STEPHANOS DASHTENTS’S RIDDLES

Abstract

The topic under discussion led to the following conclusions. Riddles hold an insignificant
part among the multifaceted works of 17th-18th-century author from New Julfa Stepanos
Dashtents; however, their study is important in Armenian pamphlet context. In literature, after
Nerses Shnorhali, Stepanos Dashtents was the one who continued the classic traditions of
oblivious pamphlets, not just duplicating, but also transmitting new form and content to the
genre. Thematically Stepanos Dashtents’s riddles bear secular character, they have educational
value, they describe the phenomena of nature, household and technical scientific novelties,
which the author presented objectively, with clear and simple summaries. These subjective
features also refer to Stepanos Dashtents’s linguistic aspect, which might be considered
impolite from aesthetic point of view, but are common and relevant to the readers of his time -
the merchants of New Julfa.