Postdoctoral Research Project Outline

Armenian Transnational Experiences: Diasporic Youth Cultural Identities in Russia and Bulgaria

The demise of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in substantial changes throughout Europe. Old frontiers were redrawn and whole nations disappeared and (re-)emerged. At the same time, these changes have not left research on young people unaffected, but have inspired a diverse body of empirical and theoretical literature which appreciates the complex and distinct positions of young people in a wide range of local contexts within and outside the new borders of Europe (cf. Pilkington et al. 2002, Ali 2003). At the beginning of the twenty-first century, there is recognition of the need for in-depth accounts of the new and challenging forms of youth cultural practice and youth identities which have emerged as a result of globalising cultural processes and multiple identity politics (cf. Back 1996, Nayak 2004). Responding to this need for a greater awareness of global influences on youth cultural identities, this project investigates the ways in which young Armenians, living in two different cities, Rostov (Russia) and Varna (Bulgaria), construct and negotiate their diasporic identities.

The research aims to deliver a better understanding of the complexity of identity shaping processes by investigating the interplay between ‘global’ and ‘local’ amongst Armenian youth within and outside the borders of the European Union (Bulgaria and Russia). In Western European countries little is known about transnational experiences of young Armenians in the post-socialist context. The research is a sociological investigation, using ethnographic methods together with focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. This research addresses the following questions: 1) How is ethnicity reproduced within Armenian families and kinship relationships across national boundaries? 2) What is the specific influence of the diasporic Armenian community discourse on perceptions of ethnic/cultural difference, gender, local identities and personal future life aims? 3) To what degree do young Armenians engage with transnational cultural products in their search for social and spatial identities?

Together with the Jewish and Greek diasporas, the Armenian diaspora is one of the oldest in the world. Small Armenian trading communities outside Armenia have existed for centuries, but the size of the Armenian diaspora increased dramatically after the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks from 1915 to 1917. With the start of ethnic conflict in the Caucasus region in 1988, the number of Armenians living in diaspora rose considerably once again. Today, the Armenian diaspora is estimated to be roughly eight million (Kurkchiyan and Herzig 2005) of which approximately 30,000 live in Bulgaria and more than one million in Russia.

---