovernment in Armenia. It
emerges from Baronian's criticism that oppression in the Armenian
provinces was due to two cardinal reasons: the legal status of the
Armenians as second-class citizens, and the failure of the Ottoman
authorities to preserve law and order. Baronian held that the only
way of rectifying the situation was by way of peaceful reform.
However, he contended that the Ottoman government was at once
unwilling to* introduce reform in Armenia and incapable of it.
Baronian also maintained that the empire lacked the expertise and
financial resources to initiate an extensive programme of
reorganisation.
All this led Baronian to believe that only external pressure
would compel the Porte to review its internal policy (Chapter IV).
Baronian expected such pressure from Europe, which, as he saw it,
should also provide the Empire with the technical expertise and
subsidies to modernise itself. The outbreak of hostilities in the
Balkans and the subsequent reform plans for the area were regarded
by Baronian as a precious opportunity to force an overall programme
of reform on the Porte. However, in Baronian's view, the conflic
ting interests of the Powers and their self-centred ambitions
prevented them from exerting effective pressure on the intransigent
Ottoman administration.
Baronian dissected the activities of the Armenian leadership
in his Armenian Big-Wigs, which is analysed in Chapter V. Baronian
criticised most of the Armenian leaders for their lack of what he
considered as the basic qualities of public leaders, namely compe
tence, dedication, audacity and integrity. Baronian also censured
the Armenian priesthood. While some prelates harrassed their flock
by an excess of incompetent activities, many other priests declined
to assume any office in the provinces and, residing idly in Constan
tinople, pursued ecclesiastical preferment or other vain ambitions.
Some of the leaders of the so-called anti-Hasunist movement
11
within the Catholic Armenian Community were also depicted by
Baronian. Since they claimed a voice for lay elements in governing
the Catholic community, Baronian sympathised with their cause but
found that the movement was doomed to failure, most of these leaders
being motivated by personal ambitions or impractical ideas.
Part II (Chapters VI, VII and VIII) of this thesis is devoted
to the study of Baronian's social views. In Chapter VI Baronian f s
comic characters are analysed and the social problems he raised in
his comedies and his satirical novel are discussed. In his novel
(The Most Honourable Beggars) Baronian dismissed many of the Arme
nian intelligentsia as parasites and poured contempt on the wealthy
for their apathy towards culture. In his comedies Baronian illus
trated the old adage concerning the limits to men's capabilities
(A Servant of Two Masters) and castigated the vice of sycophancy
(The Flatterer). He demonstrated that marriage uniting couples
of incompatible ages resulted in immorality and the destruction of
the family (The Oriental Dentist). Baronian held that the incompe
tence of the Armenian Judicial Council, which handled questions of
marriage, was a contributory factor to the decrease in the number
of marriages among Armenians. He also criticised the rigid approach
of the Judicial Council (and therefore the Armenian Church) to
divorce, which, Baronian contended, should be granted on valid
grounds (Uncle Balthazar).
Baronian, who almost exclusively reflected the social realities
of the Armenian community of Constantinople, found that this society
was in rapid decline (Chapter VII). He was concerned with the
institution of marriage because the family, together with morality,
religion and education constituted the main pillars of a prosperous
society. Despite advocating equality in marriage, Baronian mani
fested strong patriarchal tendencies, and held that a woman's
111
primary role, designed by nature, was motherhood. In Baronian's
view money profoundly affected human relations and the moral cast
of men who abandoned human virtues in pursuit of material gain and
vain ambition. Baronian noted that men's religious zeal was also
in decline due to their materialistic approach. However, the
Armenian priesthood was equally to blame. The failure of many
priests in their pastoral duties and their often impious conduct
greatly affected the religious feelings of the congregation.
Finally, Baronian maintained that the Armenians were still backward
in the field of education. The national authorities failed to
allocate sufficient funds and the community was reluctant to
support the educational network financially.
For Baronian theatre and literature played a vital role in
transforming a society in that they combined the aesthetically
beautiful with the socially useful (Chapter VII). Advocating
socially conscious literature he emphasised the need for a local
and up to date repertoire, and criticised the romantic authors of
the time, whose works failed to satisfy his aesthetic and social
principles.
The conclusion to the thesis sums up Baronian's social and
political ideas. Baronian believed that the well-adjusted indivi^
dual was the basis for social progress, also envisaging a principal
role for the family, religion and education. He recognised man as
the source of legislative and political power and advocated parlia
mentary democracy. He illustrated the consequences of the inequal
Ottoman political system with the plight of the Armenians and
maintained that substantial and peaceful reform was the only way
of redressing the situation.
IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors,
Professor C.J.F. Dowsett and Dr. G.L. Lewis, who have given most
generously of their knowledge and time throughout the years I
have been preparing my thesis. Their scholarly guidance and
support have proved of inestimable value.
I am also deeply indebted to Mr. A.H. Hourani, my college
supervisor during the years I spent at St. Anthony's, for his
most inspiring support and for his numerous invaluable suggestions
concerning some of the chapters he has read.
I acknowledge with thanks the financial support of the
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1971-73), the Armenian General
Benevolent Union (1972-74), and the following Funds at Oxford
University for supplementary grants: the Middle East Centre, St.
Anthony's College; the Committee for Modern Middle Eastern
Studies, the Committee for Graduate Studies, and the Nubar Pasha
Armenian Fund. Warm thanks are due to Mrs Margaret Okole for
typing the thesis.
It would have been very difficult to complete my work without
the support and tolerance of my wife, to whom this thesis is
dedicated.
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List of the Abbreviations Used in the Footnotes
PCF Hakob Paronyan, Yerkeri liakatar zolovacu (Complete
Works), vol. v, Yerevan, 1935.
PCS Hakob Paronyan, Erkeri zolovacu (Collected Works),
Erevan, 1962-
RNA Atenagrutiwnk azgayin zo^ovoy (Records of the Armenian
National Assembly).
SHAT Garnik Stejfanyan, Urvagic arevmtahay ifatroni patmulfyan
(An Outline of the History of Western
Armenian Theatre).
VI1
CONTENTS
Page
Abstract i
Acknowledgements v
Transliteration vi
List of Abbreviations used, in the Footnotes vii
General Introduction 1
Chapter I: A Biography of Hagop Baronian 9
Part I: Hagop Baronian's Political Satire 24a
Chapter II: Baronian and the Armenian National
Constitution 25
Chapter III: Hagop Baronian and the Ottoman
Administration in Armenia, 1872-1881 59
Chapter IV: Baronian, the Powers and the Eastern
Question, 1875-1881 108
Chapter V: Baronian and the Armenian Leadership 140
Conclusion to Part I 178
Part II: Hagop Baronian's Social Satire 182
Chapter VI: Baronian's Comedies and his Satirical
Novel, The Most Honourable Beggars 183
Chapter VII: Baronian's View of Armenian Society
in the 1880s 235
Chapter VIII: Baronian and Contemporary Armenian
Literature and Theatre 274
Conclusion 295
Appendix I: Baronian's Tiyatro 300
Appendix II: Notes on Baronian's Cica^ 308
Appendix III: Brief Biographies of Leading Armenians 347
Appendix IV: I Synopses of Baronian's Comedies and his
Satirical Novel The Most Honourable Beggars 352
II Synopsis of Srbuhi Tiwsab's Novel Mayta 364
Selected Bibliography 368
Vlll
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Long before the final and complete conquest of Western Armenia
by the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of the 17th century, in 1461
Mehmet II had recognised the Armenians as a religious community
(millet). In the same year, he established an Armenian Patriarchate
in Constantinople recognising the Armenian Patriarch as the
political and religious head of the Armenians.
In a way Ottoman rule proved beneficial to the Armenians in
that it restored peace to the war-torn Armenian Provinces. But
the Armenians had to pay a heavy price in suffering serious
disabilities as second-class citizens: the political system of
their new rulers was based on the tenets of Islam, an alien religion
with an alien civilisation. Recovery from the deep social, politi
cal and cultural decline into which the Armenians had sunk after
the fall of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia towards the end of the
14th century, was to come as a result of close contacts with the
West.
By virtue of the Ottoman millet system, the newly created
Armenian Patriarchate assumed the political and religious leadership
of its followers. By this time the unity of the Armenian Church
had been seriously weakened: there were now three catholicosates
(Ejmiacin in Eastern Armenia, and A^tamar and Sis in the Ottoman
Empire), and two patriarchates (Jerusalem and Constantinople). The
Catholicosate of Ejmiacin, the traditional centre of the Armenian
Church, had no effective jurisdiction over the Armenians of the
Ottoman Empire, although its head was still nominally recognised
by all the other seats as the overall spiritual leader of the
Armenian Church. The Catholicosates of Sis and A^lfamar and the
Patriarchate of Jerusalem had only local authority and were under
the jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople.