DEEPENING SPIRITUAL CRISIS

Lragir.am
15/01/10

Interview with the literature critic Siranuysh Dvoyan How would you
describe the year 2009?

I will not describe the year, I do not like it. There are no time
divisions for me because time becomes important thanks to the events
taking place in it. From external point, in 2009 and before, many
events took place in Armenia. The most important for me in 2009 is the
deepening spiritual crisis. From this point, I did not feel anything
crucial in 2009. The spiritual field was not corrected so I think
serious success was not registered in other fields either.

What do you mean by saying spiritual field?

Spiritual is the creation to some extent. It is something which gives
birth to conception, projects, system. We do not have a formed system.

During the last 15-20 years, we have only been facing the lack of
ideas around which the country and the society would be formed. Only
in this way we will be able to find our place in the world. Not only
art and literature are to be understood when saying spiritual.

I think today we need to rename phenomena because every day we call
things which do not have anything in common with their names. For
example, I think we had better give a new name to "political"
and return to it something it lost. When we dwell on the cultural
crisis we do not have to forget that it is connected with the lack of
"political" or its mutated perception. The word "political" derives
from "city" and it is connected with it. You know, in the beginning of
the century there was a group of intellectuals which understood the
importance of a "city" and tried to create a model of it. In Yerevan
today, everything is confused because few of us are ready to really
accept the laws of living in the city and being a citizen. What we
have inherited we cannot preserve and pass on.

Is this the reason of our wrong communication with the external world?

In general, we do not communicate with the external world because
these relations are always unilateral. We do not have anything to put
on the table, to offer. They are the sides which decide. We always
wait for Europe, Russia to propose something to us for us to be happy
with it. And it is not important whether it regards the science, art
or politics we always copy. We do not have a market of thought. Only
physical force succeeds which is the reason we are good at sport but
thought is not evaluated. We have no laws on making thought work.

But the Speaker of the National Assembly says that no one needs
brains to be engaged in politics. What does a political figure need
in this case?

Brain is needed everywhere. A political figure does not have to avoid
communication, they have to be open, they have to have something
to propose everywhere because only in this case we may dwell on
political relations. A political figure is to be educated from the
point of having ideas and taste. Economy, culture, everything may
develop if it is based on ideas. To be sincere, in our reality I do
not see anyone who is ready to give and to take.

How do we communicate with each other?

It is very difficult. I think we do not communicate at all. There
are only words deep in which there is nothing. Press, books but they
contain so little. For me Arshak was a political figure, after him
I do not remember anyone else. Maybe I do not know the history well
enough. In the beginning of the century there was the generation of
Charents, Tamanyan, Aram Khachatryan who were really open and ready
to communicate on all the sides. No chance, the culture was formed in
those years. In those years, the image of a creating solder was formed.

Shahnur used to say, we have painters but do not have painting, we
have musicians but we do not have music. Today, we have an "army",
and what about soldiers? Soldiers are important for the country. By
saying soldier I do not mean a youth who carries military service for
two years. I mean a person who is ready to keep the border and what
is supposed to be a border at the same time making it vital and active.

How many solders do we have today who are ready to bring ideas to
life not only for the sake of territory but also for ideas themselves?

Interview By Siranuysh Papyan

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress