Der Mugrdechian Gives Talk on American- Armenian Literature to SOAS in London, England

Staff Report

Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State, was a guest lecturer on Thursday, July 5, at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England, giving a fascinating talk on William Saroyan and the American-Armenian writers of his generation. Starting from a general background on Armenian emigration to the United States, Der Mugrdechian outlined the evolution of American-Armenian communities and discussed some of the difficulties they faced integrating into American society.

Prof. Der Mugrdechian explained that as the new communities developed, a new generation of English language writers emerged. These writers addressed Armenian issues that straddled life in a modern United States with their lost communities in Ottoman Turkey. By the 1930s, as emigration to the United States was curtailed, the older immigrants increasingly preferred English as their primary language of communication—at least in print. The most successful of these writers was William Saroyan, who was increasingly read by non-Armenian audiences.

Der Mugrdechian discussed Saroyan’s plays, short stories, and journalistic pieces, as well as his peculiar sense of humor and style, for a memorable London lecture.

At the reception that followed, copies of Young Saroyan: Follow and Other Early Writings and Armenian Poetry of Our Time by Diana Der-Hovanessian (The Press at California State University, Fresno) were available for purchase.

Der Mugrdechian’s London lecture was sponsored by the SOAS Armenian Studies Program, the Gomidas Institute (London), and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.