National Liberation Struggle as a Manifestation of National Identity Preservation in Novel “Summer Without Dawn” by Hakop Khachikyan and Jean-Yves Soucy

Abstract

Key words: American-English writers, historical memory, preservation of the Armenian nation, Armenian history, Armenian people, indestructible spirit The novel “Summer Without Dawn” by Hakop Khachikyan and Jean-Yves Soucy is a unique voluminous work with historiographical facts and political comments, which impartially covers the passage of time, Armenian social and political relations, the struggle for the existence of the Armenian people in the the 20th century, Armenian-Turkish relations at the end of the 19th-early 20th century, the First World War, the anti-Armenian policy of the Ottoman Empire and the allied states, the effort of the Turkish government to falsify Armenian history, the desire to dominate Armenia. From the chronological point of view, the novel covers a long period of action, from the massacres committed by Abdul-Hamid to the epic denouement, which unfolds in the gradual presentation of various episodes. H. Khachikyan and J.-Y. Soucy strive to preserve a single perception of the material, besides; he manages to give a logical sequence of actions. The writers pay much attention to the historical data and elements of political interpretation. The writers were the first in English-language American literature to put the national-liberation struggle at the basis of preserving national identity. When writing the novel, H. Khachikyan and J.-Y. Soucy turned to historical memory, which preserves the national consciousness and self-consciousness of the people, considering it as a living present, the spiritual potential of the people and continuity that stabilizes the ethnicity. Turning to the Armenia’s National Memory, the author pointed out Armenian history’s most important historic events, attempts and fights in resisting life's difficulties, heroic episodes, national spirit and dignity. In the novel, we studied the problems that the American-Armenian English-speaking writer faced with: unceasing efforts to preserve the national identity and the right to life for the Armenians of the whole world, the national liberation struggle, and heroic efforts of the native people. In naturalistic images H. Khachikyan and J.-Y. Soucy skillfully represented the deportation and massacre of Armenians to foreign readers. In order to complete the pro-Armenian policy planned by the Turkish government, he, in addition to depicting the physical destruction, masterfully described the spiritual destruction of the Armenians.